Gingerbread Do-Re-Mi

Zoe is sol-sol smart. (Sol is one of the solfeg notes, which she demonstrates here.)


Those who know me well know that I've been making gingerbread every year since I was 14, using pretty much the same recipe. I usually make lots of men and put M&M buttons on them, or I make some houses using a form my sister-in-law Amy gave me as a gift (thanks again, Amy!).

This year I made two 3x batches, so I would have enough to share, even with my 45 music students and their parents. I can do 3x batch in my bosch mixer. As I was decorating, I decided to make the cookies show the Solfeg hand signs (now that's one smart cookie!) for the ones to be used in music class.

Since many asked, here's the recipe. It came home from my brother Jacob's kindergarten teacher 20 years ago.

1 cup shortening (I use 1/2 cup butter and 1/4 cup applesauce or pumpkin)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup molasses
2 Tb vinegar
5 cups flour
1 1/2 teas. soda
1 1/2 teas. salt
1 1/2 teas. ginger
1 teas. cinnamon
1/2 teas. cloves

Cream shortening and sugar. Stir in egg, molasses, vinegar. Sift dry ingredients and add. Chill dough, then roll out. (I like mine to be a bit thick and soft.) Bake on lightly greased pan at 350 for 8-10 minutes.

To frost these guys, I use about 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 1/2 teas. cream of tartar, and one egg white. I whip it until all is smooth, then put in my decorator's piping bag. I have tip sizes 1,2, and 3. I used size 2 in these photos. This frosting will dry up hard so you can toss them in a cookie jar without worrying that the designs will get smudged.

Here are some photos of Zoe in music class. She's concurrently enrolled in my level 1 (Red Balloons) and my level 2 (Green Turtles) because she was a little young to be in class last year and benefits from revisiting the 1st year material. We play the game "Who stole the cookies from the cookie jar?" and when the kids perform their parts correctly, keeping the beat, I reward them with a real cookie from the jar!

Those are some smart cookies!