Gingerbread Cookies

This is a quick post to pass along my favorite gingerbread cookie recipe along to some friends.

Gingerbread Cookies
½ cup shortening
½ cup sugar
½ cup dark molasses
¼ cup water
2 ½ cups all purpose flour (you may need to add slightly more if your dough is very sticky when rolling)
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

Beat shortening at medium speed with a mixer until fluffy. Add sugarm beating well. Add next 8 ingredinets, beat at low speed until blended. Cover and refrigerate 2 to 3 hours. (before refrigerating, I usually divide the dough into 2 or 3 portions, wrap in Saran Wrap or a Ziploc bag and then flatten slightly to make it easier to roll out later.)
Divide dough in half and roll each portion to ¼ inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut out with cookie cutters. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove to racks to cool. Decorate with icing and candies as desired.
Yield: 3 to 4 dozen depending on size of cookie cutters.