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Gingerbread Teddy Bears Recipe

Gingerbread Teddy Bears Recipe photo by Taste of Home

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These cookies have been a Christmas tradition in my family since I was a little girl. The big bears are so soft and chewy that we can hardly wait until they come out of the oven!—Elizabeth Manzanares, Gloucester, Virginia

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Gingerbread Teddy Bears Recipe

Prep: 40 min. + chilling Bake: 10 min./batch + cooling

Yield: 8 Servings

40 10 50

Ingredients

1 cup butter, cubed
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup molasses
1 egg, lightly beaten
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
Miniature chocolate chips
Red decorating frosting

Directions

In a small saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar and molasses. Cook over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Pour into a large bowl; let stand for 10 minutes. Stir in egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda and cloves; gradually add to butter mixture and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.
Shape dough into eight balls, 2 in. each; eight balls, 1 in. each; 32 balls, 1/2 in. each; and 16 balls, 3/8 in. each. Place the 2-in. balls on three foil-lined baking sheets for the body of eight bears; flatten to 1/2-in. thickness. Position 1-in. balls for heads; flatten to 1/2-in. thickness. Attach four 1/2-in. balls to each bear for arms and legs. Attach two 3/8-in. balls for ears. Add chocolate chips for eyes, nose and buttons.
Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until set. Cool for 10 minutes before carefully removing to wire racks to cool completely. With frosting, pipe bows on bears. Yield: 8 cookies.

Originally published as Gingerbread Teddy Bears in Taste of Home December/January 2006, p16

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Reviewed on Sep. 11, 2011 by Zuke32j

This was a HUGE hit at a Teddy Bear picnic that my kids went to. I halved the size of the balls when making the bears (1" body, 1/2" head, etc). The bears still came out large, the size of my hand. I used the same technique for the bow, but put it around an ear, on some of them. (yield was 17) I will definitely be making this again!

Reviewed on Dec. 02, 2010 by Miss Jen

I have been making these with my kids since I found it in the magazine at least 6 years ago. It is a great dough to work with like play dough and many more creatures have come out of my oven than just bears, although when I am playing, i make the bears because they are so cute. We make them the day before we fill or stockings and I put each childs cookies in them. i have doubled the recipe and let the kids at a cookie swap design whatere they wanted with bowls of different decorations, lots of fun. This year, I am going to try adding maple extract and cutting them out with my new maple leaf cutter from Maine. Enjoy it, we sure do :)