Gingerbread People

From Sheri


2 1/3 cups flour
2 ½ t. ground ginger
2 t. ground cinnamon
½ t. baking soda
¼ t. salt
¼ t. ground cloves
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
¾ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
¼ cup honey
2 extra large eggs

1. Sift first 6 ingredients into a medium bowl.
2. Using an electric beater, beat butter, sugar, and honey in a large bowl until fluffy.
3. Beat in egg yolks.
4. Add dry ingredients; combine.
5. Gather dough into ball (dough will be soft)
6. Divide into 3 pieces, flattening each into a disk
7. Wrap in plastic and chill until firm, about 3 hours. (Dough can be made 2 days ahead)
8. Position rack in upper third of oven and preheat to 375 degrees.
9. Grease large, heavy cookie sheets.
10. Roll 1 disk out on lightly floured surface to ¼” thick round.
11. With a cookie cutter, cut out gingerbread people.
12. Transfer to cookie sheets, spacing 1 inch apart; remove scraps for later use.
13. Bake until just turning brown at edges, about 10 minutes.
14. Transfer to racks: cool.
15. Repeat with remaining dough

Icing
½ cup powdered sugar
2 ½ cups milk