Ginger cookies

---------- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05
  
       Title: 1993 1st Place: Ginger Cookies
  Categories: Cookies, Holiday
       Yield: 80 servings
  
       1 c  Granulated sugar
     1/2 c  Dark corn syrup
     1/2 c  Water
       1 tb Ground ginger
       2 ts Cinnamon
       2 ts Ground cloves
       1 c  Unsalted butter or margarine
       4 c  All-purpose flour
   1 1/2 ts Baking soda
            Liquid food coloring,
            If desired
  
      Preparation time: 1 1/2 hours Chilling time: 12 hours or more Cooking
     time: 7 minutes
   
      1. Put sugar, syrup, water, ginger, cinnamon and cloves into a large
     saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture boils and sugar
     dissolves. Remove from heat. Add butter. Stir until butter is melted
     and mixture is no longer very hot.
   
      2. Mix flour and baking soda. Gradually add flour mixture to butter
     mixture and stir to blend thoroughly. Dough will have a soft texture.
     Place dough in an airtight container and refrigerate overnight or at
     least 12 hours or as long as 1 week.
   
      3. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Remove about one-sixth of the dough and
     knead it until it is slightly softened. Roll dough directly onto
     ungreased cookie sheets until it is about 1/4-inch thick. Use a
     cookie cutter to stamp shapes in dough, allowing a 1-inch margin
     between each cookie. Remove excess dough by lifting it and peeling it
     away. Scraps of dough can be kneaded together and re-rolled.
   
      4. Bake until golden brown, about 7 minutes. Allow cookies to cool
     slightly and become crisp before removing them from the cookie sheet.
     Cool thoroughly on wire racks. If desired, you may "paint" the cooled
     cookies using a clean, small paintbrush and food coloring that has
     been watered down slightly. Store cookies in airtight containers.
       Note: After the 12-hour resting period, this cookie dough can be
     hand-molded like clay--rolled, pinched, poked and pressed--and it
     will keep its shape, expanding slightly while baking. Thin cookies
     will become brown and bake quickly, large and thick shapes will
     require longer baking. Can be cut into any shape desired but make the
     cookies uniformly thick. The microwave oven can be used to cook the
     sugar mixture in step 1.
   
     Judith Taylor, Highland Park from the Chicago Tribune sixth annual
     Food Guide Holiday Cookie Contest December 2, 1993
  
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