Gingerbread cookies

All my life, I've been searching for really good gingerbread cookies. And all my life, until now, I've failed, 'cause most recipes are meant to be structural more than delicious -- they're meant to be hard, sturdy, sorta tasteless but good material for building a gingerbread house. But as a food, as a delicious cookie, they totally fail.

These, on the other hand, are the cookie I plan to make from now on, 'cause they're soft and chewy and full of flavor. They're the gingerbread cookies you've always wanted to come out of your oven. Make them -- you won't regret it.

Gingerbread Cookies
From Cook's Illustrated

3 c flour
3/4 c dark brown sugar
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp ginger
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp salt
12 tbsp butter, softened and cut into pieces
3/4 c molasses
2 tbsp milk

1. Whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt. Cut in the butter until the mixture is sandy and resembles fine meal.
2. Add the molasses and milk and mix until a soft dough is formed.
3. Chill the dough at least 45 minutes.
4. Roll the dough 1/4 inch thick and cut out your shapes, spacing them 3/4 inch apart on your baking sheet.
5. Bake at 350 degrees about 9 minutes, until they are set in the centers and the dough barely retains an imprint when touched very gently with a fingertip. Do not overbake!
6. Cool on sheets for 2 minutes, then remove to cooling racks.
7. When cooled, decorate (I used Wilton cookie icing in a bottle).