I followed the recipe but used unsalted butter instead of shortening. I have made this recipe three times and each time, it has come out perfectly. Rolling the dough between parchment paper really does make it easy to roll and the dough doesn't stick. I also bake the cookies right on the parchment paper that I rolled the cookies out on. The flavor of the cookies is not very strong compared to other gingerbread cookies. They taste like a gingersnap from the store. The cookies can be hard or soft depending on the thickness that you roll them. The thinner the dough, the faster they cook and the crisper they become. I had my kindergarten class bake these in school. They were able to make the dough and roll them out. They decorated them using mini chocolate chips for the eyes and buttons and sunflower seeds for the mouth. The chips and seeds were put onto the cookies before they were baked. I was also able to write the students' names on the parchment paper before baking so the correct cookies went to each child. We made them after reading several different versions of the Gingerbread Man, The Runaway Latke and the Runaway Tortilla. It was a great way to celebrate the season.

Reviewed On: Dec. 14, 2011

Where I live, Candy Apples are $3 an apple at a farm stand. I love them - they are right up there in my top five favorite foods of all time. I was hoping that this would be a great candy apple recipe. I have made candy apples using kits but never before from "scratch". I am an experienced cook and thought that I would try it without the kit. I used a small pot and a candy thermometer. The recipe worked well in that it produced enough candy to fully cover 15 apples. The apples were shiny and hard and were beautiful to look at. However, the taste of the candy was lacking. The candy recipe as written is too BLAND. It was missing something. My family doesn't like cinnamon flavored candies so we skipped the red hots that some reviewers suggested. Reading other reviews, we tried different apples too. It didn't matter what kind of apple - we used Macs and Granny Smith - both apples had plenty of flavor on the inside of the candy. The candy just did not compliment the apple. I am not sure what I should have added to make it taste "right". I am giving it three stars because they were bright, shiny and beautiful. If the candy had more flavor, it would have gotten a higher rating.

Reviewed On: Nov. 4, 2009

I came across this recipe over the summer while looking for a cookie recipe that didn't use eggs. What a nice surprise! They were fantastic! What a great flavor! My family really likes bittersweet chocolate so we dipped our heart shaped cookies in dark chocolate. I brought some to a party and every last one was eaten. I am reviewing the recipe now since I needed to print it out again so I can bring them with me to a fundraiser next weekend. This was really a great cookie and the recipe is going in my personal file. Thanks for a great recipe! I am adding another comment in response to other reviews. I find the dough much easier to work with when it is at room temperature/warm. The coffee granules melt into the dough and changes the color of the dough to a darker brown. I work the crumbs into a ball and then roll it out. My family still loves the cookies and my friends still ask for them.

Reviewed On: Oct. 4, 2009