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.