Episode 4: Gingerbread Cookies

"Hello everybody and welcome back to a new episode of our show cooking with Astrid and Hiccup. I'm Hiccup and this is my lovely co-host and girlfriend Astrid." Hiccup introduces as he walks on stage. Astrid however is nowhere to be seen.

Hiccup lets out a sigh and then shouts "Astrid, the red cord isn't here anymore!!" This news had Astrid happily sprinting on stage. "Hello everybody!!" Astrid greets and then stops as she looks at the set. "Since when did we get a new refrigerator?" Astrid questioned.

"This morning." Fishlegs answered as many of the stagehands were whispering.

"Yeah, some guys in hazmat suits took the old one." Tuffnut stated. "I wonder what was in there?"

"Well anyway" Astrid states. "Today we'll be making gingerbread cookies."

"We'll be needing the following ingredients." Hiccup says as he begins to gesture to everything Astrid is laying on the counter. "3 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice, 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon freshly milled black pepper, 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, 1/4 cup vegetable shortening, at room temperature, 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar, 2/3 cup unsulfured molasses, 1 large egg, and Royal Icing."

"For the Royal Icing we'll need 1 pound (4 1/2 cups) confectioners' sugar, 2 tablespoons dried egg-white powder, and 6 tablespoons water."

"Position the racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F." Hiccup said as he opened the oven to show the audience.

"Sift the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, salt and pepper through a wire sieve into a medium bowl. Then set aside." Hiccup said as Astrid prepared the mixture. Neither one noticed Toothless sneak from the audience up to the stage and hide on the other side of the counter. Tuffnut, while smirking wickedly, gave a gesture that the crew should be quiet as well.

"In a large bowl, using a hand-held electric mixer at high speed, beat the butter and vegetable shortening until well-combined, about 1 minute. Add the brown sugar and beat until the mixture is light in texture and color, about 2 minutes. Beat in the molasses and egg. Using a wooden spoon, gradually mix in the flour mixture to make a stiff dough. Divide the dough into two thick disks and wrap each disk in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until chilled, about 3 hours. The dough can be prepared up to 2 days ahead." Both Hiccup and Astrid were still oblivious to the sneaky reptile.

"To roll out the cookies, work with one disk at a time, keeping the other disk refrigerated. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature until just warm enough to roll out without cracking, about 10 minutes. Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface and sprinkle the top of the dough with flour. Roll out the dough 1/8 inch thick, being sure that the dough isn't sticking to the work surface, run a long metal spatula or knife under the dough occasionally just to be sure, and dust the surface with more flour, if needed." Hiccup said bringing out some cookie cutters.

"Those aren't gingerbread men." Astrid stated as she looked at the cutters.

"I was thinking of making Gingerbread dragons." Hiccup said with a smile.

"Now for softer cookies, roll out slightly thicker. Using cookie cutters, cut out the cookies and transfer to non-stick cookie sheets, placing the cookies 1 inch apart. Gently knead the scraps together and form into another disk. Wrap and chill for 5 minutes before rolling out again to cut out more cookies." Toothless stealthily pops his head over the counter just as Hiccup and Astrid finish cutting the cookies. He takes an unbaked cooking into his maw and then another before Astrid and Hiccup catch him.

"TOOTHLESS!!" Hiccup yells but the dragon simply sniggers.

"That's it." Astrid states. "I still got some yaknog in my dressing room. Toothless can have that if he's hungry."

Toothless shuddered upon hearing the word yaknog and ran with his tail between his legs backstage knocking over some stagehands.

Ruffnut then came out with disheveled hair after the ruckus backstage died down. "Why the hell is Toothless cowering in the eel bin?" She asked perplexed.

Astrid simply shrugs and jabs Hiccup, whose eyebrows had shot up due to shock, too continue. "I'll never understand that dragon." She muttered.

"Right." Hiccup said hesitantly. "Bake, switching the positions of the cookies from top to bottom and back to front halfway through baking, until the edges of the cookies are set and crisp, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on the sheets for 2 minutes, then transfer to wire cake racks to cool completely. Decorate with Royal Icing."

"The icing can prepared up to 2 days ahead, stored in an airtight container with a moist paper towel pressed directly on the icing surface, and refrigerated. This icing hardens into shiny white lines, and is used for piping decorations on gingerbread people or other cookies." Hiccup said and took out the icing from the fridge.

"And remember when using a pastry bag, practice your decorating skills before you ice the cookies. Just do a few trial runs to get the feel of the icing and the bag, piping the icing onto aluminum foil or wax paper." Hiccup added as an afterthought.

"That was it folks for this episode. Next episode we'll be showing you a neat New Years eve recipe." Hiccup said as he and Astrid waved to the audience.

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Producer's note: (Sits in the kitchen crying over the biohazard waste disposal bill).........(A weird noise could suddenly be heard)...... (Goes over to a bin and opens it)......... "Toothless will you get out of there already. Astrid went home."