Holiday Gingerbread from Mohonk Moutain House Resort

The beautiful Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz, NY has revealed their 2013 Gingerbread House creations for the season. This year’s gingerbread house takes it inspiration from Candy Land, the classic family board game first released in 1949.

Mohonk's professional chefs used a rainbow of luster sprays, candy rocks, fruit stripe gum, and chocolate kisses to create this year's sweet vision. The house took more than 300 hours to craft at Mohonk's historic New York Victorian castle resort, an effort accomplished by Executive Pastry Chef Eric Smith and his talented team.

Creating this wonderland requires no short list of ingredients! Think 325 pounds sugar, 100 pounds of flour, 100 eggs, 100 pounds of four, 60 pounds of egg whites and 30 pounds of candy!

The folks at Mohonk would like to share with our readers a special recipe on their take of healthy Ginerbread cookies.
 
Mohonk’s Healthy Gingerbread Cookies

½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
½ cup unsweetened applesauce
¾ cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cloves
½ tsp. salt
1 large egg + 2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
¾ cup molasses
3 ½ cups whole-wheat flour
White frosting (optional, for decoration)
Almonds, pine nuts, dried cranberries, and raisins (optional, for decoration)

In a large bowl, mix butter and applesauce until blended. Add sugar, baking soda, spices, and salt. Stir in egg and egg whites. Mix in molasses and add flour. Cover and refrigerate dough for 2 hours. Preheat oven to 350°F. Mist 2 baking sheets with canola oil spray; set aside. Remove and roll out dough to ¼” thick. Use a 2” to 4” gingerbread cookies cutter to make shapes. Re-roll scraps of dough as necessary. Place cut-outs on prepared baking sheets 1” apart. Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 20 to 30 minutes and decorate with frosting, nuts, and dried fruit, if desired. Makes 48 mini-cookies.
The annual gingerbread house is just one of many special holiday traditions at Mohonk Mountain House, located about 90 miles north of New York City.