Ginger Bread Men

I have been making ginger bread men for a Christmas Party I am doing. The guests will be invited to decorate them with frosting and candy. I found a few recipes online. But, this is the one I was most satisfied with:

Ingredients

• 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

The instructions were to long. So here are my directions.
Stir all together until it forms a large ball. To make it more workable you can refrigerate the dough for a few hours. I didn't. Roll it out on a floured surface. Cut out with gingerbread man cookie cutter. Use a spatula to scrape it off the counter and place on greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes. Half way through the cooking time, move to the bottom rack. It helps keep the cookies crisp. Or you could choose not to.  Cool on cookie sheet for 3 minutes. Cool on cooling racks. Frost and decorate.

I found this recipe on foodnetwork.com. I loved how they used black pepper. Be careful not to eat all the dough before they get into the oven. I couldn't quit eating it. It was so flavorful.