Instructions: This recipe makes about thirty cookies. Preheat oven to 350 deg. Cream the butter and brown sugar. Add molasses and continue to beat until well-blended. Sift the flour, then sift it again with the soda, spices, and salt. Add half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir well.

Blend in the water until the mixture is smooth. Add the remaining flour mixture, and mix until you have an even dough. Roll the dough onto a greased cookie sheet with a floured rolling pin. Cut out shapes using floured cookie cutters. When you have filled the cookie sheet with shapes, peel away the dough around the shapes, and save that dough for your next batch. Press raisins, fruits, or cookie decorations into each cookie to give each cookie a unique look. Bake at 350deg for 8 minutes, or until the cookies are firm. After the cookies have cooled on a rack, use decorators icing to finish decorating each cookie. Notes: Before baking, poke an opening at the top of each cookie to provide a hole for hanging. Bake and decorate normally, then run 12-inch lengths of narrow ribbon through the holes and hang the cookies from your Christmas tree. If youd like to use homemade icing instead of store-bought decorators icing, mix 1/4 cup of confectioners sugar with a few drops of water. Use food coloring to make differently colored icings. Spread the icing on the cookies using a knife or a toothpick. Use your imagination!

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