Cream butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy
1 cup butter, 1 cup sugar
Stir in vanilla and egg
1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 egg
Add molasses and mix until well combined
¾ cup molasses
In a separate bowl, combine flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, allspice and salt
4 cups flour, 3 teaspoons ground ginger, 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda, ½ teaspoon allspice, ½ teaspoon salt
Add flour mixture to mixing bowl and mix well
Remove dough from mixing bowl and place on plastic wrap. Form into a large disc. Wrap well and refrigerate for at least one hour.
Preheat oven to 375°F
Divide dough in half and roll out on a lightly floured surface until about ¼" thick. Use a snowflake cookie cutter (or other shaped cookie cutter) and cut out cookies.
Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or an ungreased baking sheet)
Bake in a preheated 375°F oven for 8-10 minutes
Remove cookies from baking sheet and allow cookies to fully cool on a baking rack.
Glaze
Mix powdered sugar, milk, corn syrup and vanilla together in a bowl. Stir until smooth. The glaze should flow when poured off a spoon, but should also hold its shape when drizzled into a straight line. Add a bit more milk or powdered sugar if needed for desired consistency.
3 cups powdered sugar, 3-4 tablespoons milk or cream, 1 tablespoon corn syrup, ½ teaspoon vanilla
Place glaze in a piping bag with a small tip and pipe on snowflake decorations.
Notes
Chilling the dough is necessary to make the dough workable. Otherwise, it will be too sticky.
Reroll the scraps after cutting out cookies
Cut cookies into any size or shape you desire. I used a large snowflake cutter (3 ¾") and a small round cutter (2")
I use parchment paper, but you can also just use a plain, ungreased cookie sheet
I reuse the parchment paper several times when making a batch of cookies. If the paper becomes too brittle or turns brown around the edges, replace it with a new piece.
Add icing after cookies have fully cooled
Icing can be piped onto cookies or cookies can be dipped, face side down into icing
Allow icing to fully set up or harden before storing cookies
Store cookies at room temperature for 3-5 days in an airtight container