Construction Grade Gingerbread Dough

3 cups flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 Tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 cup honey or molasses
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 Tablespoon water

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Sift together 2 cups of the flour and the spices.

Heat honey or molasses and water in microwave dish for 30 seconds.  Remove from microwave and add sugar and stir to melt the sugar.  Add one egg and stir quickly with whisk.  Add second egg and stir quickly with a whisk.

With mixer running, add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix for 5 minutes in the mixer.  Add the remaining cup of flour and mix until well blended.  The dough should be stiff now.  Be careful not to overmix the dough as your mixer can over-heat.

There is no fat (butter, margarine, shortening, etc) so the dough is a little stiff to work with. If the dough becomes too stiff to roll out, microwave for 10 - 15 seconds to soften the honey/molasses.

Lightly flour surface and roll your gingerbread to the desired thickness.

Bake 15 - 30 minutes depending on the thickness of the dough and the size of the piece.