Holiday Recipes: Gingerbread

Today I made Gingerbread for the first time.
Last year my sister made Chocolate Gingerbread and I found it delicious. Gingerbread has always been one of my favorite desserts.
Tonight we have a Bible Study, so I'm hoping my Gingerbread will turn out so that we can bring it as a dessert.
Here's the recipe from The Taste of Home Cookbook with some edits:

Preheat your oven to 350 and grease a 13 x 9 x 2 in. baking pan.

In a large mixing bowl combine:

• 1 cup shortening
• 1 cup sugar (if you are using black molasses, you may need to add more to taste)
• 1 cup molasses
• 2 eggs

and beat until well blended.

In a separate bowl, combine:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour (if the mix is too runny at the end, add about 1-1/2 tbs of flour)
• 1-1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1-1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon (you can add any spice you like to taste, just don't over-do it!)

and add this to the molasses mixture alternately with:

• 1 cup of hot water

until well blended.

Next, pour the final mixture into your pan and bake for 35-40 minutes until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Serve with a dollop of fresh whipped cream or cool whip.

Merry Christmas!