In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter, brown sugar, and eggs on medium speed until well blended.

Add molasses and vanilla and mix until well combined.

Gradually add in dry ingredients and mix until combined, but do not over-mix.

Wrap dough in plastic wrap and place into an airtight container or freezer style zipper bag, and place in refrigerator for at least two hours and up to 24 hours.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 deg. Line baking sheets with silicone baking mats ore parchment paper.

Let dough sit at room temperature for 5-15 minutes or however long is needed to make it pliable enough to divide in half. The time it takes will depend on how long it's been chilling.

Place 1 portion of the dough on a lightly floured surface. Sprinkle additional flour over dough and gently roll dough out to approximately 1/4 - 1/3" thick. The thicker the dough the softer the cookie will be. If dough sticks to rolling pin, sprinkle additional flour onto dough.

Cut out cookies with cookie cutter. Whatever scraps are left over after cutting out cookies can be rolled out and rolled out to cut out more cookies.

Place cookies on baking sheet approximately 1 1/2-inches apart.

Bake each sheet of cookies for 7-10 minutes until tops and edges are starting to firm up.

Remove baking sheet from oven transfer to a wire cooling rack. Allow to cool on baking sheet for ten minutes, then use a spatula to transfer cookies to another wire cooling rack to cool completely.

If desired, once cookies are completely cooled decorate.

In a medium size bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well to combine. For thicker icing, add more powdered sugar, one tablespoon at a time. For thinner icing, add more corn syrup, one teaspoon at a time. Place into a piping bag and pipe onto gingerbread cookies as desired.