Make the Dough:

• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, allspice, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon and set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar on high speed until lightened in color and slightly fluffy, about 5 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add the molasses, eggs, and vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, and blending until just combined.
• Divide the dough in half and form two disks. Wrap in plastic and chill at least 2 hours, or up to overnight.

Cutting and Baking:

• When you’re ready to bake, remove one of the disks from the refrigerator and divide into 4 pieces. Roll each piece between two pieces of parchment paper to ¼ inch thick, flipping the dough at least once to avoid wrinkles. (Keeping the dough on the same piece of parchment throughout the process means you don’t need to move it on and off surfaces, and makes a neater cookie! It will also prevent the dough from forming a dusty floury surface, and from heating too much and getting sticky.) As you roll the pieces, stack on a baking sheet with parchment in between and store in the refrigerator. Repeat with the second disk until all of the dough has been rolled.
• Starting with the coldest piece of rolled out dough, place a piece of parchment on top followed by the stencil (the stencil will likely stick and/or absorb butter from the dough if placed directly on the dough.) Use the tip of a very sharp paring knife to cut through the parchment and the dough along the stencil. I find using many small cuts works better than dragging the knife in one long cut. Fit as many shapes into each piece of dough as you like, being mindful not to place them too close together-- the less the cut-outs have to be moved, the better. Remove the stencil and the parchment, and place the dough in the freezer for 5 minutes before attempting to peel away the excess dough. When the dough is chilled, peel away the excess dough and bake on its parchment paper. (The cookies will barely expand, so they won’t likely run together. If you need to move them apart you can!)
• Bake each batch of cookies at 350F on the center rack for about 12 minutes. Watch carefully and remove smaller pieces earlier if needed! When the cookies are done, they will be slightly lighter in color.
• Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack. When they are cool enough to handle, test the fit of the 3-D pieces. Trim attachment pieces as needed with a sharp paring knife.
• When the cookies are completely cool, decorate with royal icing as desired. I found it easiest to decorate the pieces first, and assemble into their standing forms once the icing was set. Remember not to decorate in the space where the pieces will fit together.
• When the icing has set, assemble your forest, mushrooms, and yetis and enjoy your magical gingerbread!

• In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the egg whites and vanilla and beat until frothy.
• On low speed, add the sugar gradually until completely incorporated.
• Increase speed to high and beat until the mixture forms stiff, glossy peaks, about 5-7 minutes. (Beating the icing is key to a lovely royal icing- this step makes your icing fluffy, stiff, AND white!)
• For my cookies I kept half of the icing at this stiff consistency, and watered down the other half to form a flooding icing. To water down, mix in 1 tsp of water at a time until the desired consistency is reached. (Test flooding icing by dabbing a bit of icing on a flat surface. If it loses its shape after a 10 seconds,
• Make ahead: store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.