Spectacular Millennium Falcon Gingerbread Wins Christmas

The force is very strong with a Hudson Valley baker who created this incredible Millennium Falcon entirely from gingerbread.

With the release of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" just days away there's no better way to celebrate the holidays than with this recreation of Han Solo's legendary ship. There's not a spacecraft in the galaxy that comes close to being as awesome as the Millennium Falcon. Even Santa's sleigh would have a tough time doing the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs, am I right?

And the best part is that you don't even have to win a game of sabacc to own this beauty. We're giving it away on Saturday to one lucky WPDH listener that drops by our Star Wars event at the Poughkeepsie Galleria between Noon and 3pm. Of course, the whole reason why were there is to collect gifts for the Children's Home of Poughkeepsie, so bring a donation and enter to win.

There will also be appearances from R2-D2, Stormtroopers and all sorts of creatures from the Star Wars galaxy. And in addition to the gingerbread Millennium Falcon you can win passes to opening night of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." Make sure to bring your little Jedis along for the children's costume contest and plenty of other Star Wars fun.

As for the Millennium Falcon gingerbread, it was created by none other than Heather Casto from The Chocolate Mousse. Casto tells us it took over 5 hours to create this masterpiece using her own homemade gingerbread. By the looks of the glowing blue M&M's it's safe to say this thing even has a working hyperdrive. We've included Heather's gingerbread recipe below, but if you'd rather let someone else do all of the hard work (and you don't have a Wookie sitting around the house waiting to assist) the Chocolate Mousse makes custom gingerbread creations for any occasion.

Heather Casto's Gingerbread Recipe:

• 10 Tablespoons Butter, softened
• 3/4 Cup Light Brown Sugar, packed
• 2/3 Cup Molasses
• 1 Egg
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 3 1/2 Cup AP Flour
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 Tablespoon Ground Ginger
• 1 Tablespoon Ground Cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon Allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon Ground Cloves

Directions:
In a large bowl, beat the butter with brown sugar and molasses until creamy.
Beat in egg and vanilla on high speed for 2 full minutes.

Slowly add dry ingredients.

Split dough in three and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill discs for at least 3 hours.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°F.

Generously flour the dough. Roll out until 1/4-inch thick.

Cut into shapes. Place 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheets.

Bake cookies for about 9-10 minutes.
Allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet. Transfer to cooling rack to cool completely. Once completely cool, decorate as desired.