Easy & Delicious
Gingerbread Men Cookies

These gingerbread men cookies are a delightful Christmas homemade gift idea.

They are so much fun to make too, especially deciding how to decorate them all!

It is easy to make several batches in an afternoon, and they only take 10-12 minutes to bake in the oven.

If you have children, get them involved too. Kids have so much fun cutting out different shaped cookies, and decorating them with icing, chocolate buttons, raisins. With them involved, your homemade Christmas gifts will be all the more unique and special.

I just love the warming flavours of gingerbread on a cold winter day. As well as Christmas, they make wonderful Valentine's day gifts. Make a batch up for your Valentine, and decorate the cookies with their name, or pink icing hearts. You could even cut out a message for them in gingerbread letters!

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup (150g) brown sugar
• 3/4 cup (180mL) Golden Syrup*
• 3 oz (90g) butter
• 2 tbsp (12g) ground ginger
• 2 tsp (4g) mixed spice
• 1 tbsp (13g) bicarbonate of soda
• 4 cups (500g) plain flour
• pinch of salt
• 2 eggs, beaten

* Golden syrup is made in the process of refining sugar cane. It is the syrup produced when the sugar cane is first boiled, and goes by several names: light treacle, light molasses, or golden syrup. You can substitute molasses here to get a darker coloured biscuit with a richer flavour.

Method

Making the dough:

1. Combine the sugar, golden syrup, butter, ginger, and mixed spice in a saucepan over a low heat, stirring, while butter melts. Remove from heat and allow to sit for 2 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, sift the flour and salt into a large bowl. Make a well in the center.
3. Stir the bicarbonate of soda into the warm syrup mixture until dissolved. The mixture will become light and fluffy looking.
4. Pour the beaten eggs and the syrup mixture into the flour well, and stir with a spoon to combine. Once all the flour is mixed in you should have a sticky dough.
5. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and allow to cool in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Baking your biscuits:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
2. Roll out the dough on a floured surface until it is 1/4 inch (0.5cm) thick. Cut out gingerbread men, stars, hearts, or any other pattern. Use a cookie cutter, or cut dough freehand using a sharp knife.
3. Place cookies onto a tray lined with baking paper. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the cookies have turned golden brown. Allow to cool for several minutes on the tray before transferring to a rack to finish cooling.

Yield: About 12 delicious gingerbread men cookies.

Decorating your Gingerbread Men Cookies:

Draw patterns on your gingerbread men with icing, and stick on choclate buttons, raisins, or coloured sugar balls.

We use Royal Icing to decorate our gingerbread men cookies, which can either be bought in the store ready-made, or easily whipped up at home.

How to Make Royal Icing:

Beat 1 egg white, gradually stirring in 1 cup or so of sifted icing sugar, until short stiff peaks form. I like to add a teaspoon of lemon juice too, so I usually add a bit more icing sugar than 1 cup. Once you have a thick, creamy icing, divide the mixture into several bowls and add a few drops of food colouring to each. To pipe icing, use a plastic bag with a small hole cut out of the corner. Store icing in the fridge until ready to use.

What next?

These gingerbread men cookies won't last long... they are so delicious! If giving as a gift, wrap them nicely in cellophane with a pretty ribbon, or make a gift box using my easy instructions.

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Happy Gifting!