24 October 2014

Recipe: Gingerbread men



A couple days ago the girls helped me make some gingerbread men.  We love gingerbread. I love the burst of ginger with the crunch of the biscuit, its so nice with a cup of tea! It always remind me of Christmas and the cute little gingerbread houses.

Popette & I made a store bought gingerbread house last year for the first time, but I'm thinking that I might try baking the house myself this year. How hard can it be?!?


The girls had fun helping me in the kitchen although Popette was a little disappointed (or should I say devastated) that we didn't have any M&M's to decorate these cute little guys. Not to worry, they were still very tasty!

Popette weighing the flour
Ingredients#:
125g butter (room temperature)
100g or 1/2 cup (firmly packed) brown sugar
125ml or 1/2 cup golden syrup
1 egg, separated
375g or 2 1/2 cups plain flour
1-2 tablespoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Method:

Preheat oven to 180°C degrees and line 2 baking trays with baking paper.

Add the butter and sugar to a mixing bowl and beat until pale and creamy.

Beating the butter and sugar
Then add the golden syrup and egg yolk and beat on low until combined.

Stir in the flour, ginger, mixed spice and bicarbonate of soda.

Cherub adding the dry ingredients to the mixer
Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth.

Knead dough into a disc and cover with plastic wrap, then place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.

Rolled and ready for the fridge
When rolling out the dough, I found it best to place it between 2 sheets of baking paper so it's easy to roll out. You will want to roll them out about 4mm thick, too thin and they will crack and break off. 

Rolling out the dough
Use a gingerbread man cutter to cut out shapes. 





Place on trays about 3cm apart. Repeat with any excess dough.

Bake in oven for 10-15 minutes or until brown. 

Remove from oven and transfer to a rack to cool.



#This recipe was adapted from a recipe found on taste.com.au.

Do you like to bake with your kids?
Have you made a gingerbread house?

4 comments:

  1. Oh my I love gingerbread as well. I remember once thinking the same about making the dough for my own house one year. After all how hard can it be? Famous last words is all I have to say. But I am sure you will do a much better job, I lived in the tropics at the time and I am sure that affected the results!

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    Replies
    1. Oh no, I hope it wasn't soggy gingerbread :( I am keen to give it a go, if I do I'll make sure I write a post to let you know all about it :)

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  2. I used to make gingerbread houses with my girlfriends when living in Tokyo. We'd set aside an entire day to decorate them. I'm hoping to make some gingerbread men for Christmas this year with the boys. Thanks for sharing the recipe!

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