Its the most wonderful time of the year... When Christmas comes around the most delicious treats that everyone will love are gingerbread men, decorated with sprinkles and icing sugar, they are adorable and sweet. This recipe yields around 24 small cookies or 6 large gingerbread men - depending on your cutter, they will keep for up to 1 week in an airtight container. They also freeze well.
Ingredients
- Vanilla extract (1 tsp)
- Soft unsalted butter (145g)
- Light brown sugar (120g)
- Syrup (150g)
- Large egg (1)
- All purpose flour (410g)
- Baking soda (1 tsp)
- Ground ginger (1 tbsp)
- Ground cinnamon (1 tbsp)
- Ground allspice (1/2 tsp)
- Pinch of salt
Method
Add the butter to a large bowl and whisk until soft and fluffy. Add in the brown sugar and syrup and whisk together until well combined and smooth, add in the egg and vanilla extract and mix well. The butter may separate but thats normal.
In a separate bowl mix together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, allspice, salt and ginger until combined. Add this into the wet ingredients and mix well till you form a wet sticky dough.
Separate into two pieces and wrap each part in clingfilm and leave in the fridge overnight as this will ensure best results.
Once the dough has chilled overnight preheat the oven to gas mark 4 and line a baking tray with non-stick paper.
Flour your clean surface with a generous amount of flour and unwrap one of the balls of dough. Using your rolling pin roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thick. If the dough cracks or seems fragile keep moving it around and re-roll out the dough if you need to. Cut into your prefered shapes and put onto the oven tray 1 inch apart to give room to grow.
Cook for 8-10 minutes for soft cookies and longer if you want them crunchy. Allow to cool for 5 minutes and decorate or eat as they are.
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