Happy Holidays Everyone!
Christmas just doesn't feel like Christmas until there's a plate full of Gingerbread on the table, all decorated and looking oh so yummy. I don't know about you, but Christmas and New Years is the only time of year that I have gingerbread biscuits, so there's something special about making them in the lead up to Christmas. So why not spend this weekend filling the house with the festive smell of gingerbread and get baking! Plus, it's the perfect Christmas bake for kids to get involved with.
Before we get into the actual baking, I thought it would be interesting to look into the history of Gingerbread Men, because of course the history nerd needed to learn more about the origin of this iconic Christmas bake. Gingerbread itself first dates to the 15th century, while the practice of making figures dates to the 16th century.
It is from the court of Queen Elizabeth I that figure-shaped gingerbread is attributed to. The Queen favoured having gingerbread figures made and presented in the likeness of guests to the court. With the advent of cookie cutters, the shape of Gingerbread Men was constantly changing, with many wanting to have a different shaped cookie to the masses. It also became a practice in the 19th century to turn the gingerbread biscuits into decorations to hang on the Christmas tree What You'll Need:
Gingerbread is super-simple to make - something that you can whip up in a flash or double the recipe to make a big batch. I made 23 biscuits with this recipe, but this does depend on how thick you roll the dough and what type of shapes you're cutting out.
Making the Biscuits:
Preheat oven 180*C/356*F. Line two larges baking trays with paper, or spray them with oil.
In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar using electric beaters until thick, then beat in syrup and egg. Fold in sifted flour, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and salt until a smooth dough. Form into a disc and cover in plastic wrap - chill for 30 minutes.
Bring down to room temperature and roll out to 5mm thick. To make it easier, try rolling it between two pieces of baking paper.
This year, I decided to go for Gingerbread Men & Women, as well as hearts and snowflakes. Cut out biscuits and place on trays, spacing them out. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden. Cool completely on a rack before decorating. Let's Get Decorating!
Now this is the fun part! You can of course leave the biscuits undecorated, but what makes gingerbread gingerbread is the decorations.
The decorating part is really up to you - use whatever you feel like and have fun with it. Go simple or go detailed, bright and colourful or monochrome. But here's what I'm using:
Stir icing sugar with 3-4 teaspoons warm water to make a stiff icing. Divide and colour mixture as desired (I went with red, green and yellow, leaving some of the mix white).
Transfer into small piping bags with a small plain nozzle - or place mixture in a snap-lock bag, pushing icing into a corer and snipping off corner. Now great creative! Give the people a face and clothes, make the snowflake unique and add some love to the heart. The M&Ms can be used for eyes and buttons, and the sprinkles to add some fun details.
I took the time to create different designs for each biscuit. You can do almost anything with your decorating. And don't worry, you don't have to be the greatest cookie decorator - abstract or detailed, it all looks great in the end!
As you can see in my photos, my artwork isn't perfect, but the biscuits still look awesome and delicious.
Making Gingerbread Men really makes me feel like Christmas is right around the corner. Maybe that's because I always makes it a few days before Christmas.
As a Christmas must, I can't imagine the holiday without these little guys and gals. And even though some years I always think 'I'll make something different this year instead', it never happens and I'll always rock up to family Christmas with a box full of gingerbread goodness. Happy Baking! Victoria :) |
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