Happy Week Before Christmas! December really flew by, huh? We are quickly running out of days to finish all the Christmas preparations, and I really hope baking gingerbread is somewhere on your list. Because if it's not, you better add it pronto! Christmas just isn't Christmas without gingerbread, but if you aren't the biggest gingerbread fan, I've got a solution for you - Chocolate Gingerbread! So bust out the bowls and measuring cups, stock up on lollies to decorate and get the kids in the kitchen to make this staple Christmas snack! So as much as I love the festiveness of gingerbread, I never really eat that much during the holidays, despite always making a batch of it. So making chocolate gingerbread was a great solution to still being able to have gingerbread part of the Christmas snack platter, but also having something that would be more appetizing and appealing to everyone. Plus, it's always fun decorating gingerbread and I couldn't miss out that on holiday tradition! What you'll need:
Gingerbread is super easy to make, with the most time consuming element of the whole process being the decorating, so you'll easily be able to squeeze in the baking over the next week. The first important step - preheat your oven to 180°C / 365°F and line two baking trays with paper. Depending on the size of your biscuits, you may need more, so have some extras on-hand for when you start cutting out the shapes. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter, sugar and golden syrup until light and creamy. Add in the egg and beat until just combined. I totally didn't use an electric mixer when I made these for the post, but it's not going to drastically effect the mix if you beat by hand with a whisk. If anything, you'll just get a good arm workout. Stir in the flour, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda, ginger and mixed spice. You will need to use your hands fully combine the mix, and if it's a little dry and has trouble combining, add a bit of water. Gently knead the dough until smooth and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface, aiming for about 3mm thick. Use your cookie cutters to cut out shapes and place on lined trays, making sure not to have them touching. Re-roll the dough scraps and repeat until all dough is used. You can use whatever shape cookie cutters you want. Keep it traditional with gingerbread men and women, or mix things up with other festive shapes like snowflakes, snowmen and candy canes, or simple with hearts and stars. This year, I opted for gingerbread men and women, some snowflakes and hearts. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until just firm, and set aside to cool before decorating. Time to decorate! Once the biscuits are completely cool, it's time to start decorating! This is where it's your turn to take the reins and have fun with. It's also the perfect time to get the kids involved and let them make a mess with all the pieces you've got to decorate with. This year, I used melted white chocolate as my base, using some metallic icing gel for detail and some sprinkles to add some colour. I wanted to keep things simple, with the least amount of mess, and make something that looked a bit different to what I usually do of coloured icing (or even coloured chocolate). I am SO happy with how these turned out! Using the white chocolate really made all the colours pop and I had to have all the restraint to not just devour these the moment I finished decorating them (they're safely in the freezer ready for Christmas Day). Think outside the box when it comes to decorating - don't just stick with a traditional looking gingerbread man! If you make chocolate gingerbread (or just gingerbread in general) this Christmas, I'd love to see how they turned out! Tag me in your social posts so I can check out your creations. Happy Baking! Victoria :) You May Also Be Interested In:
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