Is there anything that screams Christmas more than the aroma of freshly baked gingerbread, wafting through the house? Gingerbread Men are really easy to make and this is a great recipe to try with small children. It’s an easy recipe to follow and doesn’t require advanced cooking skills.

You can make Gingerbread Men with the most basic of kitchen implements and don’t need any fancy ingredients – perfect! Gingerbread Men biscuits also make fantastic presents. Wrap them in cellophane, tie with ribbon and you are done! They’d also make great teacher gifts too!

 

Gingerbread Men

Ingredients

  • 130g unsalted butter, softened
  • 115g dark brown sugar
  • 100g molasses
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground cloves
  • ¼ tsp sodium bicarbonate
  • 275g plain flour
  • 35ml water

Icing

  • 2 egg whites
  • 600g icing sugar mixture

Equipment

  • Large mixing bowl
  • Medium mixing bowl
  • Sturdy wooden spoon or spatula
  • Measuring cups and measuring spoons
  • Rolling pin
  • Gingerbread biscuit cookie cutters (your choice of shape)
  • Cling wrap
  • Piping bag (or make your own with a Ziploc bag)

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 170⁰C. Line 1 or 2 large cookie sheets with baking paper.
  2. Cream butter and sugar together until sugar granules have dissolved.
  3. Add molasses and mix well to combine.
  4. Sift flour, spices and bicarb soda and add to wet mix. Fold gently to combine, adding water as you go to help smooth the batter out.
  5. Tip the dough out on to a large piece of cling wrap, flatten gently with your hands into a large rectangle and wrap in the cling film.
  6. Refrigerate for a minimum of 20 minutes.
  7. Lightly flour a clean flat surface and turn dough out on to surface. Using a rolling pin, roll dough out to about 1cm in thickness. Dust the pin and dough with a little more flour if it starts to stick.
  8. Cut out gingerbread men shapes and place on trays about 2-3cm apart.
  9. Bake in preheated oven for 15 – 20 minutes or until lightly golden.
  10. Cool for 10 minutes on the tray before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.
  11. Once cookies are completely cool, it’s time to ice!
  12. In a medium-sized bowl, combine icing sugar and egg white and beat well until completely smooth. Transfer to a piping bag.
  13. Decorate cookies to your own taste – have fun with it!

 

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