One of my favorite holiday treats is gingerbread cookies. This spicy and slightly chewy biscuit delight warms the stomach and is loved by almost everyone, from little fairies to Santa Claus! (The gossip of eating gingerbread cookies is the reason why Rudolph's nose, Santa's friend reindeer, is always sparkling!) We'll show you how to make them, and give your cheeks a rosy blush too! Keep reading.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups (310 g) all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ginger powder
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
- 1/4 tsp clove powder
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg powder
- 1/2 cup (110 g) butter at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) molasses or syrup
- 1/4 cup (60 g) boiled water
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- Icing, frosting, sprinkles, etc. for decoration
Step
Step 1. Mix all ingredients
In a medium bowl, combine salt, baking soda, flour, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon together.
Step 2. Mix the wet ingredients
Take a large bowl and mix the butter, sugar, water, syrup and vanilla together. You can use an electric beater or a mixer if the butter isn't soft enough to beat with a hand whisk.
Step 3. Mix dry mixture with wet mixture
Add a small amount of flour mixture to the wet mixture, then stir gently with a wooden spoon until the entire mixture is soft. Be careful when you use power tools as this can cause the flour to splatter out of the mixing bowl as you beat.
Step 4. Prepare the dough
Divide the dough in half and use plastic to wrap the two halves. Store them in the refrigerator for two hours or until hardened.
Step 5. Preheat the oven
Set the temperature to 190° C (375° F).
Step 6. Print the biscuits
Sprinkle flour on the surface that will be used for printing, generally on the kitchen table. Use a rolling pin or the flat part of an empty syrup bottle to roll out the dough to 30 or 50 millimeters thick. Use a cookie cutter on the dough, either a stick figure or some other shape, then place it on the biscuit tin. Repeat the process with the remaining dough and score more biscuits.
Step 7. Bake the biscuits for 9 to 12 minutes, or until the biscuits are lightly browned
Remove from oven and leave on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a rack to cool. If you lift the biscuits straight from the pan, there may be parts of the mold that will crumble. If this is the case, you may eat the crushed parts.
Step 8. Decorate
This is the most fun part of baking cookies (besides eating them, of course!). Use icing, frosting, and sprinkles to give a face to the puppets. You can also "stick" the chewy candy using frosting to the bottom of the biscuit.
