I love ginger, gingerbread, ginger biscuits and just about anything with ginger in it, the more flavoursome the better for me. So at this time of year I go into Gingerbread overload.
I always make my family a delicious Ginger Loaf cake to have over the Christmas holidays, but the most consistently stocked item in my house over the Christmas period is Ginger Bread Cookies!
The dough is really easy to make and it keeps for ages in the fridge. I always have a stash of the dough in the fridge in case the kids want to bake, which leads me on to saying how fantastic it is for kids to bake with, and make all sorts of gingerbread cookie shapes and of course a gingerbread house.
The gingerbread dough I like to make contains dark molasses (which is basically black treacle), it gives that lovely darker colour and a richer flavour to a gingerbread cookie. You can of course just use normal golden syrup and have a lighter gingerbread dough, both taste delicious.
There are different ways of making gingerbread dough, one of the oldest methods is to melt the sugars and butter and then mix in the dry ingredients, I do love this method as you literally watch the gingerbread grow – be sure to use a large saucepan if using this method as the mixture goes wild when you add in the bicarbonate of soda.
For a more simplistic and yummy gingerbread dough which keeps really well, this one is perfect –
Gingerbread Dough Recipe
Prep – 10 mins & approx. 30 mins chill time
Bake – 170 degrees for approx. 10 – 15 mins depending on how powerful your oven is, or how crunchy you want your biscuits.
400g Plain Flour
200g unsalted butter
145g black treacle (or golden syrup)
145g soft dark brown sugar
1 large egg
3/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
For the Royal Icing, I simply add water to a ready made powder, which is so much easier than making your own. Make sure your consistency is not too runny.
