Make decorating these adorable gingerbread men even easier (and less messy!) with tubes of shop-bought icing and sweets. Get the kids involved too
- Preparation and cooking time
- Prep:45 mins
- Cook:12 mins – 15 mins
- Plus chilling, cooling and at least 1 hr drying
- Easy
- Serves 15 – 20
- Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 175g dark muscovado sugar
- 85g golden syrup
- 100g butter
- 350g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tbsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 egg, beaten
To decorate
- ready-made writing icing
- chocolate buttons or small sweets (optional)
Method
- STEP 1
Melt the sugar, golden syrup and butter in a saucepan, then bubble for 1-2 mins. Leave to cool for about 10 mins.
- STEP 2
Tip the flour, bicarbonate of soda and spices into a large bowl. Add the warm syrup mixture and the egg, stir everything together, then gently knead in the bowl until smooth and streak-free. The dough will firm up once cooled. Wrap in cling film and chill for at least 30 mins.
- STEP 3
Remove the dough from the fridge, leave at room temperature until softened. Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and line two baking trays with baking parchment.
- STEP 4
Roll out the dough to the thickness of a £1 coin, then cut out gingerbread people with a cutter. Re-roll the excess dough and keep cutting until it’s all used up.
- STEP 5
Lift the biscuits onto the trays and bake for 10-12 mins, swapping the trays over halfway through cooking. Leave to cool on the trays for 5 mins, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Use the icing to decorate the biscuits as you wish, and stick on chocolate or sweets for buttons. Leave to dry for 1-2 hrs. Will keep for up to three days in an airtight container.
