Gingerbread Men

They're like a little terracotta army! A bad back notwithstanding, I've had a few sessions pottering in the kitchen and have now made what I think will become a Christmas classic going forwards. The recipe makes 50-60 men approx 2.5-3" tall. Great fun!



This recipe is Kirstie Allsop's Gingerbread House Recipe from the Channel 4 website.

Ingredients:

675g plain flour
1 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tablespoons ground ginger
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground all spice (the smell of Christmas!)
175g unsalted butter
225g soft light brown sugar
1 large free range egg
6 tablespoons golden syrup

Method:

Sieve the flour, bicarbonate of soda and spices into a large bowl, then rub the butter into the dry ingredients until you have a texture resembling fine breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and mix well. I did all this in the Kenwood with the dough hook.

Warm a bowl and mix the syrup and the egg together in the warm bowl. Add the wet mixture to the dry and mix it to form a soft, smooth dough. I found the mixture quite dry, so added another tablespoon of syrup.

Wrap the dough in cling film and chill it for at least 1 hour. I found it difficult to roll it out chilled, so let it come back to room temperature or even slightly above by leaving it near a radiator. Once your shapes are cut out (the original recipe was for a gingerbread house), you can chill or freeze them prior to cooking if you don't want them to spread whilst cooking. I just put my men straight in the oven as this wasn't an issue. Cook for 8-10 minutes on 180C (mine took 15 mins in the Rayburn). Move to a cooling rack as soon as they come out of the oven.

I used a thick water icing on my men (three large spoons of icing sugar and a couple of tablespoons of water, added slowly and gradually), but the recipe recommends royal icing. Leave out to dry overnight.