For the gingerbread dough (makes around 12 gingerbread people)
- 240g plain flour
- third of a tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1.5 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 40g unsalted butter
- 50g light brown sugar
- half a medium egg
- 2 tbsp golden syrup
Decoration options: string or ribbon, jelly tots, smarties, white choc chips, dark choc chips, white, green and red icing
Method
- Sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger and cinnamon and pour into the bowl of a food processor. Add the butter and blend until the mix looks like breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar.
- Lightly beat the egg and golden syrup together, add to the food processor and pulse until the mixture clumps together. Tip the dough out, knead briefly until smooth, wrap in cling film and leave to chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Line two baking trays with greaseproof paper.
- Roll the dough out to a 0.5cm/¼in thickness on a lightly floured surface.
- Using cutters, cut out the gingerbread men shapes. Using the blunt end of a wooden skewer, press the skewer through the cookie to a make a hole (which you can thread ribbon through later!). Make sure the hole isn’t too close to the edge, or else the cookie may break.
- Place the biscuits on the baking tray, leaving a gap between them.
- Bake for 10–12 minutes, or until lightly golden-brown. Carefully move biscuits to a wire rack to finish cooling. When cooled decorate with the writing icing and decorations, if using.
