50 Perfect Gingerbread Men Food

GINGERBREAD MEN

Steps:

• Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5 and line a baking tray with baking parchment. Sieve the flour, salt, bicarb, ginger and cinnamon into a large bowl. Heat the butter, sugar and syrup until dissolved. Leave the sugar mixture to cool slightly, then mix into the dry ingredients to form a dough. Chill the dough in the fridge for 30 mins.
• On a surface lightly dusted with flour, roll out the dough to a ¼-inch thickness. Stamp out the gingerbread men shapes with a cutter, then re-roll any off-cuts and repeat. Place your gingerbread shapes on the lined trays, allowing space for them to spread. Cook for 10-15 mins, then remove from the oven and leave to cool.

GINGERBREAD MEN

Steps:

• Whisk Dry Ingredients on one bowl.
• Cream butter & sugar - In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar together using a stand mixer or electric beater on speed 7 for 2 minutes, or until light and fluffy.
• Egg & vanilla - Add the egg and vanilla, then mix on speed 5 until combined (~30 sec).
• Molasses - Add the molasses, mix for 1 minute using speed 2.
• Gradually add dry ingredients - Add 1/4 of the Dry ingredients, then mix until you can't see flour (start on speed 1 to stop flour flying everywhere!). Repeat until all Dry ingredients are mixed in, then mix for further 15 seconds. Dough should be soft and a bit sticky - see video for texture.
• Refrigerate - Pat dough into a disc shape, wrap in the cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or until firm. (Can refrigerate 5 days or freeze 3 months).
• Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C (170°C fan) and set a shelf in the middle. Line 3 x baking trays with parchment/baking paper.
• Take the dough out of the refrigerator and cut into half. Wrap half and return to the fridge.
• Roll out (Note 7)- Sprinkle a sheet of baking paper very lightly with flour. Place dough on top, sprinkle surface very lightly with flour. Place another sheet of baking paper on top. Roll dough out until 4mm / 1/6" thick using a rolling pin. As you work, flip and if paper is wrinkling, peel it off then put if back on, smoothing out wrinkles.
• Cut out shapes (Note 8) - Use a gingerbread cookie cutter to cut out gingerbread men shapes, firmly pressing to cut all the way through. If the dough sticks to the cutter, dip it into flour.
• Transfer - Use a palette knife (or large knife) to transfer shapes onto baking sheet. Place 6 on the first sheet. Tidy edges if necessary using a butter knife.
• Bake Tray 1 - Bake for 12 minutes (for classic light golden) or 14 minutes (dark golden and crisp). Then remove and cool fully on tray.
• Repeat - Meanwhile, gather scraps of dough, press together then roll out again. If dough is sticky, return to refrigerator and work on the other half of the dough instead. Repeat rolling out and cutting out. You should have 18 to 20 gingerbread men in total (depending on cutter size)
• Trays 2 & 3 - Fill and bake 2nd and 3rd tray with gingerbread men, 6 to 8 on each tray. I find the workflow that works best is baking one tray at a time ie. roll/cut-out/fill/bake one tray while you prepare the next.
• Decorate - Fully cool on trays, then decorate! Use a half batch of this Royal Icing recipe to pipe and stick on decorations (sets hard and doesn't soak into cookies). The recipe makes more than you need, but it's impractical to make less. So freeze leftovers in fully sealed piping bag for future use.

GINGERBREAD MEN

Steps:

• Sift the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and allspice into a medium bowl; set aside. Melt the butter and shortening in a medium saucepan; remove from the heat and stir in the brown sugar and molasses. Transfer to a large bowl and let cool slightly.
• Add the egg to the butter mixture; beat with a mixer on medium speed until incorporated. Reduce the mixer speed to low; beat in the flour mixture in two additions until just combined. Divide the dough in half; wrap each half in plastic wrap and pat into 1/2-inch-thick disks. Refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.
• Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Working with 1 piece of dough at a time, roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thick on a lightly floured surface, dusting with flour as needed. Cut out gingerbread men with a 3 1/2- to 5-inch cookie cutter and arrange 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Brush off the excess flour and refrigerate the cutouts 15 minutes.
• Bake the cookies until golden around the edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool 3 to 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to racks to cool completely. Decorate with royal icing and let harden at room temperature, about 1 hour.

50 PERFECT GINGERBREAD MEN

Steps:

• 1. Please Note: Prep time does not include refrigeration time of dough. In large bowl, cream butter and sugar together. Beat mixture until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, molasses and vinegar. (Don't be afraid of this. You will not taste it.)
• 2. In another bowl, sift together flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt. (I whisk briskly for a minute or two, which does the same thing.) Slowly, add to the butter mixture, a little at a time until all is incorporated. Dough will be soft.
• 3. Divide the dough into thirds, form into 3 discs, dust lightly with flour and place each into a large ziplock bag. Flatten slightly and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. (Can be left overnight, if you wish.)
• 4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out dough, one piece at a time, 1/4 inch thick on a floured surface and cut out cookies with a 4" cutter dipped in flour for 50 men. Transfer the cookies with a spatula to a prepared, parchment lined cookie sheet, approximately 2" apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Do not over bake. Cool completely and then decorate as desired.
• 5. For the decorator icing: Heat butter, and milk in medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and powdered sugar to desired consistency with hand mixer. To keep from hardening while you are decorating, you can keep the icing on a double boiler on the counter next to you, or just warm the bowl of icing slightly in the microwave. Too thin, add more powdered sugar. Too thick, add a few drops of milk. It's very forgiving. =) Should be thick enough to stack cookies when cool.

GINGERBREAD MEN

Steps:

• 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 and place on the baking tray, leaving a gap between them.
• Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until lightly golden-brown. Leave on the tray for 10 minutes and then move to a wire rack to finish cooling. When cooled decorate with the writing icing and cake decorations, if using.

GINGERBREAD MEN COOKIES

Steps:

• Cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in molasses, egg and water. In another bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients minus frosting; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Divide dough in half. Shape each into a disk; cover. Refrigerate until easy to handle, about 30 minutes., Preheat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion of dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 4-in. gingerbread man cookie cutter. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets., Bake until edges are firm, 8-10 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool completely. Frost as desired.

GINGERBREAD MEN COOKIES

Steps:

• Mix flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt in large bowl. Set aside. Beat butter and brown sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add molasses, egg and vanilla;mix well. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed. Press dough into a thick flat disk. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness on lightly floured work surface. Cut into gingerbread men shapes with 5-inch cookie cutter. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets.
• Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges of cookies are set and just begin to brown. Cool on baking sheets 1 to 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks; cool completely. Decorate cooled cookies as desired. Store cookies in airtight container up to5 days.

BEST GINGERBREAD MEN

Steps:

• Cream margarine and sugar together. Add egg and mix. Add molasses and spice and stir well.
• In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt.
• Add flour mixture to creamed mixture a bit at a time. Stir after each addition.
• Turn dough onto floured surface and knead a couple of times to make sure it is well mixed.
• Divide dough in half, wrap half in plastic wrap and set aside (I put in the refrigerator).
• Roll out half the dough on floured surface with floured rolling pin to about 1/4-inch thickness.Cut with floured gingerbread man cutter.
• Place 1/2-inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
• Decorate with candies now or wait until cookies are cool and decorate with frosting.
• Bake at 325 degrees for 12 minutes or until edges are slightly browned.
• Remove cookies to wire rack to cool.
• Store cookies tightly covered for up to 2 weeks.

GINGERBREAD MEN

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, cream together the dry butterscotch pudding mix, butter, and brown sugar until smooth. Stir in the egg. Combine the flour, baking soda, ginger, and cinnamon; stir into the pudding mixture. Cover, and chill dough until firm, about 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease baking sheets. On a floured board, roll dough out to about 1/8 inch thickness, and cut into man shapes using a cookie cutter. Place cookies 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until cookies are golden at the edges. Cool on wire racks.

GINGERBREAD MAN

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Line 2 baking sheets with baking parchment. Melt butter, sugar and syrup in a pan. Mix flour, soda, spices and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Stir in the butter mix and chopped ginger to make a stiff-ish dough.
• Wait until cool enough to handle, then roll out dough to about 5mm thick. Stamp out gingerbread men, re-rolling and pressing the trimmings back together and rolling again. Lift onto baking sheets. Bake for 12 mins until golden. Cool 10 mins on the sheets, then lift onto cooling racks.
• To decorate, mix icing sugar with a few drops of water until thick and smooth. Halve then slice cherries thinly to make smiles, and cut ginger into small squares. Spoon icing into a food bag, snip off the tiniest bit from one corner, then squeeze eyes and buttons, and a tiny smile onto 1 man at a time. Stick on a cherry smile and ginger buttons. Repeat; leave to set. Will keep up to 1 week in an airtight tin.