Austrian Gingerbread Cookies Food

THE BEST GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• For the cookies: Whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, allspice and cloves in a large bowl.
• Mix the butter, shortening, brown sugar and molasses in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat in the egg. Beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in two additions. Divide the dough in half, wrap in plastic and pat to 1/2-inch thick. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out one piece of dough to 1/4-inch thick, dusting with flour if needed. Cut into 3- to 5-inch cookies with a gingerbread man cutter or desired shape. Brush off the excess flour and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Repeat with the second piece of dough.
• Bake the cookies in batches until they are golden around the edges, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.
• For the royal icing: Whisk the confectioners' sugar with the meringue powder in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat in 6 tablespoons of water until well combined and you have stiff glossy peaks, adding 1 tablespoon more water at a time to reach a smooth pipeable consistency. Mix in food coloring as desired. Fill pastry bags fitted with tips. Decorate the gingerbread cookies with the icing.

GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, spices, baking soda, and salt; set aside. With an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in molasses and egg. With mixer on low, add dry ingredients; mix just until a dough forms. Place dough on floured plastic wrap; pat into an 8-inch square. Wrap well; chill until firm, 1 to 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Divide dough in half. Working with one half at a time (rewrap and refrigerate other half), place dough on floured parchment or waxed paper; roll out 1/8 inch thick, turning, lifting, and flouring dough (and rolling pin) as needed. Freeze dough (on paper) until firm, about 20 minutes.
• Loosen dough from paper. Cut out shapes, and transfer to baking sheets. Decorate with sugar or sprinkles, as desired.
• Bake until firm and edges just begin to darken, 10 to 18 minutes, depending on size. Cool completely on baking sheets.

AUSTRALIAN GINGER COOKIES

Steps:

• Whisk together flour, ground ginger, pepper, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl; set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, brown and granulated sugars, and grated ginger until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add golden syrup and continue to beat, scraping down sides as necessary, until thoroughly combined. Mix in crystallized ginger. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.
• Using a 1/4-cup ice cream scoop, drop dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. If dough becomes soft, refrigerate 20 minutes.
• Roll dough into balls between your palms, then roll in sanding sugar to coat. Place 6 balls each on two fresh parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing at least 2 inches apart. Freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake, rotating halfway through, until edges are golden, 17 to 20 minutes. Let cool on sheets 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

THE MOST WONDERFUL GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves until well blended.
• In a large bowl (KitchenAid's great for this) beat butter, brown sugar, and egg on medium speed until well blended.
• Add molasses, vanilla, and lemon zest and continue to mix until well blended.
• Gradually stir in dry ingredients until blended and smooth.
• Divide dough in half and wrap each half in plastic and let stand at room temperature for at least 2 hours or up to 8 hours.
• Preheat oven to 375 deg. Prepare baking sheets by lining with parchment paper.
• (Dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, but in this case it should be refrigerated. Return to room temp before using.) Preheat oven to 375°.
• Grease or line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• Place 1 portion of the dough on a lightly floured surface.
• Sprinkle flour over dough and rolling pin.
• Roll dough to a scant 1/4-inch thick.
• Use additional flour to avoid sticking.
• Cut out cookies with desired cutter-- the ginger bread man is our favorite of course.
• Space cookies 1 1/2-inches apart.
• Bake 1 sheet at a time for 7-10 minutes (the lower time will give you softer cookies-- very good!).
• Remove cookie sheet from oven and allow the cookies to stand until the cookies are firm enough to move to a wire rack.
• After cookies are cool you may decorate them any way you like.
• I usually brush them with a powdered sugar glaze when I am in a hurry, but they look wonderful decorated with Royal icing.

GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Beat together the butter, treacle, brown sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the egg, then beat through all of the remaining dry ingredients apart from the caster sugar. Chill the mixture in the fridge for 1 hr.
• Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 4. Line two baking sheets with baking parchment. Roll the mixture into 20 even-sized balls (weighing for accuracy, if you like). Tip the caster sugar onto a small plate, then add each ball and roll around to coat. Space each ball out on the baking sheets. Bake for 9-10 mins until golden brown. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack.

LATVIAN CHRISTMAS GINGERBREAD

Steps:

• Put the molasses, brown sugar, butter and lard in a pot and heat, stirring constantly under medium-low heat until the butter, lard and sugar are completely melted. DO NOT BOIL. The process can be sped up by first softening the butter and lard in the microwave. Do not allow the mixture to scorch, or the cookies will not hold together.
• Take the mixture off the heat and add 2-1/2 cups of flour, along with all of the spices. Mix thoroughly and set aside to cool to lukewarm, stirring occasionally.
• Lightly beat the eggs and incorporate them into the dough. Let it cool completely.
• Sieve together the remaining flour with the baking soda and baking powder. Add the flour gradually to the dough, stirring thoroughly after each addition. When the dough becomes too thick to stir, knead with your hands -- first in the bowl, then on a well-floured work surface. Initially the dough will stick like glue, but eventually you will get a smooth, shiny and quite heavy dough. Add more flour if needed, but only a bit at a time.
• Grease a bowl with butter and put the dough in it. Cover with cloth and let rest for a couple of hours.
• To bake: Generously flour your work surface. Take a piece of dough and roll it out very thinly. Cut out shapes and place on a cookie sheet. No need to grease the sheet -- that's why the lard is there (you won't taste it at all).
• Bake in a 400 degree oven. The cookies should bake in no more than five or six minutes -- watch them carefully, and when the bottom edge begins to brown and the surface looks dry, they should be ready. Take the cookies out of the oven and put the pan on a rack. When the cookies cool, they should be harder and slide off the pan. If they are still moist or stick, pop them back into the oven for another minute or two.
• This recipe makes lots of cookies, so it can be halved (or doubled, for that matter). The dough will keep almost indefinitely in the fridge, covered with plastic wrap. When it comes out of the fridge, it will be quite hard, but a bit of kneading and rolling will make it soft and pliable again.

GINGERBREAD CUTOUT COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Add egg and molasses. Combine the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Cover and refrigerate until easy to handle, about 4 hours or overnight., Preheat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut with floured 2-1/2-in. cookie cutters. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. , Bake until edges are firm, 8-10 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool completely. Tint some of the frosting red and some green; leave remaining frosting plain. Decorate cookies.

AUSTRIAN NUT COOKIES

Steps:

• In a bowl, combine flour, chopped almonds and sugar. Mix in butter until dough is just combined. On a floured surface, roll the dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut with a 2-in. round cutter and place 1 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour., Uncover and bake at 375° for 7-10 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool completely. Spread jam on half of the cookies; top with another cookie. , For frosting, combine chocolate, confectioners' sugar and butter. Spread on tops of cookies. Decorate with slivered almonds.