Crispy Ginger Men Food

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:

• 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.

CRISPY GINGER MEN

Steps:

• In large bowl, mix cereal and chopped cookies. In 2-quart nonstick saucepan, melt butter. Add marshmallows; cook and stir over medium-low heat until marshmallows are completely melted. Pour over cereal mixture; mix until coated.
• Line cookie sheet with waxed paper; spray paper with cooking spray. Spray 3 3/4-inch open gingerbread man cookie cutter with cooking spray; place on cookie sheet. Spray hands well with cooking spray. Firmly pack cereal mixture evenly into cookie cutter, filling cutter completely; push out of cutter. Repeat until all mixture is used. Let stand until set.
• In small resealable freezer plastic bag, place baking chips and oil; seal bag. Microwave on High about 1 minute or until softened. Gently squeeze bag until mixture is smooth. Refrigerate 2 minutes or until slightly set. Cut off tiny corner of bag; squeeze bag to pipe melted chips over cookies as desired to decorate, using small dots to attach candy. When decorations are set, cut strips of fruit snack and tie around necks for scarves.

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.

CRISPY GINGER BEEF

Steps:

• Place cornstarch in a large bowl.
• Add water gradually while whisking.
• Beat eggs into cornstarch mixture.
• Toss in beef and stir to coat.
• Pour 1 inch of oil into wok, heat until boiling hot, but not smoking.
• Add a quarter of the beef to the oil.
• Seperate with a fork and cook, stirring frequently, until crispy, Remove, drain on paper towel and set aside.
• Repeat until all the beef is cooked.
• Drain off all oil except for about 1 tablespoons and add carrots, onion, ginger, and garlic in that order.
• Stir fry briefly over high heat.
• Combine last 5 ingredients and add to vegetable mixture.
• Bring to a boil and then add beef.
• Heat thorough and serve immediately.

INCREDIBLY CRISP GINGERSNAPS

Steps:

• Set racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices in a bowl; stir well to mix. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together on medium speed the butter and sugar for about 5 minutes until very light, fluffy and whitened. Add the egg and continue beating until smooth. Lower speed and beat in half the dry ingredients, then the molasses. Stop the mixer and scrape down bowl and beater. Beat in the remaining dry ingredients. Remove bowl from mixer and use a large rubber spatula to finish mixing the dough. Use a small ice cream scoop to scoop out 1-inch diameter pieces of dough. Roll into balls between the palms of your the hands, then roll in the sugar. Place the balls of dough on the prepared pans leaving about 3 inches all around each, to allow for spreading. Bake the cookies for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until they have spread, the surface has crackled, and they are firm to the touch. Slide the papers from the pans to racks. Store the cooled cookies between sheets of parchment or waxed paper in a tin or platic container witha tight-fitting cover.

GINGERBREAD CRISP CUTOUTS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in molasses and egg. Combine the dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture and mix well (dough will be soft). Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until easy to handle. , On a lightly floured surface, roll out to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut with floured 2-1/2-in. cookie cutters and place on greased baking sheets. , Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.

CRISP GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
• In bowl of electric mixer, cream butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Mix in spices, salt, and pepper, then eggs and molasses. Add in flour mixture on low speed. Divide into thirds; wrap in plastic. Chill at least 1 hour.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees. On a floured work surface, roll out dough 1/8 inch thick. Cut into desired shapes. Transfer to baking sheets lined with Silpat mats; refrigerate until firm, 15 minutes. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until crisp but not darkened. Cool on wire racks, and decorate.

CRISPY GINGER BISCUITS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 2 baking sheets.
• Beat butter, 1/2 cup white sugar, and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in egg, ground ginger, and salt. Gradually add flour until cookie dough comes together, 1 to 2 minutes. Fold in chopped crystallized ginger.
• Place 2 tablespoons white sugar in a shallow dish. Shape dough into balls, and roll one side in sugar. Press onto prepared baking sheets.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes.

THIN, CRISP GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• In food processor workbowl fitted with steel blade, process flour, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt, and baking soda until combined,.
• about 10 seconds. Scatter butter pieces over flour mixture and process until mixture is sandy and resembles very fine meal, about 15 seconds. With machine running, gradually add molasses and milk; process until dough is evenly moistened and forms soft mass, about 10 seconds. Alternatively, in bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment, stir together flour, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt, and baking soda at low speed until combined, about 30 seconds. Stop mixer and add butter pieces; mix at medium-low speed until mixture is sandy and resembles fine meal, about 1 1/2 minutes. Reduce speed to low and, with mixer running, gradually add molasses and milk; mix until dough is evenly moistened, about 20 seconds. Increase speed to medium and mix until thoroughly combined, about 10 seconds.
• Scrape dough onto work surface; divide into quarters. Working with one portion of dough at a time, roll 1/8-inch thick between two large sheets of parchment paper. Leaving dough sandwiched between parchment layers, stack on cookie sheet and freeze until firm, 15 to 20 minutes. Alternatively, refrigerate dough 2 hours or overnight.
• Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 325 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• Remove one dough sheet from freezer; place on work surface. Peel off top parchment sheet and gently lay it back in place. Flip dough over; peel off and discard second parchment layer. Cut dough into 5-inch gingerbread people or 3-inch gingerbread cookies, transferring shapes to parchment-lined cookie sheets with wide metal spatula, spacing them 3/4 inch apart; set scraps aside. Repeat with remaining dough until cookie sheets are full. Bake cookies until slightly darkened and firm in centers when pressed with finger, about 15 to 20 minutes, rotating cookie sheets front to back and switching positions top to bottom halfway through baking time. Do not overbake. Cool cookies on sheets 2 minutes, then remove with wide metal spatula to wire rack; cool to room temperature.
• Gather scraps; repeat rolling, cutting, and baking in steps 2 and 4. Repeat with remaining dough until all dough is used.