Gingerbread Currant Biscotti Food

CHEF JOHN'S GINGERBREAD BISCOTTI

Steps:

• Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cayenne together in a bowl until thoroughly combined.
• Combine butter, brown sugar, and molasses in a bowl; mix with a spatula until creamy. Whisk in eggs, one at a time, until smooth. Add vanilla and chopped ginger. Mix and mash with the whisk until ginger is evenly distributed and coated with the butter-sugar mixture, about 1 minute.
• Mix in 1/2 of the dry ingredients with a spatula until incorporated. Mix in remaining dry ingredients until dough is very wet and sticky.
• Transfer dough to a long piece of plastic wrap, using a buttered knife to help if necessary. Wrap plastic around the dough and shape with your hands into a uniform log, about 12 to 14 inches long by 2 1/2 inches wide. Place in the refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat.
• Remove dough from the refrigerator, unwrap, and place on the prepared baking sheet. Wet your fingers and smooth out any edges.
• Bake in the center of the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
• Remove loaf from the oven, cover with a clean towel, and let sit for 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Uncover the loaf and brush a little water around the bottom edge to soften. Transfer to a cutting board.
• Use a serrated knife to cut the loaf into 1/2-inch slices. Cut at an angle for longer biscotti, or straight across for shorter ones. Transfer slices back to the baking sheet.
• Return to the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Flip biscotti and cook until they are dry and crispy all the way through, 10 to 15 minutes longer. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool to room temperature.
• Place melted white chocolate into a plastic bag. Snip off a corner and pipe over biscotti. Let sit until chocolate has cooled and hardened, about 30 minutes.

GINGERBREAD REINDEER

Steps:

• Whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, allspice, nutmeg, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl until well blended.
• Beat the granulated sugar and butter with an electric mixer in a large bowl starting on low speed and increasing to medium, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the molasses until combined, then beat in the egg (the mixture will look curdled). Reduce the speed to low and beat in the flour mixture a little at a time until the mixture comes together. Then increase the speed to medium and beat until well incorporated and a sticky dough forms. Divide the dough in half, flatten into 2 disks and wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to overnight.
• Position oven racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Keeping one disk refrigerated, roll the other disk on a well-floured surface to a thickness of 1/8 inch, sprinkling flour on and under the dough as needed and sliding a spatula underneath every so often to prevent sticking. If the dough looks crackly or breaks apart, press it back together from the outside edge in. With a 4-inch gingerbread man cookie cutter, cut out cookies as close together as possible. Pull away the extra dough around each shape and use a small spatula to transfer them to the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 1 inch apart. Gather together the scraps, leaving behind the excess flour, knead a few times to form a smooth dough again and reroll in the same way. (If there are any pieces of stuck dough on your surface, scrape them away with a spatula, flour the surface again and then continue to roll the dough.)
• Bake the cookies in the center of the oven racks, rotating them from top to bottom and front to back halfway through, until slightly firm to the touch but not brown, about 12 minutes. Cool the cookies 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to a rack to cool completely before icing. The cookies will continue to firm as they cool. Repeat the process with the remaining dough.
• Meanwhile, make the royal icing for decorating. Combine the confectioners' sugar and meringue powder in a large bowl. Add 6 tablespoons water and beat with an electric mixer on low until the icing thickens. The icing should be pure white and thick, but not fluffy and bubbly. (If overbeaten, it will get aerated, which makes it harder to work with. If this happens, let the icing sit for a bit to settle, then use a rubber spatula to vigorously beat and smooth it out.)
• Spoon about 1/3 cup of icing into each of 3 separate bowls (cover any remaining icing with plastic wrap and reserve in case you need more). Leave 1 bowl white. Dye the second bowl black and the third light brown. Thin out the light brown icing with 1 teaspoon water. Transfer the icing to separate resealable plastic bags. Snip a very tiny hole in the corner of the white and black icing bags, and snip a larger hole in the corner of the light brown icing bag.
• Place each cookie right side up in front of you. With the black icing, pipe an outline around the head of each cookie, around the arms and across the chest with a bowed line. Turn the gingerbread man upside down so it is standing on its head; now you can see the shape of the reindeer's head. Pipe black antlers coming out of the top of the head, over the gingerbread man's legs and feet.
• Using the loose light brown icing, flood each reindeer's head, using a toothpick to nudge the icing into any tight spots. Place a red cinnamon candy in the center of each face for the nose. Dry until set, 40 minutes to 1 hour.
• Once the brown base has dried, pipe on the rest of the face. Pipe 2 white dots above the nose for the whites of the eyes, and 2 white dots on the underside of the ears for downy fur. Use the black icing to pipe a smiling mouth and eyebrows. Once the white icing has slightly dried, pipe in black pupils. Give your reindeer some personality! Let the icing dry until hardened, 1 hour or ideally overnight.
• The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days, but are best eaten fresh.

DRIZZLED GINGERBREAD BISCOTTI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Beat in eggs, molasses and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flours, spices, baking powder and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Stir in crystallized ginger., Divide dough in half. On an ungreased baking sheet, shape each half into a 14x2-in. rectangle. Bake 20-25 minutes or until firm to the touch., Cool on pans on wire racks until cool enough to handle. Transfer baked rectangles to a cutting board. Using a serrated knife, cut diagonally into 1/2-in. slices. Place upright 1-in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 12-14 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely., In a microwave, melt baking chips and shortening; stir until smooth. Drizzle over biscotti. Decorate with Red Hots.

BARB'S GINGERBREAD BISCOTTI

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the first seven ingredients; In another bowl, combine the egg and egg whites, brown sugar, molasses and vanilla until smooth.
• Stir the egg mixture into dry ingredients just until moistened; fold in pecans and currants; cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Divide dough in half; shape each half into a ball; on a baking sheet coated with nonstick cooking spray, roll each ball into a 14-inch x 1 1/2-inch rectangle;Bake at 325 for 24 to 28 minutes or until frim to touch; remove from the oven and reduce heat to 300 degrees.
• Cool for 5 minutes, transfer to cutting board; cut diagonally with a serrated knife into 1/2-inch slices; place cut side down on baking sheets coated with nonstick cooking spray; bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned turning once, remove to wire racks to cool, store in an airtight container.

GINGERBREAD BISCOTTI

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a cookie sheet.
• In a large bowl, mix together oil, sugar, eggs, and molasses. In another bowl, combine flours, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg; mix into egg mixture to form a stiff dough.
• Divide dough in half, and shape each half into a roll the length of the cookie. Place rolls on cookie sheet, and pat down to flatten the dough to 1/2 inch thickness.
• Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove from oven, and set aside to cool.
• When cool enough to touch, cut into 1/2 inch thick diagonal slices. Place sliced biscotti on cookie sheet, and bake an additional 5 to 7 minutes on each side, or until toasted and crispy.

SOFT GINGERBREAD BISCOTTI

Steps:

• Position a rack in the middle of the oven & preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, just 2 teaspoons of the ginger & 2 teaspoons of the cinnamon, as well as the cloves, the 3/4 cup of granulated sugar & all of the brown sugar.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, butter & vanilla extract, then pour this egg mixture into the flour mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon until dough comes together in a soft & slightly sticky mass.
• Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface & knead several times until smooth.
• Divide dough in half, then shape each piece into a log about 8 inches long & 2 inches wide before setting each log some 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.
• In a small bowl, stir together the remaining 1 teaspoon of ginger, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon & the 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar. Brush the logs with the egg white & sprinkle each log with 1/3 of the spiced sugar mixture.
• Bake logs 25 to 30 minutes or until they are puffed & golden brown, then set the baking sheet on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes.
• Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees F, then using a serrated knife, cut each log into 1/2-inch-slices (about 15 each).
• Arrange the biscotti, flat-side down, on the baking sheet & sprinkle with another 1/3 of the sugar mixture, then bake for 6 minutes or until biscotti are light golden brown.
• Turn the biscotti over, sprinkle with the remaining sugar mixture & bake another 6 minutes.
• Cool biscotti on the baking sheet set on a wire rack for 5 minutes before removing them to the rack to cool completely.
• Store in an airtight container or in a zip-lock bag for up to 4 days.

ULTIMATE EASY GINGERBREAD

Steps:

• Heat the butter, syrup and sugar together in a small pan until melted, stirring occasionally. Set aside to cool slightly.
• Mix together the bicarb, ginger, cinnamon and flour in a large bowl. Pour in the buttery syrup mixture and stir to combine, then use your hands to bring together to form a dough. The dough will be soft at this point, but it'll firm up in the fridge.
• Put the dough on a sheet of baking parchment, shape into a rectangle, and lay another sheet of parchment on top of it. Roll the dough out to a thickness of ½cm. Transfer to a baking sheet to keep it flat, leaving the parchment in place, then chill in the fridge for 1 hr.
• Heat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5 and line a large baking sheet with more baking parchment. Remove the dough from the fridge and cut out shapes using a cookie cutter. We used 9cm stars, but you can choose any shape. We also made some with smaller stars cut out of the centre to thread ribbon through and hang from a Christmas tree.
• Place the shapes, spread apart, on the lined baking sheet, and bake for 10-12 mins. (Depending on the size of the cutters you use, they might need a few minutes more or less cooking in the oven). Leave to cool completely on the baking sheet.
• Meanwhile, mix the icing sugar with 1-2 tbsp water - you want to create a consistency that's thick and pipeable, and not too thin or it will run. Decorate the cooled biscuits with the icing using a piping bag with a thin nozzle. Find out how to make a piping bag.