King Arthur Flour Gingerbread Men Food

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.

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 (FROM KING ARTHUR FLOUR)

Steps:

• Grease and flour a 9" square pan. Preheat the oven to 350°F
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.
• Melt the butter in a heatproof measuring cup. Add the molasses to the cup, and pour into the dry ingredients in the bowl, mixing to moisten.
• Add the water, stirring until everything is moistened. Whisk together the egg and buttermilk. Stir into the batter until it's evenly combined. Stir in the crystallized ginger.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the cake just begins to pull away from the edge of the pan.
• Remove from the oven and cool on a rack for 15 minutes before slicing; gingerbread is best served warm with whipped cream or ice cream.