Great edible gifts with a long shelf life, these are fun and easy gingerbread biscuits. Red smarties for Rudolph's nose and simple melted chocolate to decorate.
Total time to make : 1hr 10 minutes Time to prep : 15 minutes Time to chill : 45 minutes
Time to bake : 8 -10 minutes
Servings : 24 (depending on size)
Ingredients
125g unsalted butter
100g brown sugar
200g golden syrup
375g plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp mixed spice
To decorate
Red smarties
80g chocolate (or use ready-to-write chocolate icing)
Method
In a saucepan, melt together the butter, sugar and golden syrup on a low heat until combined. Remove from heat and allow to cool a little
In a bowl, combine the flour, bicarb and spices
Pour the liquid mixture into the flour and spices bowl and mix together until a dough is formed
Tip the dough onto a sheet of cling film and flatten it out into a disc, wrap up and chill in the fridge for at least 45 minutes
Preheat a fan oven to 160C
Once chilled, remove the dough from the fridge and roll on a clean surface, using a sprinkling of plain flour on the surface and rolling pin to stop it from sticking, until the dough is about 1/2cm thick
Use a circular cookie cutters - I used a 3" - and place onto baking trays lined with baking paper, bake for 8ish minutes depending on the size of your gingerbread*
Re-roll the left-over dough as necessary and repeat
Once out the oven, leave to cool on a wire rack before decorating
Melt the chocolate over a low heat until it's 75% melted, then remove from the heat (it will continue to melt). Pour into a piping bag and snip the end off so there's a very small hole. The chocolate should be melted but not very hot. Practice on scrap baking paper. Pipe your nose, eyes and antlers. Stick a red smarties as the nose whist the chocolate is still melted. Leave to cool and enjoy!
Nutritional Information
95 calories
1g protein, 15g carbs, 3g fat
Good to know
Remover the gingerbread biscuits just before they start to turn golden around the edges, they might still look a bit pale but they'll cool to still be soft in the middle. If you want them crunchy with no chew, wait for them to have a slightly golden edge, then remove from the oven
Store once cooled in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 - 4 weeks
Dough can be frozen for up to 2 months, just thaw before rolling, or cut-out shapes stored for up to 2 months, ready to bake straight from frozen
Vegetarian