Run, Run, Run
As fast as you can
You can’t catch me
I’m the Gingerbread Man
Ginger isn’t for everyone, but for those who love it nothing could be better than a traditional Gingerbread Man. It’s truly magical to see little faces light up as they run in to see these hanging on the Christmas Tree.
The History of Gingerbread Men
The first known record of gingerbread is in the 15th century.
One hundred years later, Queen Elisabeth I had gingerbread biscuits made in the shape of her guests. This was the first known instance of gingerbread biscuits shaped in the form of people.
The Fairy Tale
We all grew up with the classic fairy tale, “The Gingerbread Man”. It’s about a gingerbread man who comes to life, escapes the oven, outruns an elderly couple and a number of animals who want to devour him, and is eventually eaten by a fox, who he trusted to get him safely across a river. The moral of the story is that you should think very carefully before trusting anyone.
There are many versions of this classic fairy tale around but you can get a copy here.
Making Gingerbread Men
Gingerbread Men (or Gingerbread People if you are being politically correct) are very simple to make and this is a great recipe for the kids to help with.
There are just a few basic ingredients and a few simple steps. This recipe made up 16 Gingerbread Men but I have a very large Gingerbread Man Cookie Cutter. You will get more out of the recipe if you use a smaller cutter.
You can get Gingerbread Man Cookie Cutters everywhere at this time of year, but I got mine from Victoria’s Basement. I also sneaked a few extra cookie cutters in my basket too – shhhh!
Gingerbread Men are traditionally decorated with Royal Icing. Again, this is easy to make and I have also included the recipe for Royal Icing.
For the vegans among us, I came across this recipe from emilie eats that looks soooo good and I will be trying it soon to send down to my daughter who lives in Tasmania. Her and her partner are dedicated to helping endangered and injured native Australian animals. She’s a true animal lover so I’ll probably make hers vegan and in the shape of Aussie Animals.
Disclosure: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase I may earn a commission. Please keep in mind that I link these companies and their products because of their quality and because I genuinely use and/or like them, and not because of any commission I may receive from your purchases. The decision is yours, and whether or not you decide to buy something is completely up to you.
Traditional Gingerbread Men
Equipment
- Gingerbread Men cookie cutter
- Rolling pin
- mixing bowl
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Piping bag and small writing tip
- Electric mixer or whisk
Ingredients
Gingerbread Men
- 3 cups plain flour
- ½ tspn salt
- 1 tbsp ground ginger can add more or less to taste
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- 85 g softened unsalted butter
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- ½ cup molasses
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Royal Icing
- 2 egg whites
- 1 cup icing sugar
- ½ tsp clear vanilla optional (I didn't use)
- 5 drops white gel food colouring optional (I didn't use)
Instructions
Gingerbread Men
- Preheat oven to 180°C (160° fan forced, 375°F)
- Put all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk together until well combined
- In the bowl of your mixer, add softened butter and brown sugar and mix until well combined but not light and fluffy
- Add molasses and mix well
- Add egg and mix well
- Add flour mixture 1 cup at a time until all combined, mixing slowly so flour doesn't fly all over the kitchen. If mixture is too dry, add a bit of water, 1 tbsp at a time. if mixture is too moist, add 1 tbsp flour until mixture comes together in a soft ball
- Working with just ½ the dough at a time (wrap the rest in plastic wrap and store in the fridge until ready to use), roll out between 2 sheets of baking paper to about 3-4mm thick
- Using a cookie cutter, cut out the shapes. remove the unwanted dough from around the cookies, leaving the Gingerbread Men on the baking paper. Transfer the baking paper with the Gingerbread men on to a baking tray
- If you need to add additional Gingerbread Men to your baking tray to fill the tray, simply cut around the gingerbread man and transfer the baking paper with the Gingerbread man on it to the baking tray
- Bake for 8 minutes for a soft consistency, 8½ minutes for a more chewy consistency
- Form left over dough back into a ball and again roll out and continue making more Gingerbread Men until all the dough is used up
Royal Icing
- Add egg whites to the bowl of your mixer and whisk until soft peaks form. (Note, your mixer and whisk attachment MUST be free of any fat or oil or the egg whites will not whip up at all. To ensure they are, wipe thoroughly with white vinegar)
- Add icing sugar ½ cup at a time and whisk until well until all sugar is incorporated. Your mixture, should very slowly drop from the whisk when the whisk is held up. If it is too runny, your piping on the Gingerbread Men will spread. If it is too thick, it will be difficult to pipe. If it is too runny, add more icing sugar. If it is too thick, add a little egg white 1 tbsp at a time
- Place Royal Icing mixture in a piping bag fitted with a small writing tip – I used a Wilton #3 tip. At this point, you can set aside the piping bag in the fridge until you are ready to decorate the Gingerbread Men.
- Decorate the Gingerbread Men as desired.
Notes
These are perfect for hanging on the Christmas tree. If you are going to hang them on the tree, use a straw to cut small holes in the top of the cookie before they are baked. If you forget to do this, like I did, you can get hubby to drill holes in the heads of the Gingerbread Men, like I did. Use thin string to thread through the holes and tie in the Christmas tree. These would be perfect for when little people come around hungry and ready to gobble them up.
If you liked this recipe, you may also like some of my other Christmas recipes.
Traditional Christmas Pudding
Let me know how you go in the comments below and if your kids loved them as much as my grand kids did. I’d love to hear from you.
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