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Traditional Gingerbread Men

Just the right amount of chew, these Gingerbread Men will remind you of Christmas at Nana's house.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time8 minutes
Total Time38 minutes
Course: Dessert, Snack
Keyword: baking, Christmas, Gingerbread, gingerbread men, Gingerbread People
Servings: 24 Gingerbread men
Cost: $

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

This recipe can be used for any shape of cookie. Why not try snowflake shapes, a Gingerbread house or Aussie native animals for a more Aussie Christmas. The possibilities are endless
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
Traditional Christmas Pudding
Fig, Dark Chocolate and Port Mince Pies
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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