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Let’s make gingerbread cookies!

One of my favourite British Christmas traditions is the making of gingerbread cookies. The house is filled with the heavenly smells of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger!
The kids always enjoy making them. This year my son and I made the cookies. We cut them  into different shapes: little houses, the famous gingerbread men, snowflakes, circles, and trees and we also put royal icing! They turned out beautiful but most importantly delicious!!! They are super yummy! Are you making any cookies this year? If you want to make these gingerbread cookies, here’s the recipe

INGREDIENTS :

For the gingerbread cookies

• 900 g all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon cloves
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons ginger powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 225 g butter, room temperature
• 200 g brown sugar
• 2 eggs, medium
• 300 g honey

For the royal icing

• 2 egg whites, from medium eggs
• 480 g icing sugar
• 35 g lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon red food colouring paste
• 1/2 teaspoon green food colouring past

  METHOD :

  For the gingerbread cookies

  • In a bowl, add the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, cloves, baking soda, ginger, salt, and mix with a spoon. Set aside.
  • In a mixer’s bowl, add the butter, the sugar, and beat with the whisk attachment at high speed for 5-6 minutes, until the mixture becomes fluffy.
  • When necessary, stop the mixer, and with a silicone spatula, scrape down the sides of the bowl. Then, keep beating.
  • Add one egg, and as soon as it is incorporated, add the next one. Last, add the honey and beat until the ingredients are homogenized.
  • Then, add the mixture of the solid ingredients and beat at low speed for 1-2 minutes.
  • Remove the bowl from the mixer and with your hands, knead the dough for a while. Cut into four even pieces, fold each one separately in parchment paper, and refrigerate them for 1-2 hours.
  • Preheat the oven to 180ο C  set to fan.
  • Remove one dough piece from the refrigerator, and transfer it onto a floured surface. Dust the dough with flour and with a rolling pin, roll it out until it is 3-5 mm thick.
  • With Christmas cookie cutters, shape the cookies and transfer them onto a baking pan lined with parchment paper.
  • Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove and allow 30 minutes for them to cool. When you remove from the oven, they will still be soft. For as long as they are cooling, they will become harder and crispier.
  • Follow the same process for all of the dough pieces.

  For the royal icing

  • In a mixer’s bowl, add the egg whites and beat for 1-2 minutes until they become a meringue.
  • Add the icing sugar, after sifting it, the lemon juice, and keep beating for 1-2 minutes.
  • Divide the mixture into three bowls, and add, in the first one, the red food colouring paste, in the second the green one, and mix. Leave the third one white.
  • Place each mixture into a pastry bag and decorate the cookies with any kind of Christmas toppings  that you like.
  • Sprinkle with the Christmas toppings, let them dry, and serve.