Christmas gingerbread

Fussy eaters that they are, while my kids can endure relatively spicy food, they both often complain that gingerbread men (or at least the ones we buy in stores) are often a little punchy for them.  So this was my attempt at making something with a little more of a Christmas kick while not being quite so spicy with ginger.

You can, of course, use any festive shape and decorate accordingly, but I love these little Christmas trees because they’re really easy to do and the baubles make them look extra special.

Ingredients

• 12¼ ounces / 350g plain flour
• 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
• 2 teaspoons of ginger
• ½ tablespoon of cinnamon
• pinch of nutmeg
• 4½ ounces / 125g unsalted butter
• 6 ounces / 175g light soft brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 4 tablespoons of golden syrup
• 5¼ ounces / 150g icing sugar
• ProGel green food colouring
• soft gold pearl decorations

Method

Line 3 baking trays with parchment.

Put the flour, bicarb, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg into a food processor and pulse to combine.

Add the butter and blitz until you have the consistency of fine breadcrumbs.

Add the sugar and pulse a few times to make sure everything is mixed.

In a jug whisk the egg and golden syrup together, before adding this to the processor and blitzing until everything comes together in a soft dough.

Remove from the processor, roll into a ball, wrap in Clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 180°C / 356°F (160°C / 320°F fan).

Lightly flour a surface and your rolling pin and roll out the dough until it’s about 0.5cm /  ⅕ inch thick.

Using Christmas tree cutters, cut the gingerbread shapes and move to your baking trays, leaving about an inch between each piece.

Cook in the oven for 15 minutes before setting aside to cool completely.

Mix your icing sugar with a tablespoon of water and stir.  Keep adding teaspoons of water and stirring until you have a thick consistency suitable for piping.

Add a drop of food colouring and stir, adding enough colouring to create the dark green of a Christmas tree.

Pipe lines across your tree (see photograph) and attach decorations to look like … well, decorations!

Leave for the icing to dry.

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