Gingerbread Cookies

Gingerbread

This gingerbread is one that Krystalyn has been working on for several years. It is nicely spicy and will bake to a perfect crunchiness if rolled thin. Perfect with coffee!

Golden Syrup is tricky to find.  You can sometimes find it in the import aisle of your local grocery, or at a store that sells a lot of import items (we've had good luck at World Market in the past), but Amazon is the only consistent place we've found it so far.  If you prefer to skip Amazon (and who wouldn't?), there are lots of alternatives!  Honey or agave nectar both work great.  Corn syrup will do in a pinch, but go for dark rather than light- it brings more flavor to the party!

Most of us had never had a cookie recipe that requires kneading, and there was some worry that we were overworking our dough and the cookies would be tough.  We have done this several times now, and the kneading is 100% necessary to make the cookies work, and we've never found the cookies to go tough, so don't fret!

The recipe makes several dozen cookies, depending on how you cut the dough. We have also discovered this year that the cookie gun works well with this dough, though the cookies don't snap quite as well as they do if you roll them out.

Baking pans lined with parchment

Preheat to 350°

Ingredients:

4 cups plain flour, plus extra for dusting

1 tsp baking soda

3 tbsp ground ginger

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper 

1 tsp fine salt

½  tsp ground allspice

½  tsp freshly grated nutmeg

¼  tsp cayenne

15 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small dice

¾ cup sugar

2 medium eggs

½ cup golden syrup

½ cup molasses

Instructions:

To make the dough, in a large bowl, mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda and spices together. Add the butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, then stir in the sugar.

In another large bowl, mix the eggs with the golden syrup and treacle. Add the flour mixture and mix to combine and form a soft dough.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth and no longer sticky- you will probably end up adding at least another cup of flour to the dough as you knead- DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP OR THE DOUGH WILL BE MUCH TOO STICKY TO USE. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Heat your oven to 180°C/Gas 4 (350° F) and line four baking trays with baking parchment.

Halve the dough, then divide one half into one-third and two-thirds. Roll out each piece on a lightly floured surface to a 4mm thickness.  Cut out each cookie.

Bake 15 minutes and allow to cool for at least 5 before attempting to decorate.