It may seem strange to be sharing holiday cookies in early November, but the beautiful thing about cookies, is that they freeze really well, and I love getting a head start on holiday baking. I hope you can forgive me for being so early. I’ve also got so many ideas to share with you… I’m going to try and get them all in before Christmas! If you’d like to start baking and decorating early, click on the linksto find posts on freezing cookies, thawing cookies and the shelf life of cookies.
For my video tutorials, generally I focus on the decorating aspect, but making the dough may be helpful for you too. So, after 7 years of blogging, I’m finally sharing a video on how I make my go-to gingerbread cut-out cookie dough. Near the end of the video I’ll also share how I decorated these gingerbread men.
Thanks to Miss Kate Cuttables for allowing me to share the gingerbread man design which I purchased on their site here. I had the cookie cutter custom made through How Sweet is That?, but the cutters are not allowed to be sold. You can also find the recipes and decorating tools etc. below.
*I would like you toknow that I will receive an affiliate commission if you purchase the Dough E-Z mat through my site and I only recommend products that I love and use myself. You can get 10% off your purchase of the Dough E-Z mat with coupon code sweetopia.
Royal Icing
You can find my favoriteroyal icing recipe here. The consistency of icing is key for easy decorating.Click hereto see a YouTube video on finding the right icing thickness.
This videoon outlining and flooding is a good place to start if you’re new to decorating cookies with royal icing. These cookie decorating basicsYouTube videosmay also be helpful to get you started.
Besides the video tutorial on YouTube which I’ve shared here, I’ve also shared a few how-to videos on Instagram, which you can seehere. (And an example below). You can find tutorial for the gingerbread boy’s counterpart, the gingerbread girl, here.
If you have any questions or comments please feel free to drop me a line below in the comment section or on social media. You can find me onFacebook,Google+,Instagram,Pinterest,TwitterandYouTube.
Happy baking!
xo,
Marian
Print Recipe
Gingerbread Cut Out Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
800gall-purpose flour
1tspbaking powder*omit if you don't want cookies to spread/rise
250gunsalted butter, room temperature
1 cupdark brown sugar, packed
2largeeggs
1cupmolasses
3tspground cinnamon
3tspground ginger
1tspground cloves
1 tspsalt
Instructions
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix butter and brown sugar on medium speed until fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and spatula as needed.
Mix in eggs, one at a time, and then molasses. Reduce speed to low. Scrape down bowl as needed.
Sift together flour, spices and salt and add to bowl; mix on low until just combined. Note that you would sift in the baking powder here as well, if you aren't concerned about the cookies spreading. Even environment and ingredients used affect baking, so if your dough is a bit sticky add flour until it's soft to the touch but doesn't stick to your fingers.
Roll dough out between parchment or the Dough E-Z mat, and let it rest by refrigerating until cold, about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut out cookie shapes and place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper, approximately 2 inches apart, and re-roll out dough and cut shapes as needed. Refrigerate until firm; at least 15 minutes to 1 hour.
Bake cookies until lightly golden; 10 to 14 minutes, depending on the size and thickness of the cookie. Let cool on sheets on wire racks and serve as is or decorate withroyal icing.
Notes
Yield:Approx. 30 cookies (depending on size and shape)
Just stir up a batch of easy royal icing (it's our Test Kitchen's favorite frosting for decorating cutout cookies), add it to a piping bag fitted with a small round tip and pipe away! You can use small candies and sprinkles to add more detail. It's Christmastime, so go crazy with the extras!
Stick a variety of colorful candies on the iced cookies.
Once you've decorated the cookies with soft or royal icing, push a few pieces of bright candy onto them. As the icing hardens, it will hold the candies in place. You can arrange the candies in a pattern or use them to decorate gingerbread people.
Legend traces gingerbread men back to Queen Elizabeth I, who supposedly had her cooks mold the pastry into the shapes of her favorite courtiers and liked to give VIP guests ginger "biscuits" that were edible caricatures.
The cookies should still be slightly soft when you take them out of the oven. Most regular-sized gingerbread cookies will take 9-10 minutes, but you might need a little more or less time depending on whether your cookie cutters are small or extra large.
Bake for 12 minutes for light golden and mostly soft (though slightly crisp on edges), or 14 minutes for deeper golden and crisp. The gingerbread men will be soft out of the oven but will firm up as they cool.
But sometimes I just want to jazz them up a bit without hours of decorating. And that's where almond bark or melting chocolate saves the day! You can also use the fun-colored candy melts too. These products make it SO easy to simply melt and then drizzle or dip for beauty and flavor!
Thin royal icing in other colors to a watery consistency. Dip a fork into the thinned icing and drizzle it across the cookie. Repeat with other colors.
Festive wreaths and garlands are great for adding extra details, textures and color to your gingerbread house. Garlands can be used to decorate the roof or you can use them to dress up your side or front windows. Go more modern with your décor with a cute pom-pom wreath.
One of our favorite aspects about making gingerbread cookies from scratch is being able to decorate them after they cool. Sprinkles, icing, gum drops, mints, chocolates—you can use all these edible items and more to give your cookies their own unique personalities.
Make your house lighter and brighter by swapping gingerbread dough with a firm funfetti cookie dough and decorating with pastel treats like butter mints. If you're sticking with traditional gingerbread dough, pastel icing and candy still add a sweet and cheery touch.
A fear that gingerbread men could be the agents of the devil also spread throughout Europe. In 1607, the superstitious magistrates of Delft in the Netherlands made it illegal to either bake or eat any of these molded and spiced cookies. This was also a time of religious upheaval.
Long before it became a holiday treat, gingerbread was a royal favorite, a token of fertility, and a tool for witches to exact their vengeance. The pudgy gingerbread man with his candy eyes and icing smile has a sinister backstory—a link to death and the demonic.
To attach the decorations, turn them over to their flat side and use the Royal Icing as glue. They're very light, so just a touch will do it. Gently press the decoration into place and hold it for a minute or so. It should stick right in place.
Fit Everything Together with Melted Sugar or Royal Icing
The second way is to use burnt sugar as your glue. Just melt C&H® Pure Granulated Cane Sugar in a pan on the stove, dip the gingerbread parts in and hold them together for a few seconds. Then, presto! You've created a solid house.
Introduction: My name is Geoffrey Lueilwitz, I am a zealous, encouraging, sparkling, enchanting, graceful, faithful, nice person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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