Gingerbread Cookies

These delicious gingerbread cookies are soft in the middle, while crispy on the edges. With just the right amount of spices, these sweet holiday treats are a favourite at Christmas.

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Keyword: Biscuits, Cookies, Gingerbread, Gingerbread Men

Prep Time: 30

Cook Time: 12

Chill Time: 2

Total Time: 2 42

Calories: 4259kcal

Author: S Jones

Ingredients

Gingerbread Cookies

¾ Cup Butter room temperature
1 Cup Brown Sugar
½ tsp Vanilla Extract
6 TBSP Golden Syrup
2 ½ Cups Plain Flour
1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
5 tsp Ground Ginger
2 tsp Mixed Spice

Royal Icing

1 ¼ Cups Pure Icing Sugar sifted
1 Egg White
2+ tsp Water

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Making Gingerbread Cookies

Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer, cream the salted butter and brown sugar in a large bowl.
Beat in the vanilla extract and the golden syrup.
Gradually add the flour, the bicarbonate of soda, the ground ginger, and mixed spice. Mix together until you have a dough that is soft and a little sticky, though it should hold together when you press it.
Roll the dough into a ball and wrap in cling wrap.
Place in the fridge for a couple of hours to firm up. You could also freeze for up to 3 months if you want to get a head start for Christmas.
When ready, line baking trays with baking paper.
Preheat the oven to 177˚C or 350˚F.
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface or between two sheets of baking paper. If you use too much flour, you may find there is a lot of flour on the cookies. You could always flip the cookies onto the side that has the less flour when placing them on the baking tray.
Using your cookie cutter, cut out the shapes. To get a clean cut, make sure to press firmly, all the way through the dough.
Peel off the dough around the cookie, then I use a stainless steel bench scraper to transfer to the prepared baking tray. If you want to tidy up any edges, try using a butter knife.
Gather the scraps of the dough and roll out again. Cut out the shapes and continue to repeat with the remaining dough. If the dough becomes sticky, you can return it to the fridge and let it cool down again before continuing.
Place the baking trays in the preheated oven and bake for 12 to 15 minutes.
For a softer cookie, bake for 12 minutes, for a crunchier cookie, bake for 14 to 15 minutes. All cookies will be soft when they first come out of the oven, though they will harden as they cool.

Making the Royal Icing

Beat the egg white in a small bowl with an electric mixer until it is broken up.
Sift the icing sugar and gradually add it to the egg. Beat until firm peaks form.
Start with a small amount of water and beat on low speed before speeding up, until smooth and glossy. Add more water as needed.
For multiple colours, divide the icing into separate bowls and add a couple of drops of food colouring to each bowl, mixing until you achieve the colour you want.
If you find the icing gets too thin, add a little more icing sugar. If it gets too thick, add a little water.
Spoon the icing into a small piping bag fitted with a small plain nozzle.

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Nutrition

Nutritional information is an estimate and provided as a courtesy. The values may vary according to the ingredients and tools that are used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed information.