If you have ever tasted real gingerbread cookies, then you probably have not forgotten its taste. Spicy and fragrant pastries are especially relevant on the eve of the New Year and Christmas. In our article, we want to give the best recipes for ginger cookies.
History of Ginger Cookies
The history of cookies goes back to England. There is even a legend that tells that the English monks were the first to put ginger in cookies. Around the eleventh century, the monk Patrick kneaded the dough in a wooden bowl and generously added spices that were brought from the crusade by his brother. And he made the baking itself in the form of angels and figures of saints. Soon, all the inhabitants of the monastery enjoyed delicious cookies. The pastries especially liked the pastor, who asked Patrick to make the same treat for Christmas. At that time, a Christmas tree was decorated with cookies. But the pastries were not as beautiful as they are now, and had very simple forms. Modern gingerbread cookies sometimes turn pastry chefs into a real work.
Much later, in the nineteenth century, there was a tradition to make real gingerbread from gingerbread. Culinary specialists learned how to create whole towns and houses from cookies.
In Europe, gingerbread cookies are a symbol of Christmas. Often it is made in the form of religious symbolism or all kinds of figures. These gingerbread cookies decorate the Christmas tree. The most popular cookies have gained in Germany. The city of Nuremberg is even called the capital of gingerbread. Here gingerbread cookies turn into whole works of art.
Classic Ginger Biscuit Recipe
There is a wide selection of cooking options for spicy pastries. They are all good in their own way. But I want to start talking about gingerbread cookies with a classic recipe.
Ingredients:
- sugar (three tablespoons),
- two tbsp. l ginger, cinnamon and sugar,
- a pinch of coriander and nutmeg,
- egg,
- tsp soda
- flour (325 g).
For glaze:
- protein and powdered sugar (175 g).
Mix spices, sugar and honey in a saucepan. We send the container to the stove and on the slowest fire we gradually melt until a homogeneous mass is obtained.
Next, add soda to raise the mixture, and then oil. Remove the pan from the heat and let the contents cool. Then add the egg and stir well. Now you can add flour to the mass and knead the dough. It should be infused for 15 minutes. Next, we roll it into a layer and cut out all kinds of figures. We shift them onto a baking sheet covered with parchment. Gingerbread cookies are baked very quickly. 10-12 minutes are enough. Their preparation must be monitored so as not to overdry products.
How to decorate gingerbread cookie? Currently, cookie decoration is an integral part and has long passed into the category of art. The easiest way to decorate gingerbread cookies at home is to grease its surface with icing. It is prepared very simply. In a deep plate, mix protein and icing sugar, and it is better to use icing. Sugar in this case is not very suitable. Using a mixer, beat the mass very well until an airy soft consistency is obtained. The resulting glaze for ginger cookies is transferred to a pastry bag, with which we color the gingerbread cookies. On average, the mass on the surface dries in 1.5-2 hours.
Sugar Free Baking
The following gingerbread cookie recipe allows you to cook pastries without sugar and butter. But, despite this, it turns out incredibly tasty.
Ingredients:
- Fine bran (45 g, oat or wheat),
- one protein
- cottage cheese (230 g),
- whole grain flour (three tbsp. l.),
- ground ginger (two tsp),
- 1 tsp cocoa,
- as much ground cinnamon, cloves and baking powder
- a pinch of cardamom, nutmeg and salt.
Using a mixer in a container, mix the protein of one egg and cottage cheese. Add all the spices there. Into the mass we introduce bran. And then gradually add the flour and knead the dough with your hands. Wrap the finished mass in cling film and put in the freezer for an hour. Next, we roll out the dough from the dough and use the molds for ginger cookies to cut out the blanks. We prepare the baking sheet, cover it with parchment, and spread the gingerbread cookies on top. Cook the liver at 180 degrees. The baking process lasts up to ten minutes.
Gingerbread Cookies
Delicious gingerbread cookies need to be prepared only with fresh ginger.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of sugar,
- two glasses of flour
- egg,
- butter (120 g),
- two ginger roots
- carnation (five inflorescences),
- 1 tsp. baking powder and cinnamon.
Peel the fresh ginger roots and grind them. Since we are preparing gingerbread cookies with cinnamon, it is better to grind the spices yourself in a mortar. Mix cloves and cinnamon, then grate it thoroughly.
In a deep bowl, mix baking powder and flour, add chopped ginger, a mixture of spices. In a clean container, beat the sugar with a soft butter until a homogeneous white consistency is obtained, then add the egg. Pour the dry mixture into the resulting mass and knead the dough for ginger cookies with your hands. After we spread it on the table, sprinkled with flour, and roll it into a layer. Cut the blanks with cookie cutters. Top them can be sprinkled with chopped almonds or sugar. Grease a baking sheet with butter, put cookies on it and bake in a heated oven. As you can see, gingerbread cookies with cinnamon are prepared quite simply.
Chocolate chip cookies
We also offer simple ginger cookies with chocolate. Its taste is no less interesting than the classic version of baking.
Ingredients:
- sugar (210 g)
- butter (115 g),
- 4 eggs,
- ginger (85 g),
- vanilla,
- 1 tsp soda
- raisins (215 g),
- dark chocolate (420 g).
For cooking, we need softened butter. Beat it with sugar. Also add vanilla. Gradually introduce one egg without ceasing to beat. Fresh ginger is peeled and chopped with a blender. After the ginger mass is added to the egg-oil mixture. In a separate bowl, mix soda and flour. Add them to other products and knead the dough. Next we need chocolate. We cut it into small pieces or rub on a grater, and then interfere in the dough. Sprinkle the working surface with flour, put the dough on it and carefully knead it with your hands. After we roll it into a cake and cut out the blanks from it. We transfer them to the prepared pan and send them to bake.
Almond Cookies
At home, gingerbread cookies can also be made with almonds, which gives the baking a special flavor.
Ingredients:
- 1 tsp salt
- the same amount of baking powder
- flour (270 g),
- sugar (130 g)
- butter (packaging),
- vanilla sugar (2 tsp),
- 2 eggs,
- vegetable oil,
- almonds (45 g),
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tbsp. l milk.
The recipe for ginger cookies with almonds is quite simple. Mix and beat the sugar and eggs, after which we introduce the butter. We continue to whip the mass. Gradually introduce ground ginger, almonds and vanillin. Then we fill the flour and knead the dough. It is necessary to knead it until it becomes elastic. Next, pack it in a bag and place it for 45 minutes in a cool place, for example, in a refrigerator. As time passes, we take out the dough and roll it into a layer. Cut the blanks with molds. Each cookie on top is greased with a mixture of milk and yolk. Thanks to this mass, the surface of the gingerbread will be smooth and shiny. Next, bake the cookies in the oven on a baking sheet, pre-greased cookies. Gingerbread cookies are ready when they get a golden hue.
Ginger Cookies Frosting
As a decoration for ginger cookies, icing is usually used. There are a variety of options for its preparation. We will give only some of them.
Ingredients:
- one protein
- water (two tablespoons),
- lemon juice (tbsp. l.),
- a glass of powdered sugar.
We mix all the ingredients in one container and beat with a mixer or a hand blender. The process does not stop until the mass thickens. If you understand that the icing is too liquid, then you can safely add more powdered sugar. It is believed that thick glaze is much more convenient to draw patterns. Because excessively liquid mass will simply spread.
Protein-free glaze
Good glaze can be prepared without protein. It seems surprising, but there is such a recipe. Moreover, the quality of the finished mass is no worse than other options.
Ingredients:
- icing sugar (175 g),
- Art. l water,
- tsp any citrus juice.
We mix all the ingredients, and then grind until smooth. Beat the mass until the sugar drop stops spreading on the surface of the plate. Such a glaze is ready so that it can draw patterns.
Custard icing
Custard glaze is very tasty. Its preparation is completely uncomplicated. In a saucepan, bring to a boil 50 grams of water. After we reduce the heat and gradually pour 300 grams of powdered sugar. We constantly stir the mass, then pour a teaspoon of natural juice of one lemon into it. Boil the icing for five minutes.
To prepare the mass for drawing, you can use food coloring. For applying patterns, a confectionery bag with nozzles is required. By the way, it is necessary to draw on cookies quickly enough, because the icing quickly hardens. There are a lot of options for patterns.
Ready gingerbread cookies must dry for ten hours, so that the mass is completely frozen. After that, cookies can be packed in storage boxes. If you want to hang gingerbread cookies on a Christmas tree, then before baking them, be sure to make a hole in the workpiece using a cocktail tube.
Product Selection Guide for Glaze
Real professionals who know the secrets of making gingerbread cookies believe that baking them is much easier than painting them. Private pastry shops offering handmade gingerbread cookies turn their creations into a real work of art. But at home, you can try to create your own masterpiece.
We have already given some recipes for making icing for cookies. However, I would like to add that the mass for drawing can be prepared not only from natural egg white, but also from dry. By the way, dry protein is more convenient to use, it gives the glaze an incredibly beautiful white color. You can buy it on sites that specialize in nutrition athletes. The only thing worth knowing is that the protein is packaged in large packages. It is also used by culinary specialists for the preparation of meringues, meringues, marshmallows and other sweet masterpieces. A very important component for the preparation of glaze is powder. It must be very finely ground. You can buy it in a store or in pastry shops online. Corn starch powder is sold on such sites. This option is even more preferable, because on its basis the glaze is much better.
Gingerbread Decor
Coloring the finished gingerbread cookies is the most interesting part. Children must be involved in the process. This will help create a special holiday atmosphere. In addition, coloring cookies on the eve of the holidays can become a real family tradition. Children can be involved in the process of designing patterns. They must first be put to life on paper, and then try to reproduce on the surface of the cookie.
It is good to use white and blue glaze colors as a New Year's gamut. To obtain a colored mass, you can use natural food or gel dyes. Typically, chefs prepare a more fluid fill, which covers the entire surface of the cookie. And then on top of the dried mass, patterns are painted with glaze of a different color.