New Year's gingerbread - a beautiful and delicious home decoration for your favorite holiday. This baking is universal, because products can not only be put on the table. Homemade New Year’s gingerbread cookies can be used as Christmas tree decorations, necessarily binding pieces of paper with wishes. This traditional pastry is often presented to relatives and friends. Here are some tasty options.
Chocolate Gingerbread Dough Recipe
Combine half a pack of soft butter with one hundred grams of sugar. A pack of vanillin is recommended. The main thing at this stage is to mix the ingredients very thoroughly with a mixer for five minutes. If sugar does not completely dissolve, then New Year’s gingerbread will not be smooth, and its surface will be uniform. Next, continue to beat, gradually adding three large spoons of cocoa, a little cinnamon, orange zest, twenty grams of finely grated ginger and one large egg. All ingredients should completely dissolve, and the mass should become completely homogeneous.
In a separate bowl, mix 260 grams of flour with half a teaspoon of soda. Now we begin to gradually add the mixture to the dough. When it becomes dense, it is recommended to knead with hands. From the uniform distribution of flour depends on how neatly prepared Christmas gingerbread cookies at home.
Put the dough, which should look like plasticine, in the refrigerator for half an hour, and preferably all night. It is necessary to cool it well to freeze the oil. In this case, it will become very convenient to work with the semi-finished product. Now you can proceed to the next stage.
Chocolate gingerbread dough rules
Before you start baking, it is recommended to make a test product. This will allow you to see, firstly, how much they will increase in volume, and secondly, whether the baking holds its shape. If the future gingerbread is New Year's it will melt immediately, become greasy and there will be problems when transferring it to a baking sheet, then you need to add flour. Be sure to distribute it well, thoroughly knead again and set to cool.
If everything is in order, it is recommended that the dough be divided into four parts during operation. We leave one of them, put the rest in the refrigerator. The dough needs to be rolled out on parchment. Do not rub a rolling pin with flour or sprinkle it with a semi-finished product.
Next, we begin to mold your favorite products. What can be prepared from such a test? We offer two original options.
Gingerbread "Merry Family" and "Snowmen"
You can decorate the Christmas tree with this original baking. We offer the following recipe for Christmas gingerbread cookies at home.
Products should be thin and crispy. Therefore, the dough needs to be rolled out with a thickness of not more than 3 mm, since during the preparation process it will increase. Make figures with the help of molds and put them in the oven for 6-10 minutes. The temperature should be no more than 175 degrees. But it is recommended to make a test gingerbread, so as not to spoil the whole dough.
Cooked products are very well cooled. Only in this case remove them from the tray. Otherwise, they will crumble. Now we decorate the Christmas gingerbread cookies with icing.
You can hang products on the Christmas tree.
Honey gingerbread dough recipe
In a pan, put a third of a glass of liquid honey, a small spoonful of cinnamon, starch, vinegar, ground ginger and a little salt. Put the mass in a water bath and, constantly stirring, turn into a homogeneous mixture. This recipe for Christmas gingerbread can be supplemented with a pinch of ground cloves. It will turn out very fragrant pastries.
In the mixture we now put two-thirds of a pack of soft butter and leave to cool completely. At this time, beat two eggs with a glass of sugar. Mix everything together and begin to gradually add flour. It will take only three glasses. Of course, it all depends on the quality of the flour. Place well-kneaded dough in the refrigerator for a day. Now you can start forming.
New Year's gingerbread "Fir-tree" from honey dough
Such products will be an excellent decoration of the main table, or they can crown the holiday cake. But these are not only original, but also very tasty New Year’s gingerbread cookies. Do it yourself You can prepare Christmas tree toys and glaze beads.
Roll out the dough thinly enough. Next, with the help of a knife, we cut out stars of different sizes, from larger to smaller. We distribute the figures on a baking sheet and cook no more than seven minutes. The temperature should be about 190 degrees.
DIY ready-made Christmas cakes further need to be very well cooled. At this time, cook the green icing. We form Christmas trees, lubricating each layer and gluing them from larger to smaller. We leave the product for three to four hours. Now you can put them on the holiday table or decorate the cake.
Egg-free honey dough recipe
The proposed option is an excellent semi-finished product for those who do not consume animal products. Despite the fact that there are no eggs in this recipe, the final product will not lose at all in terms of its taste characteristics.
Grate 150 grams of low-fat sour cream very carefully with 300 grams of sugar. Add soft butter to the mixture. It will take a third of the pack. Add 190 grams of liquid honey, a little salt and cloves, a teaspoon of soda and ground ginger. Mix everything and gradually pour a pound of sifted flour.
Knead the dough very well and roll a ball out of it. Next, wrap the cake mix in cling film and leave to cool overnight. If possible, it is possible for a longer period. Because, no matter how good the recipe for New Year’s gingerbread cookies at home, only a well-chilled dough will be elastic and pliable. Prefabricated ready to cook. It must be rolled out to a thickness of at least 10 mm.
The recipe for Christmas cakes with glaze "Gift"
Such products are a great option for gifts. The proposed recipe for Christmas gingerbread with glaze can be changed and supplemented. For their preparation you will need chocolate or honey dough (with or without eggs), a knife, different tins, a little patience, more imagination and a good oven.
You can cook such products: Christmas trees, shoes and staves. They will greatly delight children.
And the next version of the presentation is more suitable for adult guests.
An original gift may be a gingerbread assortment of chocolate and honey products, elegantly decorated. Making them is not at all difficult.
In conclusion, we dwell on how to properly prepare the icing. This can be done very simply. However, some rules and milestones must be followed.
Sift 200 grams of powdered sugar. To obtain high-quality glaze, it is recommended to repeat this procedure two to three times. Next, add it to the protein and begin to whip the mixture until you get cool foam. Gradually pour a small spoonful of starch and pour a little lemon juice. If you need colored glaze, then add food coloring.
We apply it using a special culinary syringe. For this purpose, you can also use a tight package. Fill it with glaze, cut off the corner and gently press, applying patterns.
After decorating, it is recommended to put the gingerbread in a cold place and leave it for several days in a glass or plastic container.
How to store finished products
Whatever the recipe for New Year’s gingerbread cookies, the unambiguous advantage of this baking is that the products can be stored for some time. The main thing is to organize this process correctly.
Gingerbread cookies can be stored in a special container for up to fourteen days if the temperature is about 18 degrees and the relative humidity is about 75 percent. Products in this case will become softer every day.