Gingerbread men - a very tasty cookie that can be baked almost every day. It has been stored for quite some time. Children like this cookie very much: after all, the gingerbread man is funny and tasty, and you can also decorate it at your own discretion. Many decorate it with colored dragees, frame the head and hands with glaze. Children are simply delighted that they were entrusted with creating their own dessert, which will then be hanging on a Christmas tree or served on a table.
In order to prepare such cookies, "little men", you need very few ingredients, most of which always have a thrifty hostess. Let's get started.
Ingredients and Cooking Process “Gingerbread Man”
The basis of cookies is honey, so for the dough we need: 250 grams of honey, 130 grams of sugar (if you take brown, then the amount is halved), the same amount of butter and one raw egg. The following is a list of bulk ingredients: one small spoonful of ground cloves, fragrant coriander and cinnamon, a small chopped ginger root (the size of a little finger) and a pinch of salt, a couple of spoons of cocoa for a dark-colored man and the same amount of baking powder for splendor and airiness of baking. To this list we add a glass of lemon juice (natural), 100 grams of icing sugar and half a kilogram of flour (if the dough turns out to be liquid, more flour will be needed).
The gingerbread man cookie dough is made in this way. In a refractory container, put oil, honey and sugar, and melt everything on fire (do not bring to a boil). Sieve cloves and coriander through a fine sieve (so that large pieces getting on the teeth do not spoil the taste), chop the ginger root and add cinnamon to the spices.
It is necessary to introduce salt and cocoa into the melted honey, stir well (there should be no lumps), and sifted spices can be added. An egg is introduced into the mixture, cooled to room temperature.
Flour in a convenient container should be mixed with a baking powder and put it into a honey mixture on a spoon, stirring and getting rid of lumps.
Now the resulting mixture can be laid out on the table and knead soft and uncooked dough. The table must first be sprinkled with flour. The resulting dough should be wrapped in cling film and refrigerated for several hours. If there is no cling film at hand , it can be replaced with a regular plastic bag.
After a specified period of time, the dough can be taken out. Sprinkle flour on the table and, having plucked a piece from the dough, roll it out no thinner than 7 mm (otherwise it will not be gingerbread cookies, but dry cookies). Take a metal or plastic mold and squeeze the figure - you get a gingerbread man.
In the preheated oven, send the little men on a greased baking sheet. They are baked very quickly, 10-13 minutes are enough, so watch for readiness. The resulting gingerbread must be cooled. It is better to do this on a wooden plank or grate - so the gingerbread man does not get wet.
For the manufacture of glaze, it is necessary to mix the powder and lemon juice. Do it gradually, otherwise the glaze will be too liquid and will not harden. The resulting mixture decorate the little men using a match or a toothpick.
This is how the gingerbread man is prepared. In the same way, you can cook other figures. If you do not have molds, the dough sheet can simply be cut with a knife into triangles or arbitrary shapes, which are also decorated with glaze.