Gingerbread Cookies

I have been thinking of gingerbread cookies for a while.  But it is Christmas, I wanted my gingerbread cookies to look like stars, Christmas trees and snowmen.  So I made these and place them in a reused plastic container.  It turned out to be a good idea.  They were quite fitting for the occasion.

However, I must apologize for the lateness of this post.  The delay was due to me injuring my left hand.  This is quite a catastrophe for me around this time, because it is my time for cooking and playing the guitar for my Parang band. 

My spirits was down, but only for a while until I found myself at my in-laws on Christmas Eve.  They were listening to our joyous Trini Parang music on YouTube.  It lifted my Christmas spirit and I decided if I can't play the guitar for the Christmas Eve mass, at least I could still sing in the choir.

I was quite preoccupied with this and other things during this season and I almost forgot to post the recipe for these delicious cookies.  But the few comments I received on the site and on facebook have been quite encouraging.  My readers commitment and love the site is extraordinary.  So now you have another recipe and you ought to look out for more even in the new year.

 

 

 GINGERBREAD COOKIES

3 cups all-purpose flour
4-6 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 cup chilled unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 medium eggs
4 tbsp. honey
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Icing:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
approximately 3 tbsp water and about 1 tsp. unsweetened ginger tea powder
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Candy and sprinkles for decorating

Preheat the oven at 350 degrees F.   Prepare the baking trays in advance.  Line them with parchment paper or use non-stick cooking spray.

 

Sift the flour in a large bowl.  Add the ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and baking soda.
Mix the ingredients well.

 

Next, cut the butter into small chunks.

Then, rub it into the flour until mixture looks like breadcrumbs.

 

Mix in the sugar.

 

Beat the eggs in a small bowl.  Mix in the honey and vanilla.

 

Add it to the flour.

 

Mix together and form into a smooth dough.

 

Dust a surface and a rolling pin with a little flour.  Roll out the dough with the rolling pin.  Roll out until 1/2″ thick. Next, cut  into desired shapes. The scraps can be again squeezed together into a ball and rolled out again and cut to make more shapes.  Here are the shapes I used to cut my gingerbread cookies.

 

Place the shapes onto well lined trays.  Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden.  Remove after a few minutes and allow to cool on a wire rack before decorating.

Note: I wanted to make an icing that also had a bit of a ginger taste.  So I first heated the water and added the unsweetened ginger tea powder to water.  Mix well to dissolve.  Then cool a bit before use. You want the water warm; not too hot.

Now, when you are making your icing add 1 tbsp of ginger water at a time to the icing sugar.  Add the vanilla. Keep adding 1 tbsp of warm  ginger water until you get the desired thickness for your icing.  Then add the icing to the cookies.  Sprinkle and decorate as you desire.  I did not want all the cookies glazed.  Not everyone like icing.  However, I noticed these cookies are mildly sweet and the icing added an extra sweet flavour.  Here are some of the cookies I did.

 

Store the cookies in a well sealed container.   They will keep well well for up to 5 days and a bit longer if refrigerated.  I stored my cookies in this wonderful container in the refrigerator.

 

Well, that's all for now…until my hand gets better lol. Wishing you all a Happy New Year in advance.

Ah gone 🙂