TOP 5 different recipes for making homemade gingerbread cookies for Christmas. Cooking secrets and video recipes.
Christmas and New Year's pastries are primarily associated with aromatic gingerbread cookies with an abundance of spices. At the same time, ginger remains the main thematic product, which is not only tasty, but also healthy spice. Gingerbread cookies are considered a traditional symbol of Christmas in Europe, but in recent years, the products have become very popular in our country. On the eve of the holiday, ginger dessert is baked at home, sold in stores and at Christmas markets, given in boxes to friends and family, and decorated with a New Year tree.
Gingerbread cookies - cooking features
- Most often, gingerbread cookies are made from shortcrust pastry. For him, dry products are separately combined: flour, soda, salt, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, chopped nuts, ground spices, etc.
- If cocoa is present in the recipe, it is equated to bulk products, so when adding it, reduce the same amount of flour. For example, 1 tbsp. flour replace 1 tbsp. cocoa powder without sugar.
- Butter or margarine is used as a fatty component for the dough. Flour should be used half as much as oil, then you get a crumbly effect.
- Eggs in shortcrust pastry can add toughness. Therefore, it is better not to add them.
- Sometimes a few tablespoons of sour cream or cream are added to the dough.
- In addition to the main flavoring additive - ginger, various aromatic spices are put into the dough: cinnamon, cloves, caraway seeds, nutmeg, cardamom, allspice, anise, star anise … Honey, nuts, dried fruits, candied fruits, cocoa powder, vanilla are also often added.
- grated lemon or orange zest.
- Knead the shortbread dough very quickly. Simply put all the food together in a lump with a few strokes, and then be sure to chill in the refrigerator before baking. It can be prepared in advance, wrapped in plastic and stored in the refrigerator for a week, in the freezer for 3 months.
- Roll the dough into a uniform layer so that the cookies are baked equally. Otherwise, thinner items will dry out. To make the cookies well baked, roll them out to a thickness of 4-8 mm.
- Roll out the dough from the center to the edges, moving the rolling pin away from you and towards you, periodically turning the dough.
- Gingerbread cookies, as a symbol of Christmas, are made in the form of various figures: Christmas trees, little men, stars, houses, snowflakes, deer and other New Year's artifacts.
- Bake shortbread dough in a well-heated oven at 180-200 degrees.
- The traditional Christmas gingerbread cookie looks beautiful thanks to the icing with which you can fantasize.
Jamie Oliver's Gingerbread Cookie
Gingerbread cookies are the most fun type of New Year's creativity. British chef Jamie Oliver offers his own homemade gingerbread recipe for New Year and Christmas.
See also how to make a Christmas roll.
- Caloric content per 100 g - 505 kcal.
- Servings Per Container - 14
- Cooking time - 40 minutes
Ingredients:
- Flour - 300 g
- Ground cinnamon - 1/2 tsp
- Light brown sugar - 100 g
- Ground ginger - 2 tsp
- Butter - 125 g
- Ground nutmeg - 1/2 tsp
- Soda - 1 tsp
- Syrup or liquid honey - 3 tablespoons
Jamie Oliver's Gingerbread Cookies:
- Combine flour, baking soda and spices (ground ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg) in a large container.
- Melt the butter, sugar and syrup in a water bath until the sugar is completely dissolved.
- Combine all mixtures (dry and fat) and stir to form a thick dough.
- Place parchment paper on your work surface and place the dough on top.
- Cover it on top with another sheet of parchment and roll out the dough into a 5 mm layer.
- Cut out cookies of any shape directly on the paper, leaving 2 cm between the pieces.
- Transfer the paper to a baking sheet and bake the gingerbread cookies in a preheated oven at 180 ° C for 12 minutes until light golden brown.
- Cool the finished product on the sheet for a few minutes. After that, you can decorate it with icing sugar.
Gingerbread cookie with honey and icing
This simple gingerbread cookie recipe is great to bake with your kids. The products will be a wonderful New Year's gift for loved ones, a decoration for a Christmas tree and a Christmas table.
Ingredients:
- Flour - 175 g
- Icing sugar - 75 g for dough, 110 g for icing
- Ground ginger - 1 tsp
- Ground cinnamon - 1 tsp
- Vanilla sugar - 1 tsp
- Honey - 2 tablespoons
- Salt - a pinch
- Soda - 0.25 tsp
- Butter - 80 g
- Egg white - from 1 egg
- Egg yolk - from 1 egg
Cooking Honey Glaze Gingerbread Cookies:
- Combine flour, sugar, and spices (ground ginger, ground cinnamon, vanilla sugar, salt and baking soda).
- Chop the butter into small pieces with a knife, add to the dry ingredients and make a crumb.
- Add egg yolk with honey to the food and knead the dough. Form it into a lump and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Roll out the dough into a thin layer, cut out the figures and place on a baking sheet.
- Bake cookies in a preheated oven to 180 degrees for 10 minutes and cool well.
- Beat the protein with a mixer until firm peaks appear. Add the icing sugar gradually and beat until smooth. Leave the icing to stand for 10 minutes, transfer to a pastry bag and decorate the finished baked goods.
Christmas gingerbread men
Gingerbread Men are a traditional Christmas treat in America and many European countries. Baking will fill the house with a delicious aroma, will decorate the festive table and the New Year tree.
Ingredients:
- Flour - 350 g
- Soda - 1 tsp
- Ground ginger - 2 tsp
- Ground cinnamon - 1 tsp
- Butter - 125 g
- Brown sugar - 175 g
- Eggs - 1 pc.
- Liquid honey - 4 tablespoons
Cooking Christmas Gingerbread Men:
- Sift flour, soda, ginger, cinnamon through a fine sieve and add to the bowl of a food processor.
- Add the sliced butter and knead the dough to form a mass like bread crumbs.
- Add sugar, egg and honey and beat in pulse mode until the mixture gathers around the knives.
- Remove the dough from the food processor, put it in a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
- Roll out the dough to a thickness of 5 mm and cut out the cookies in the form of men using special forms.
- Place the products on a baking sheet, leaving 1-2 cm between them, and send to bake in a heated oven to 180 degrees for 12 minutes until golden brown.
Cracked Chocolate Gingerbread Cookie
Cracked chocolate biscuits are popular not only on the eve of New Year's and Christmas holidays, but also throughout the winter. Spectacular cracks appear on cookies during baking, make the products especially elegant and turn them into a fancy winter pattern.
Ingredients:
- Flour - 200 g
- Eggs - 1 pc.
- Butter - 100 g
- Unsweetened cocoa powder - 50 g
- Sugar - 100 g
- Powdered sugar - 100 g
- Baking powder - 1 tsp
- Ground dry ginger - 1 tsp
- Salt - a pinch
Making Chocolate Cracked Gingerbread Cookies:
- Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, ground dry ginger and salt.
- Melt the butter to a liquid consistency and cool to room temperature. Beat eggs with sugar until smooth. Stir the butter and egg mass.
- Combine dry and liquid mixtures, and you will notice elastic dough. Cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.
- Take the chilled dough with a teaspoon, roll it into a ball and flatten it. Place it in the powdered sugar in a wide bowl and turn it over several times so that it is completely covered with it.
- Place the chocolate gingerbread cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake in a preheated oven to 175 ° C for 15 minutes.
Gingerbread Oatmeal Cookies with Candy
Sweet homemade gingerbread is the perfect Christmas present! And oatmeal cookies with nuts and candy crumbs are also a very healthy dessert.
Ingredients:
- Oatmeal - 1/2 tbsp.
- Flour - 1/2 tbsp.
- Butter - 1/2 tbsp.
- Heavy cream - 2 tablespoons
- Peeled almonds - 1/2 tbsp
- Jelly candies - 100 g
- Liquid honey - 2 tablespoons
- Ginger powder - 1 tsp
- Ground cinnamon - 1/4 tsp
- Sugar - 1/2 cup
- Baking powder 1/4 tsp
- Salt - a pinch
Making Candy Gingerbread Oatmeal:
- Cut the candies into small pieces.
- Dry the peeled almonds in a clean and dry frying pan and cool.
- In a blender, grind the oatmeal with nuts into crumbs. Mix the resulting mass with flour, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder and salt.
- Whisk butter separately with cream, honey, vanilla and add flour mixture in portions.
- Put chopped jelly candies into the finished kneaded elastic dough and stir in.
- Chill the dough in the refrigerator for 1 hour, roll it out with a rolling pin into a thin layer and cut out the figures.
- Place the cookies on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and bake in a preheated oven at 180 ° C for 10 minutes.
Video recipes:
Christmas gingerbread cookie
Ginger cookie
Gingerbread cookies from Julia Vysotskaya
