Nothing floods my heart and soul more than memories of going to grandma’s and making her classic gingerbread Christmas cookies. Myself, my sister and cousins would gather around the big kitchen table and dig in each year a few days before Christmas and get to spend the afternoon making what I thought were the tastiest and most special cookies in all the world. The smell of them cooking is guaranteed to put you in a festive mood, they are really easy to make, and they will keep for at least a couple of weeks, so are perfect for a busy season.
Ingredients:
For the gingerbread:
3.5 oz butter, cubed
1/3 + 1/8 cup light brown soft sugar (packed)
2 tbsp golden syrup
1 tbsp treacle
1 tbsp water
finely grated zest of 1 orange
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
½ tsp baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour
For the royal icing:
2 + 1/3 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
1 large egg white
Food coloring, cookie decorations, edible glitter (optional)
Steps:
1. Place the butter, sugar, golden syrup, treacle, water, and orange zest in a pan and heat gently while stirring until it is melted and smooth.
Remove the pan from the heat and beat in the spices and baking soda, followed by the flour. Mix until it forms a smooth dough, then cover the pan and place in the fridge for about an hour, until the dough is firm.
2. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two baking trays with baking parchment. Bring the dough together into a ball and roll out on a lightly floured surface to 1/8 inch thick. Cut out shapes using cookie cutters and place them slightly spaced apart on the baking trays. Re-roll the scraps to cut out more shapes.
3. Place the trays in the freezer for 15 minutes until firm, then bake for 10-15 minutes until the cookies feel firm when lightly pressed and darken around the edges. The smaller ones will cook quicker than the big ones, so try to group similar-sized ones together on the trays. Leave to cool on the trays for 5 minutes, then transfer onto a wire rack to cool completely.
4. Once the cookies are cool, make the royal icing. Sift the powdered sugar into a bowl and add the lemon juice. Stir in the egg white a little at a time until the icing is smooth and thick but pipe-able; if you drizzle some back into the bowl, the pattern should disappear after about 8 seconds. If it is too thick, then add a little more egg white (or lemon juice if you’ve run out), and if it is too runny, then add a little more sifted powdered sugar.
5. Spoon the icing into a piping bag fitted with a 1mm plain round nozzle. Pipe designs onto the cookies (Pinterest is a great place to get inspiration for patterns!) and set them aside for half an hour to dry. Sprinkle with edible glitter if using and tuck in!
