Crystal Palace Cookbook - Gingerbread Men

Photo: Catrin Arwell

Gingerbread Men

An exclusive Transmitter recipe by Rachel De Thample

These are a blast to make with children. It’s become a tradition in our house and this is my absolute favourite recipe. They are also great for decorating the tree.

Prep: 30 mins

Cook: less than 10 mins per batch

Makes about two dozen

INGREDIENTS:

• 125g soft brown sugar
• 125g black treacle
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• ¼ tsp ground cloves
• 100g butter
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• 500g plain flour
• pinch salt
• 1 egg, lightly beaten

Preheat the oven to 170˚C/Gas 3.

Dissolve the sugar, treacle, spices and butter in a pan over a low heat, then slowly bring to the boil. Let it bubble up for a minute. Remove from heat. Cool to room temperature, then mix in the baking powder.

Place the flour in a bowl with the salt. Make a well in the middle and pour in the cooled syrupy mixture, then add the egg. Stir from the centre, incorporating the flour until it comes together to form your dough.

Egg sizes differ as does the amount of moisture flour holds; if you find the dough is dry or crumbly, add a little milk, a tablespoon at a time, until you get the dough to come together.

Gently knead, just enough to bring it all together.

Wrap in a plastic bag or greaseproof paper and rest it in the fridge for 30 mins or until needed (it will keep for a day, but will need to be set out for 30 mins if it’s been left in the fridge longer than 30 mins). The dough also freezes beautifully.

Roll out the dough to thickness required: thicker will make the biscuits chewier, thinner more crunchy. Cut out shapes: classic gingerbread men, stars, candy canes, etc.

Use the pointy end of a chopstick to make holes for eyes and a few buttons, or decorate with currants, crystallised ginger, chocolate drops or whatever you fancy. Make a hole in the gingerbread man's head if you plan to put ribbon through to hang as a decoration.

Lay on non-stick baking sheets. They don't rise much so you can put them quite close but not touching. Bake for 7-10 mins; it can be hard to see when they're done as they're dark anyway but they shouldn't be very coloured round the edges. Take out and cool on wire rack. If you want to ice them wait until completely cold.

Recipe for The Crystal Palace Cookbook by:

Rachel De Thample