A fool proof but tasty gingerbread man recipe and method please :D

[Lisatheonewhoeatsdrytoast]

I want to make gingerbread men for christmas and i've never done it before, i'm pretty good at baking however, bit anxious as i'm not really into baking biscuits. So method and recipe please...start to finish now

I want one too!!!! Lisa are yours to munch or hang on the tree? We are getting a fresh tree this year which we are going to decorate on Xmas Eve and I would love to bake some to go on the tree!!!

And me pleeeease!

A bit of both lolalotta A couple for kiddies to munch and me

Oh and any oil based cake recipes would be fab too wanted to try some of those instead of butter ones, but google isn't giving me many

This is my nanna's gingerbread recipe, it is utterly eejit proof, simple and lush.

Unfortunately nanna was pre-metric and of the 'chuck it in til it looks right' school, but mum worked this out as a guideline.

4oz butter
4oz sugar (I use golden caster)
9oz plain flour
3 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp bicarb of soda
Golden syrup - mum says 1 tablespoon but I reckon her spoon must've been enormous because I need about 2 very heaped...

Cream butter & sugar together.
Sift over flour, bicarb & ginger.
rub in til you have a mix resembling damp sand (nb I have a hand held mixer and just blitz the lot together til the desired look results)
Heat the syrup in the microwave for about 10 secs (or if you are my mum and don't trust such new-fangled devices, put it in a tiny saucepan and spend ages scraping it out once heated) til runny.

Add warm syrup to the mixture and knead together until you have a firm dough. Roll out using icing sugar to dust and cut to shape/make balls and squash down slightly for cookies.

Bake on a well-greased/lined in baking paper sheet for 8-10 mins in a 'hot' oven (we estimated it at about 170c) til golden brown. 8 mins gives a cookie texture, 10 is more 'old school' gingersnap-ish. Leave to cool on the sheet as they will be floppy til cold.

Gorgeous. I have made them without the ginger but a handful of fancy muesli/smarties/choc chips and they are equally good.

Really MrsV? Is that kept near the butter?

how much money have you got?

There's a Gingerbread dough mix thing at sainsbury's - it's like pastry, (in the pastry aisle) , and it's ready-made, so you just roll it out, cut it and bake it.

here

how did you beat me to that MrsV???

This is fab, from CBeebies website! Foolproof and quick:

12oz plain flour
1 tsp bicarb
2 tsp ground ginger
4oz butter/marge
6oz sugar (I actually use less, prob nearer 4oz)
4 tbs golden syrup

Melt the butter, sugar and syrup together.
Sift the flour into melted stuff. Stir in all dry ingredients.

Roll out, cut out and bake for 10 mins at Gas Mark 5.

Takes about 10 mins to make, or an hour with a 3 year old.

Makes about 24 little ones, 10 or 12 big ones.

excellent!! I shall most certainly try it out and if it fails drastically, i shall head to sainsbo's!!

I LOVE this one. My mum saved it from a silver spoon advert in a magazine years ago, it is the best gingerbread recipe ever. It is butter though, sorry.

350g (12 oz) Plain Flour
5ml (level tsp ) Bicarbonate of soda
10 ml ( 2 level tsp) ground ginger
100g (4 oz) butter or block margarine
175g ( 6 oz) Demerara Sugar
60 ml ( 4 level tbsp ) Golden Syrup
1 egg beaten
Demerara sugar to decorate ( Tip: sprinkle an extra layer of sugar on top just before putting in oven to give them a little armour of crunchiness )

Gas mark 5 (190c or 375 F)

Pre heat oven
Grease 3 baking sheets.
Sift flour, bicarbonate of soda and ginger into bowl.
Rub in fat until mixture looks like fine crumbs.
Stir in sugar.
Beat syrup into egg and stir into bowl.
Mix to a dough
Take out bowl and knead until smooth.
Divide it into two
Roll out on floured surface to about 0.5cm (1/4 inch ) thickness
Stamp out figures and place apart on baking sheets.
Finally sprinkle with a little Demerara sugar.
Bake for 12 - 15 mins
Cool slightly then transfer to a wire rack
Makes 12

dairy free gingerbread recipe here.

If you want to make it "dairy", use butter instead of non-dairy spread.

Don't put the biscuits too close together on the tray because they spread a bit. I ended up with some 4 legged gingerbread men and some tragically unfortunate ones.

Bertiebotts recipe is almost the same as the one I use

"350g plain flour
1.5 tsp ground ginger
1.5 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp bicarb of soda
100g butter, chilled
175g muscovado sugar
1 egg
2 Tbsp golden syrup

Rub flour, ginger, cinnamon and butter together, add sugar egg and syrup to form dough. Roll out and cut into desired shapes, cook at 190 C ish for 10-15 minutes."

Makes good gingerbread for structural stuff too

Gingerbread House

Just made 30 gingerbread men yesterday!
You've got plenty of recipe suggestions so won't add mine unless you really want to be spoilt for choice... But its worth noting that you can use black treacle rather than golden syrup, which gives a lovely dark colour and good flavour.