Gingerbread or cookies for tree decorations.

[harbinger]

What will stay hard and not drop off a ribbon?

I've looked at loads of recipes and just can't read them well enough to tell what's what.

I don't want salt dough.

Am I asking the impossible?

This one from Stephanie Alexander works well - or has for me the past few years.

Another nice one for decorations is to buy a bag of iced lebkuchen from Aldi/Lidl - just pierce with a skewer, thread on glittery thread and hang.

That looks like a nice tasty one Moonlight, thank you. Would it be cooked at 190/gas 5?

I use 180, but my old oven (new one arriving next week ) was slightly temperamental. Would think 190 with a slightly shorter cooking time should do it.

Oooh, you are so lucky. I'm stuck with my gas oven, which isn't a patch on my previous gas oven. It was bought to fit the space, and quickly.
What have you gone for?

We have gone for this one - yes, it is a thing of beauty - lets just hope it cooks as well as it looks!

Hi - we've got a couple of recipes for that sort of thing here on Mumsnet - there's ginger stars with boiled sweet centres and these mixed spice biscuits which could work too.

There are also more Christmas recipes here too.

CatherineMN - I may have to 'borrow' the ideas from those too.

P.S. - if one (well, one's DH) tries very, very hard, it is possible to do a v.nice stained glass 'window' pane with the boiled sweets that looks rather well in a gingerbread house.

P.P.S. - I am attempting to ignore all recipes for Christmas goodies until the week before Christmas - otherwise I end up trialling them and the size of a house.

That is one beautiful oven, I would be standing in the kitchen stroking it
CatherineNM Those biscuits using boiled sweets look very tempting. I will definitely experiment with that recipe.

I tried this recipe:-

340g plain flour
4oz butter/marg
100g soft brown sugar
190g golden syrup............ but did 100g golden and 90g treacle
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp bicarb

Off my own bat I also added 3/4tsp cinnamon and a bit of white pepper

They came out with the most gorgeous flavour BUT are no longer crisp (3 1/2 days).

I've also found this one for Ashbourne Gingerbread.

8oz SR flour
2 tsp ground ginger
1 level tbls golden syrup
4oz marg
4oz soft brown sugar

The flavourings can be easily tweaked.

Does anyone think that this is a crisp recipe?

Isn't it? Sounds as though the treacle/syrup might have been the issue - maybe try it with an egg yolk added in?

Alternatively, these pfeffernusse work really well.

I was worried about the recipes with egg in (probably > 80% contain egg) as I want to keep them for a week (Ha ha).
In my ignorance I thought the egg recipes would be like the cake/tray bake, which, just to confuse me, is still called gingerbread. Aaaghh
Thank you for the pfeffernusse idea, they will be very popular. I shall let DDs make them when they come home for Christmas, (I,m allergic to most nuts ).

250 g Plain flour
1 Teaspoon baking powder
75 g Sugar
1 Pinch of salt
1 Egg
125 g Butter (soft)
spices to taste: black pepper, cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, cardamon, cocoa.

roll out between 2 baking sheets. cut out with cookie cutters.
if you want to hang them up you can use a straw to make a hole in them.

bake about 10 min at 180.

they keep for ages no, not really, but they could , don't worry about the egg, so much sugar...

we usually bake a large batch at the beginning of december, a third on the tree, a third to give away, a third to munch.

I think I'm finally getting the idea of what to look for :) thank you mousm.
I shall disregard any egg worries.
Your recipe has no treacle or syrup, is that the answer? (For a crisp biscuit that keeps).

You have all been so helpful, thank you.

I have never bothered too much with 'reading' the properties of biscuit recipes as they have never lasted much more than a day anyway :) even if hidden in the most obscure place!

It's always blamed on mice.....yes, big human ones !

[tchgrin] - also, if you decide anything needs sticking together with icing, when you do up the sugar/water mix, add in a good squeeze of lemon juice - the stuff then sets like concrete...

...icing sugar + cocoa powder + water also make very good icing esp when mixing it. quite dry.
chocolate cement :)

More brilliant tips

I shall be as fat as a barrel should I test them all.............but there are lots of youngsters coming home for Christmas (starting this weekend). Just really happy , I've missed them.

Am definitely trying the chocolate cement!

harbinger - bless - hope you all have a lovely Christmas together (P.S. - do not, whatever you do, search for either Suzy Wong's brownies or SoupDragon's flapjacks on MN if you want to avoid barrellness - my waistline definitely regrets finding them (although the rest of me doesn't))

What have you done? Those little words saying 'do not' mean, in the words of Frazer (Dad's Army) that I'm doomed .

What have you done. Those little words 'do not' mean that I'm doomed (As Frazer,Dad's Army used to say).

Huh?

Indeed - sorry about that (well, not really).

Did you edit your message having hit 'post'? It happens around here occasionally apparently.

No need to feel sorry about sharing yummy stuff . I'm feeling very Christmassy but I know that I shouldn't plan for too much food when all they want is strong coffee (and a fry up, ugh). I'll have to clean the cooker everyday , on second thoughts..once compos mentis, they can.