So the weather during this half term holiday has not been as amazing as it was during the Easter break, and therefore my ideas for more picnics and playtime outdoors has not gone to plan!! So when I asked the boys last night what they might like to do tomorrow, they asked if they could do some baking, and as we had some family coming over for lunch I thought that would work out rather well.
I was recently sent Make, Bake, Cookies the recipe book, which is a gorgeous cook book full of so many wonderful cookie and biscuit recipes, tempting food photography aswell as some useful tips like did you know that if you place 2 sugar cubes inside your biscuit tin, it will keep your cookies crisp? No? Me neither!
Anyway, back to what the boys made……having looked through the book and in my cupboards I decided to let them make some Gingerbread creations based on the recipe for Gingerbread Men (page 152). I changed the recipe slightly (see below) based on what I did and did not have to hand, and allowed the boys to use cookie cutters of their choice hence the ‘cookies’ name instead of gingerbread.
- 450g plain flour
- 1 tbsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp baking powder (recipe stated bicrabonate of soda but I did not have any!)
- 115g unsalted butter
- 5 tbsp golden syrup
- 125g brown sugar
- 1 egg, beaten
- zest of 1 lemon (my additon)
- icing sugar for dusting
- Pre heat the oven to 1800C / 160oC (fan)
- Line a large baking tray with greaseproof paper
- Place the dry ingredients, the lemon zest and the beaten egg in to a large bowl
- Meanwhile place the syrup, butter and sugar into a pan and place over a low heat and melt together to make a sauce.
- Pour into the bowl containing the other ingredients and beat all together to make a smooth dough
- Scatter some icing sugar onto your work surface and roll the dough out to about ¾ inch thick
- Then using your cookie cutters cut out your shapes and place them onto the baking tray
- Cook in the oven for 10-15 minutes until golden brown
- Allow to cool on a wire rack - decorate if you wish with chocolate or icing
They may not look the best gingerbread creations you have ever seen , but they tasted delicious and the boys loved helping to make them. And because they made them, they were thr best gingerbread cookies I have ever had!! I *may* have left some in the oven a few minutes longer than they should have been, but the others ,that were cooked for the right amount of time, tasted lovely and chewy. Grandma and Nanny enjoyed eating them too. Cookies and gingerbread are a great recipe for kids to bake with as it is similar to using play dough when it comes to rolling out the dough and cutting out the shapes. Burton and Jenson have already asked when they can make another batch!
I was sent a copy of Make, Bake, Cookies the recipe book for the purpose of a review.
Linking up to Keynko’s
I bet they don’t stay in that tin for long!
They wouldn’t last 2 seconds in our house! I always have to make 3 x batches of gingerbread cookies.
Love making gingerbread men. It’s great x
i love making cookies and what great shapes, love seeing those little hands so busy, and it reminds me when they are big strapping lads they will be able to woo the girls by baking
Such a fun thing for kids to do, mine would love it.