Gingerbread man cookies recipe

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Ingredients

How to make gingerbread man cookies step by step method:

1. First I prepared the jaggery syrup as I had no molasses with me. Heat ¼ cup powdered jaggery with 1 tbsp of water until jaggery melts (in low or medium flame). Once dissolved, filter it through a metal strainer and let it cool down.



2. Once cooled, add milk to it and mix well. In blender, powder the brown sugar (I used unrefined sugar).



3. Add flour, cinnamon, cloves,ginger powder, salt, cooking soda and blend it well along with the powdered sugar.



4. In a mixing bowl, place the butter and add jaggery syrup(+milk) to it and beat well until creamy. I used my hand blender for it. Add flour mixture to it.



5. Make a dough and slightly flatten it, cling wrap it and refrigerate for minimum 30 mins. You can keep this dough refrigerated for 2 days and make later too. After 30 mins, unwrap the dough. Place another cling wrap over it.



6. Spread carefully using rolling pin into ¼ inch thickness. Peel off the top cling wrap. Using gingerbread man cookie cutter, cut the dough. You can use any of your favorite cookie cutter shape.



7. Take out the excess dough carefully first from the outer part. You can use a thin spatula to take out the cookie. I lifted the cling wrap and transferred to my hand and transferred to a baking tray, lined with baking sheet, dusted with flour. Preheat oven at 160 deg C and bake the cookies at 160 deg C for 8- 12 mins. Cool over wired rack.



8. Work with the dough again and repeat to finish the dough. If too soft to handle, refrigerate for sometime and work again. Cool down the cookies completely. Prepare icing by mixing icing sugar and milk to a smooth mixture. Fill a ziploc with the prepared icing, make a really tiny hole in the tip. Pipe the icing over the cookies to decorate it as per your wish.

Tips

• You can roll over a baking sheet instead of cling wrap. This will be easier to take when using spatula to take it out.
• If you have molasses, you can use it and skip the first step.
• I used unrefined Demerara sugar, but using brown sugar will given more deeper colour and taste too.
• I powdered cinnamon, cloves myself and used it. You can get it in stores, it is available in the groceries.
• I used salted butter and skipped the salt.
• Make sure to powder the sugar very fine.
• Level the prepared dough before cling wrapping, so that it will be easier to spread after refrigerating. If the dough breaks while spreading, use your hands to gently pat to certain thickness and then roll it.
• The cookie will be soft as you take out from the oven, but later will get firm. Also the baking time depends on your oven and how soft/ crisp you want it. This cookies can be made soft too.
• For icing, let it be thick, not too runny. If it is too runny and your icing spreads, add more icing sugar or ½ tsp corn flour to it and mix again to make it thicker.
• You can use food colour and make the icing colourful, recommend to use natural food colour.
• Initially, to decorate with the icing may not come out perfect, I decorated my first gingerbread man like a ghost, but as I proceeded with patience, it came out better. So be patient and keep trying.
• You can make it vegan by using vegetable shortening in place of butter and vegan milk like almond milk or soya milk in place of cow’s milk.
• Cookie count may vary according to the thickness and cookie cutter size. I made my first batch thick, so I got just 18.