Gingerbread man

Even the smallest hands can help make these gingerbread men – perfect for Christmas. You can use raisins, sultanas or Smarties to decorate

Prep:45 mins
Cook:15 mins

Easy

Nutrition per serving

kcal 264
fat 10g
saturates 6g
carbs 43g
sugars 20g
fibre 1g
protein 3g
salt 0.33g

Ingredients

140g unsalted butter
100g dark muscovado sugar
3 tbsp golden syrup
350g plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp ground ginger and 1 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
2 balls stem ginger from a jar, chopped
50g icing sugar
a few glacé cherries (we used undyed)
2 balls stem ginger

Tip

Decorating
You can also use raisins, sultanas or Smarties to decorate, if you prefer.

Method

Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Line 2 baking sheets with baking parchment. Melt butter, sugar and syrup in a pan. Mix flour, soda, spices and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Stir in the butter mix and chopped ginger to make a stiff-ish dough.
Wait until cool enough to handle, then roll out dough to about 5mm thick. Stamp out gingerbread men, re-rolling and pressing the trimmings back together and rolling again. Lift onto baking sheets. Bake for 12 mins until golden. Cool 10 mins on the sheets, then lift onto cooling racks.
To decorate, mix icing sugar with a few drops of water until thick and smooth. Halve then slice cherries thinly to make smiles, and cut ginger into small squares. Spoon icing into a food bag, snip off the tiniest bit from one corner, then squeeze eyes and buttons, and a tiny smile onto 1 man at a time. Stick on a cherry smile and ginger buttons. Repeat; leave to set. Will keep up to 1 week in an airtight tin.

Suggested recipes from this collection...

POST-ID:5594 array(6) { [0]=> object(WP_Term)#18467 (11) { ["term_id"]=> int(236) ["name"]=> string(18) "Christmas biscuits" ["slug"]=> string(18) "christmas-biscuits" ["term_group"]=> int(0) ["term_taxonomy_id"]=> int(236) ["taxonomy"]=> string(15) "bbc_collections" ["description"]=> string(94) "From cookies and gingerbread, to biscotti and shortbread, bake up a storm this festive season." ["parent"]=> int(0) ["count"]=> int(47) ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" ["term_order"]=> string(1) "0" } [1]=> object(WP_Term)#18364 (11) { ["term_id"]=> int(248) ["name"]=> string(26) "Christmas for kids recipes" ["slug"]=> string(14) "christmas-kids" ["term_group"]=> int(0) ["term_taxonomy_id"]=> int(248) ["taxonomy"]=> string(15) "bbc_collections" ["description"]=> string(110) "Have some festive fun with the kids, with this selection of recipes that can be made by the smallest of hands." ["parent"]=> int(0) ["count"]=> int(79) ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" ["term_order"]=> string(1) "0" } [2]=> object(WP_Term)#18460 (11) { ["term_id"]=> int(284) ["name"]=> string(23) "Christmas gifts recipes" ["slug"]=> string(15) "christmas-gifts" ["term_group"]=> int(0) ["term_taxonomy_id"]=> int(284) ["taxonomy"]=> string(15) "bbc_collections" ["description"]=> string(137) "Why go shopping when you can make Christmas presents at home? We have lots of ideas for gourmet gifts that your foodie friends will love." ["parent"]=> int(0) ["count"]=> int(99) ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" ["term_order"]=> string(1) "0" } [3]=> object(WP_Term)#18426 (11) { ["term_id"]=> int(283) ["name"]=> string(29) "Christmas gingerbread recipes" ["slug"]=> string(21) "christmas-gingerbread" ["term_group"]=> int(0) ["term_taxonomy_id"]=> int(283) ["taxonomy"]=> string(15) "bbc_collections" ["description"]=> string(29) "Spice up your festive period." ["parent"]=> int(0) ["count"]=> int(22) ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" ["term_order"]=> string(1) "0" } [4]=> object(WP_Term)#18353 (11) { ["term_id"]=> int(23) ["name"]=> string(11) "Kids baking" ["slug"]=> string(11) "kids-baking" ["term_group"]=> int(0) ["term_taxonomy_id"]=> int(23) ["taxonomy"]=> string(15) "bbc_collections" ["description"]=> string(0) "" ["parent"]=> int(0) ["count"]=> int(60) ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" ["term_order"]=> string(1) "0" } [5]=> object(WP_Term)#18447 (11) { ["term_id"]=> int(130) ["name"]=> string(13) "Little bakers" ["slug"]=> string(13) "little-bakers" ["term_group"]=> int(0) ["term_taxonomy_id"]=> int(130) ["taxonomy"]=> string(15) "bbc_collections" ["description"]=> string(221) "There’s endless fun to be had when kids hit the kitchen. We have lots of family-friendly baking projects for little sous chefs to get stuck into, so tie on a pint-sized apron and let the creative juices flow…" ["parent"]=> int(0) ["count"]=> int(17) ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" ["term_order"]=> string(1) "0" } }