Classic Holiday Gingerbread Men are soft and chewy on the inside. They have just the right amount of crunch on the outside! They are the perfect homemade gift for the special people on your holiday gift list.
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Ingredients for Gingerbread Men
- Flour: All-purpose flour.
- Sweeteners: Light brown sugar and unsulfured molasses sweetenes the dough, but not overly.
- Leaveners and Spices: Salt and baking soda enrich the flour. Ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground allspice, ground cloves, and freshly ground black pepper provide the distinctive taste.
- The Glue: Unsalted butter, vegetable shortening, and an egg bind the dough together.
- The Decorations: Royal icing, mini chocolate chips, and mini red and green M&Ms decorate a plain cookie into an adorable gingerbread man.
Making the Cookie - Step-by-Step
- The Dry Ingredients: Start by sifting together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, salt, and pepper. The easiest way to do this is to use a wire sieve over a medium bowl.
- The Wet Ingredients: Beat the butter and shortening on high speed with an electric mixer in a large bowl until well combined, about 1 minute. Add the brown sugar and beat until the mixture is light and creamy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the molasses and egg until well combined.
- Form into Disks and Chill: Divide the dough into 2 thick disks and wrap each disk in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until well chilled, at least 3 hours.
- Roll the Dough: Working with one disk at a time, place it on a parchment-lined surface dusted with confectioners' sugar. Sprinkle the top with confectioners' sugar and cover with another piece of parchment paper or plastic wrap. Roll ⅛-inch thick.
- Cut the Men: Using a gingerbread man cookie cutter, cut out the cookies and transfer to parchment-lined cookie sheets, placing the cookies 1 inch apart. Gently knead the scraps together and form into another disk. Wrap and chill for 5 minutes before rolling out again to cut out more cookies.
- Bake and Cool: Bake the cookies in a preheated 350°F oven until set and crisp, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes. Then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Decorate: Pipe uncolored royal icing with a #4 plain tip for the face, and zigzag it around the arms and legs. Use mini chocolate chips set in royal icing for the eyes, and red and green mini-M&Ms set in royal icing for buttons down the front.
- Package: These gingerbread men make adorable edible gifts. To package, ensure the royal icing is fully set. Then package separately in clear food-grade polypropylene bags. Seal the tops with your FoodSaver (not vacuum-seal, but just seal). Alternatively, secure the bag's top with a rubber band and add decorative ribbon.
These Classic Holiday Gingerbread Men are fun to decorate and are sure to bring a smile to even the grumpiest grinch on your gift list. They make perfect Christmas gifts either by themselves, or included in a goodie basket with other Christmas treats. Yum!
Chula's Test Kitchen Tips
The dough for the gingerbread men is pretty sticky and somewhat difficult to work with. I've learned through the years, however, that the easiest way to handle the dough is to:
- Ensure that it's cold when it's being rolled out
- Use parchment paper sprinkled with confectioners' sugar as opposed to flour to roll out the dough.
- Place another piece of parchment paper on top of the dough before rolling it out.use rolling pin spacer bands to achieve the proper thickness of the dough
- Use rolling pin spacer bands to achieve the proper thickness of the dough.
Other Delicious Cookies for Gifting
Homemade gifts are special. Here are my favorite cookies to gift at Christmas:
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Classic Holiday Gingerbread Men
Classic Holiday Gingerbread Men are soft and chewy on the inside. They have just the right amount of crunch on the outside! They are the perfect homemade gift for the special people on your holiday gift list.
Equipment
- Half-sheet pans lined with parchment paper
- Parchment paper for rolling the dough
- Rolling pin with spacer rings
- Gingerbread man cookie cutter
Ingredients
- 3 cups (15 ounces) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ¼ cup vegetable shortening at room temperature
- ½ cup (3.75 ounces) light brown sugar, firmly packed
- ⅔ cup unsulfured molasses
- 1 large egg
- Royal Icing, recipe follows recipe follows
- Mini chocolate chips and mini-red and green M&Ms or other decorations
Instructions
Gingerbread Men Cookies
- Sift the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, salt and pepper through a wire sieve into a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, using a hand-held electric mixer at high speed, beat the butter and vegetable shortening until well combined, about 1 minute. Add the brown sugar and beat until the mixture is light in texture and color, about 2 minutes. Beat in the molasses and egg. Using a wooden spoon, gradually mix in the flour mixture until a stiff dough forms. Divide the dough into two thick disks and wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 3 hours. (The dough can be prepared up to 2 days ahead.)
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line half-sheet pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
- To roll out the cookies, work with one disk at a time, keeping the other disk refrigerated. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it stand at room temperature until just warm enough to roll out without cracking, about 10 minutes. (If the dough has been chilled for longer than 3 hours, it may need a few more minutes.) Place the dough on a piece of parchment paper, or other work surface dusted with confectioners' sugar. Sprinkle the top of the dough with confectioners' sugar, then cover with another piece of parchment paper or plastic wrap. Roll out the dough ⅛-inch thick, making sure it isn't sticking to the work surface (run a long metal spatula or knife under the dough occasionally just to be sure, and dust the surface with more confectioners' sugar, if needed). For softer cookies, roll out slightly thicker. Using a gingerbread man cookie cutter, cut out the cookies and transfer to parchment-lined cookie sheets, placing the cookies 1 inch apart. Gently knead the scraps together and form into another disk. Wrap and chill for 5 minutes before rolling out again to cut out more cookies.
- Bake at 350°F until the edges of the cookies are set and crisp, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on the sheets for 2 minutes; then transfer to wire cake racks to cool completely. Decorate with Royal Icing, and other decorations. (The cookies can be prepared up to 1 week ahead, stored in airtight containers at room temperature.) Yield: 16 to 20 gingerbread men.
Royal Icing
- 2 cups (8 ounces) confectioners' sugar
- 1 Tablespoons dried egg-white powder or meringue powder
- 3 Tablespoons water
- Combine ingredients in a mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Add more water or confectioners' sugar to achieve the proper piping consistency.
- Make ahead: The icing can be prepared up to 2 days ahead, stored in an airtight container with a moist paper towel pressed directly on the icing surface, and refrigerated.
- This icing hardens into shiny white lines, and is used for piping decorations on gingerbread men or other cookies. When using a pastry bag, practice your decorating skills before you ice the cookies. Conduct a few trial runs to familiarize yourself with the icing and the bag, piping the icing onto aluminum foil or wax paper. If you work quickly, you can use a metal spatula to scrape the test icing back into the batch. Decorate the gingerbread men.
Nutrition
Serving: 0gCalories: 189kcalCarbohydrates: 28gProtein: 2gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 20mgSodium: 123mgPotassium: 199mgFiber: 1gSugar: 14gVitamin A: 154IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 35mgIron: 2mg
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