This recipe is a perfect recipe for “Thick and Chewy Gingerbread Cookies”. Gingerbread men cookies or baking cookies in general are such an epitome of Christmas baking.
I am baking a variety of shapes – christmas trees, gingerbread men, christmas bell, christmas angel – so kids can have fun decorating with icing. I have to modify the recipe from the traditional gingerbread men cookies in to a simple cookies with no addition of ginger or cinnamon, because kids are not up to the taste of ginger and cinnamon. The result is a surprisingly wonderful cookie with maple aroma, soft and chewy, durable enough for kids to decorate it.
Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup dark corn syrup or pancake syrup
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla
4 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
Directions
- Combine butter with sugar and corn or pancake syrup until smooth.
- Add the vanilla and the egg, mix well.
- Sift together dry ingredients and add slowly to the sugar/butter mixture.
- Blend until dough is smooth.
- Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least one hour, or overnight.
- On a floured surface, roll out dough until 1/4 inch thick, cut with cookie cutters.
- Bake on a slightly greased cookie sheet in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 10-15 minutes.
- Allow to cool before decorating with icing (recipe below)
Royal Icing
Ingredients
2 large egg whites or 5 tablespoons meringue powder
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
Food coloring, if desired
Directions
- With a hand mixer, beat the egg whites with the lemon juice or extract until frothy.
- Add the sifted powdered sugar and beat on low speed until combined, smooth, and shiny.
- Turn to high and beat approximately 5 minutes till stiff and glossy. Add food coloring, if desired.
- Transfer to a pastry bag to pipe onto cookies.
