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From ground ginger and mixed spice to orange zest and black treacle, let’s fill the kitchen with the scents of the festive season. Little ones will love creating gingerbread dough from scratch and then cutting out, baking and decorating their very own gingerbread people before hanging them on the Christmas tree (perhaps sampling one or two along the way).
Cook School are a not-for-profit organisation that aims to equip young people with the skills, knowledge and confidence to cook delicious, affordable and healthy meals at home. Working with primary and secondary schools across the UK, they’ve hosted in-person and online cook-along classes for more than 250,000 students to date, all featuring straightforward ingredients and equipment, and easy-to-follow recipes. Follow them on Instagram and sign your local school up for free cookery courses on their website.
“This recipe is sure to become a seasonal family favourite and can easily be adapted to whatever shapes you like, from stars to reindeers. It’s a lovely way to add a personal touch to your Christmas tree.” says Amanda Grant, co-founder of Cook School.
Makes approximately 35 gingerbread people, depending on the size of cutter
Preparation: 1 hour
Baking: 8-10 minutes
Equipment:
3 baking trays
Baking paper
Bowl
Table knife
Chopping board
Jug
Fork
Spoon
Rolling pin
Gingerbread cutter
Ingredients:
350g plain flour (plus a little extra to sprinkle on the table and rolling pin)
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp mixed spice
100g butter
2 free range eggs
150g light brown soft sugar
2 tbsp black treacle
1 orange
To decorate:
Sweets, icing and ribbons
Method:
1. Turn the oven on to 190°C/170°C Fan/Gas 3.
2. Cut three sheets of baking paper and use it to line the baking trays.
3. Put the flour into a bowl with the bicarbonate of soda, ground ginger and mixed spice.
4. Cut the butter into little pieces using a table knife and a chopping board.
5. Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips, until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs.
6. Crack the eggs into a jug, then add the brown sugar and treacle.
7. Carefully grate the skin of the orange for the zest. Add the grated zest to the egg mixture and stir with a fork.
8. Pour the egg mixture into the bowl of flour and mix everything together with a spoon.
9. Cover your hands with a little flour and shape the mixture into a big ball of dough.
10. Take a quarter of the dough, sprinkle a little flour on the table and rolling pin and roll it out to the same thickness as a pound coin. Start to cut out the gingerbread people using your cutter.
11. Put the gingerbread people onto the baking trays. Keep sprinkling flour on the table and your rolling pin and roll out another piece of dough until it is about the same thickness as a pound coin.
12. Keep cutting out gingerbread people and putting them on the trays. Continue until you have used up all the dough.
13. If you’re going to hang them on your tree, poke a small hole at the top of each biscuit.
14. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until just slightly golden. Note: the cooking time will vary if you use different-sized cutters.
15. Leave to cool – the biscuits will harden as they cool.
16. Decorate the biscuits with icing and sweets, and tie string through the holes if you want to hang them on your tree.
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