Will's Christmas Gingerbread Cookies

Will Geisler of the Buttercream Workshop is well-known for his delectable celebration cakes. Here, he shares his recipe for traditional Christmas Gingerbread Cookies – are easy to make and fun to decorate. These cookies also make great gifts, and if you skewer a hole in the top for a ribbon to thread through they can be edible Christmas tree decorations. Recipe by Will Geisler. Photo by Sam Cameron. Summer 2019/20, Wairarapa Lifestyle Magazine

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INGREDIENTS

1 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup (75 g) butter

1 1/2 cup dark molasses (blackstrap)

2/3 cup cold water

7 cups plain flour

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground allspice

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp salt

METHOD

1. Beat the brown sugar and butter together until light and fluffy. Add in the dark molasses and the cold water and mix until smooth.

2. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk together. Gradually add into the liquid ingredients and mix until well combined.

3. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and chill for at least 2 hours.

4. Preheat oven to 180C.

5. Roll out dough to about 1 cm thickness, and cut into desired shapes. Re-roll as often as needed to use up the dough.

6. If you want to hang these cookies as decorations, I suggest putting a hole in before baking. Use a skewer to open up a hole, not too near the edge (so the cookie will not break when strung up). Make the hole a little bigger than you think you will need - it will shrink slightly while baking.

7. Bake at 180C on a greased cookie sheet for 10 - 12 minutes. While the cookies are still warm, make sure that the hole you put in them is still open by poking the skewer through. Cool the cookies on a rack.

DECORATING THE COOKIES

When I decorate these cookies, I usually use Royal Icing. It’s a great icing to use, because it’s easy to “draw” with; it stays put if you’re hanging the cookies on a tree, or piling them up on a plate; plus it can be dyed any colour you like. Traditional Royal Icing, however, is made with egg whites, and not cooked, so if you are concerned about using raw egg whites, you can either substitute meringue powder and water for the egg whites or use another icing altogether.

When we were kids, we decorated these cookies with icing from a tube in the grocery store. I’m not even sure what was in that icing, but it certainly didn’t go off while hanging on the Christmas tree!

Whichever icing you use, throw on some non-pareils (those classic tooth-cracking silver sugar balls), hundreds and thousands, gumdrops, broken up candy canes, bits of licorice or any sort of lollies that your children like - just use the icing like glue!