Steps for the Ginger Bread Cookies Recipe

• Let’s start the recipe for Ginger Bread Christmas by placing all the ingredients on the work surface. Weigh each ingredient with the indicated amounts and proceed. Take the food processor if you don’t want to knead by hand, as I did. Or take the pastry board or the bowl with high edges. Prepare the pastry board anyway, we will need it later in all three cases. Now if you do as I do, continue like this, otherwise proceed to step 1 if you knead by hand on the pastry board or to step 2 if you knead by hand but in the bowl.

  So let’s take the all-purpose flour, sift it, and add half a tablespoon of baking powder or baking soda. Then pour it into the bowl of the mixer or food processor. In my case, as seen in the video recipe, the bowl is nice and large, and I kneaded everything in one go. If you don’t have such a large food processor, choose one of the other two gingerbread processing methods. Then add the brown sugar and all the spices, from the ground cinnamon to the ginger, nutmeg, and the two cloves. I specified doses in the ingredient list, but you can change them according to your taste. If you prefer cinnamon more and maybe little or no nutmeg, increase the amount of the first and decrease or eliminate the second. In addition, you can choose to add cocoa powder or not. I chose not to add cocoa this time; I just wanted to enjoy the spices with these Gingerbread Christmas Cookies.

  Now start the mixer and let it run for a few moments, you’ll see that all the ingredients will rise, and the light color of the flour will disappear, becoming a uniform beige. We can then proceed by adding the egg yolk, keeping the egg white aside, which we will need for the royal icing that we will prepare later. It’s time for 1/2 cup of butter, cut into rough chunks, still cold from the refrigerator. Then the two tablespoons of honey and a pinch of salt. Start the mixer again and let it run. We are making the “shortbread sandblasting” as they say in culinary jargon.

  Then turn off the food processor when you see the ingredients blend and stop on one side of the bowl, that will be the signal that the dough is ready. Then sprinkle the wooden pastry board, pour the ginger and cinnamon shortcrust pastry mixture on top. Work quickly to form a ball, then cover it with plastic wrap and place it to rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes!

  

• Take all the ingredients and place them in front of you on the work surface as above. Pour the flour and the tablespoon of baking powder on the wooden pastry board. Form the classic fountain. Sprinkle with all the spices, make sure to grind the cloves. If you want, you can add cocoa powder as listed in the ingredients list. Now break the egg in the center and keep only the yolk, put the egg white in a small bowl, it will be needed later for the royal icing. Add the brown sugar and a pinch of salt, and with a fork, start working the mixture coarsely. Now, we must work quickly with our hands, so we’ll add the cold butter from the refrigerator cut into pieces. Work without letting the butter warm up too much. Knead and create a nice smooth and homogeneous ball, cover it with plastic wrap, and place it in the refrigerator to rest for at least 30 minutes.

  

• Take all the necessary ingredients for this recipe and place them in front of you on the work surface. The pastry board will still be needed and lightly floured. Pour into the bowl the all-purpose flour and the baking powder dose. Quickly mix with a fork or spoon. Then add the brown sugar and all the necessary spices for this recipe. Make sure to finely grind the cloves. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Now break and add the egg yolk, keeping the egg white aside with which we will later prepare the royal icing. Quickly work the dough with your hands, then begin to add the butter pieces, little by little, making them incorporate well into the dough. Then form a nice homogeneous ball, wrap it with plastic wrap, and place it in the refrigerator to rest for at least 30 minutes.

  

• FROM THIS POINT ON, WE PROCEED WITH THE RECIPE TOGETHER

  Take the pastry board, parchment paper sheets, the rolling pin, and preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius on the static mode. Retrieve the ginger and cinnamon shortcrust pastry from the refrigerator and roll it out. With the cookie cutters, create many delicious Ginger Bread and place them directly on the baking sheets covered with parchment paper. In my case, I placed 5 cookies per sheet to leave space between one gingerbread man and another.

  Proceed by baking one or at most two baking sheets at a time if your oven allows it. Please don’t walk away or leave the cookies alone in the oven if you can’t monitor their cooking. I specify this because the first cooking takes about 12 to 14 minutes, after which the oven will be very hot, and 12 minutes might be enough.

  Once the cooking is finished, move the ginger cookies onto a cooling rack or the wooden pastry board; the important thing is not to leave them on the baking sheets, as they would receive too much heat, becoming too hard.

  LET’S PREPARE THE ROYAL ICING

  While the cookies cool, we prepare the royal icing. There are those who work it with a fork, those with a hand whisk, and those like me who prefer electric whisks. So who am I to tell you how to do it? No one, so choose the most practical method for you above. In a small bowl with high edges, pour the egg white, add a pinch of salt, and start working with the electric whisk until the egg white is whipped. Keep the whisk at maximum power, and don’t worry if it takes a couple of minutes. Spray with lemon juice and work again. Gradually add the powdered sugar. Start slowly, considering a base dose of about 150 grams, but up to 250 grams of sugar may be needed. If you have or want to add vanilla-flavored, that’s fine. Once the right density is reached, free of lumps and not too liquid, we will be ready to transfer the royal icing into a piping bag with a spoon or spatula. The tip should be as fine as possible. Thus, we are ready to decorate our Christmas Gingerbread Cookies.

  I tried with small bows, little hearts, and the classic hands and feet of a Ginger Christmas Man. This step is seen very well in the video, and I must say it went better than the previous time with the Christmas Cinnamon Cookies. At this point, our Christmas Cookies are ready to be enjoyed. I just want to remind you that I’m waiting for you on the blog every day with the Recipe of the Day, on the social channels of Le Ricette di Bea which you can find below to follow, and I wish you a good appetite!!!