Easy Christmas Gingerbread

Of course, you probably know me very well for invading Vocal with my film studies stuff and articles entitled ‘a filmmaker’s guide’. I have often explained that I love to bake as well. Since I was young, I have loved the idea, the creativity and the relaxation of baking different things. I love to make macarons, layer cakes and gingerbread in particular and the activity of it really gets me away from my laptop (where I’m sure you know that I spend most of my life). So, I hope you enjoy me talking about what I bake and why I bake it complete with pictures (if not very good) of me actually baking, my baked goods in the process of being created and when they’re finished. I’m really happy to share this with you. And if you like, you can show me your baking (yes, I spend a lot of time writing, but I also spend a lot of time reading other people’s articles!), I would love to see it. Since I was in school, I was always interested in creating things, whether that be pieces of writing, welding things to make small statues or baking foods and making sweets (candy, if you’re American). I hope you enjoy looking at some of the stuff that has honestly kept me sane, because I seem to be going slightly mad.

Easy Christmas Gingerbread

I love making gingerbread during the run-up to Christmas and there's a ton of different types you can make. If you like crunchy then make sure you get some extra sugar and flour in there. If you like soft, then I think that you should concentrate on making the dough a little thicker and spicier. Whereas, if you're like me and you like it somewhere in the middle then I highly recommend this recipe I'm about to give you. I like my gingerbread crunchy on the ends but warm and soft in the middle. It's perfect to eat with a cup of coffee - yes, I drink things apart from alcohol, I know it is a shock but it happens occasionally.

Here's the recipe.

You will need:

• 175g Brown Sugar
• 80g Honey
• 100g Softened Butter
• 350g Plain Flour
• 1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
• 2 tbsp Ground Ginger
• 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 1 Beaten Egg

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 200C
2. Put the sugar, honey and butter into a bowl and put it in the microwave for about 50 seconds. Then, wait for it to cool and mix the melted mixture together. Set it aside
3. Put the flour, bicarbonate of soda and spices in the bowl and mix them together
4. Add the liquid mixture and the egg and continue mixing until it has created a nice hard dough
5. Kneed it into a ball and chill in the fridge for about fifteen minutes
6. When you take it out of the oven, roll the dough out so that it is just about 1.5cm thick
7. Cut out your shapes and then put them on a parchment-paper lined baking tray
8. Put the tray in the oven for about 10 minutes and then allow them to cool for another ten minutes
9. Sprinkle with some icing sugar and enjoy!

Conclusion

There are so many varieties of this recipe. To start off with we have the flavouring. If you don’t feel like gingerbread then check this out: Swap out the egg for some apple sauce, double up on the cinnamon and bake for a tiny bit longer and you’ve got yourself a biscuit that tastes of cinnamon and apples. Or, you could add half a lemon worth of zest in place of the cinnamon and bake for a tiny bit longer and you have got a lemon and ginger biscuit perfect for serving with some fragrant afternoon tea. But, if you want something really crunchy to construct your gingerbread house then I recommend rolling the dough out a little bit thinner and baking it for about twelve minutes or so, allowing it to cool for again - a little bit longer. But, no matter which flavour it is, I enjoy the original flavour from this recipe just as it is. Well, I would love it even more with a nice cup of black coffee.