Gingerbread Buddies Recipes

Steps:

• For the gingerbread people: Whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, allspice and salt in a medium bowl until well blended. Beat together the butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer starting on low and increasing speed, scraping the sides of the bowl down as needed, until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the molasses and vanilla until combined, then beat in the egg. (The mixture will look curdled.) Turn to low speed and beat in the flour mixture, a little at a time, until the mixture comes together, then increase speed and beat until all the ingredients are well incorporated and you have a sticky dough. Divide the dough in half, flatten into 2 discs and wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to overnight.
• Position 2 racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Keeping the other disc refrigerated, roll 1 disc on a well-floured surface to a thickness of just over 1/8-inch, sprinkling flour on and under the dough as needed and sliding a spatula underneath every so often to prevent sticking. (If the dough looks crackly or breaks apart, press it back together from the outside-edge in.) Dust off the excess flour. Cut out gingerbread people using a 3-inch gingerbread cookie cutter, cutting as close together on the dough as possible. Pull away the extra dough around each cookie and use a small spatula to transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheets about 1/2 inch apart, placed in 3 rows of 4. Gather together the scraps, leaving behind the excess flour, then knead them a few times to form a smooth dough again. Reroll them in the same way. If the dough gets too sticky, put it back in the refrigerator, wrapped in plastic, for a few minutes. (If there are any pieces of dough stuck to the work surface, scrape them away with a spatula, flour the surface again and then continue to roll the dough.) Freeze the cookies on the baking sheets to firm them, about 5 minutes.
• While the cookies chill, roll the dough scraps together into a long 1/4-inch rope and cut into 1-inch pieces. Remove the chilled cookies from the freezer and extend the left arm of each man with the 1-inch dough pieces by pressing the dough piece onto the tip of each person's arm. (This will reinforce them and double their length.) Make sure the gingerbread people are lined up evenly.
• Wrap eight 12-inch-long and 1/4-inch-diameter wooden dowels tightly with foil (keep them smooth), then spray them liberally with cooking spray. Line up 4 gingerbread people head-to-toe and wrap their left arms around the dowel, so that 4 people can hold one dowel at a time with 1/4 inch of space in between them. Repeat with the remaining groups of 4 and chill the cookies on the baking sheet in the freezer for 15 minutes. Repeat with the second disc of dough on the second baking sheet.
• Bake the cookies, rotating and switching the position of the baking sheets halfway through, until they are slightly firm to the touch but not browned, 12 to 15 minutes.
• Cool the cookies 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to a rack and give the dowels a gentle twist to loosen them. Let the cookies cool completely, then slowly slide the cookies off the dowels one at a time, being careful not to break their arms. (The cookies will continue to firm as they cool.)
• For the icing: Combine the confectioners' sugar and meringue powder in a large bowl. Add 4 tablespoons water and beat with a hand mixer on low speed until the frosting thickens and becomes pure white. Separate the icing into bowls and color as desired.
• Put the icing into piping bags or resealable plastic bags and snip the corners to the desired size. Use the icing to decorate the cookies, then allow to dry, about 1 hour.
• Carefully slide the candy canes in place, with the hook facing behind each head, and pipe a small amount of icing in the holes to lock them in place. Rest on the edge of a cookie sheet with the hooks hanging off to set, about 1 hour.
• Hang cookies on a mug or glass filled with your favorite holiday beverage.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in molasses and water. In another bowl, whisk together flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Divide dough in half. Shape each into a disk; wrap in plastic. Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm enough to roll., Preheat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion of dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with a 3-1/2-in. gingerbread man cookie cutter. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Place a bear-shaped cracker, Cinnamon Chex piece or mini shredded wheat piece in center of each cookie. Gently fold cookie arms toward cracker or cereal piece; press lightly to adhere to bear., Bake 12-14 minutes or until edges are firm. Cool on pans 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool completely., In a small bowl, beat confectioners' sugar, water, corn syrup and vanilla until smooth. Tint frosting as desired with paste food coloring. Transfer frosting to a resealable plastic bag; cut a very small hole in a corner of bag. Pipe frosting onto cookies. Decorate as desired with candies.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• On medium-high speed, cream the butter and brown sugar together in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until well combined. Scrape down the sides as necessary.
• Add the eggs one at a time, mixing between each to combine. Add the molasses and mix to combine.
• In a separate bowl, mix together the all-purpose flour, pastry flour, baking powder, ginger, salt, cinnamon and cloves to combine.
• Turn the mixer off and add one-third of the dry ingredients. Turn the mixer to low and carefully mix to combine. Continue this process until all the dry ingredients are combined and a dough has formed.
• Remove the dough from the bowl of the mixer onto a clean working surface that has been dusted with flour. Knead the dough to combine it into a smooth ball. If the dough seems warm or too soft to handle, you can wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or so.
• Using a rolling pin, roll the gingerbread cookie dough to a thickness of 1/4-to-1/2-inch. Using your gingerbread man cookie cutter, cut out cookies and place 1 1/2 inches apart onto the prepared baking sheet. Re-roll excess dough to repeat this process until you have used all the dough.
• Bake for 10 minutes. Cool completely on wire rack
• While cooling, put 1 ounce of the royal icing into a small bowl and dye it black. Put it into a pastry bag with a coupler and a plain #3 tip. Put another 1 ounce of the royal icing into a small bowl and dye it green. Put it into a pastry bag with a coupler and a plain #3 tip. Put another 1 ounce of royal icing into a small bowl and dye it red. Put it into a pastry bag with a coupler and a plain #3 tip.
• After the cookies are cooled, you can turn them into gingerbread men or reindeer.
• For gingerbread men: Using the white icing, add a squiggle line at the edge of each arm and each leg. Using the green icing, pipe 2 triangles together at the neck to create a bowtie. Using the mini chocolate candies, add eyes and buttons. Create the gingerbread man's mouth with the white icing.
• For reindeer: Flip your gingerbread man-shaped cookie upside down so the feet are at the top. Using the white icing, pipe antlers into the "feet" sections of your gingerbread man. Underneath the antlers in the center, pipe eyes and eyebrows. In the "arms" section of the gingerbread man, outline the edges to create your reindeer ears.
• Take a red mini chocolate candy and attach it to the center of the body (underneath the eyes) for the nose. Using your black icing, pipe a mouth underneath the nose. Put a small leaf tip onto your green icing bag and pipe 2 small leaves between the antlers. Pipe 3 small red dots in the center of the leaves as holly berries.

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, cream together the dry butterscotch pudding mix, butter, and brown sugar until smooth. Stir in the egg. Combine the flour, baking soda, ginger, and cinnamon; stir into the pudding mixture. Cover, and chill dough until firm, about 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease baking sheets. On a floured board, roll dough out to about 1/8 inch thickness, and cut into man shapes using a cookie cutter. Place cookies 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until cookies are golden at the edges. Cool on wire racks.

Steps:

• Heat the butter, syrup and sugar together in a small pan until melted, stirring occasionally. Set aside to cool slightly.
• Mix together the bicarb, ginger, cinnamon and flour in a large bowl. Pour in the buttery syrup mixture and stir to combine, then use your hands to bring together to form a dough. The dough will be soft at this point, but it'll firm up in the fridge.
• Put the dough on a sheet of baking parchment, shape into a rectangle, and lay another sheet of parchment on top of it. Roll the dough out to a thickness of ½cm. Transfer to a baking sheet to keep it flat, leaving the parchment in place, then chill in the fridge for 1 hr.
• Heat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5 and line a large baking sheet with more baking parchment. Remove the dough from the fridge and cut out shapes using a cookie cutter. We used 9cm stars, but you can choose any shape. We also made some with smaller stars cut out of the centre to thread ribbon through and hang from a Christmas tree.
• Place the shapes, spread apart, on the lined baking sheet, and bake for 10-12 mins. (Depending on the size of the cutters you use, they might need a few minutes more or less cooking in the oven). Leave to cool completely on the baking sheet.
• Meanwhile, mix the icing sugar with 1-2 tbsp water - you want to create a consistency that's thick and pipeable, and not too thin or it will run. Decorate the cooled biscuits with the icing using a piping bag with a thin nozzle. Find out how to make a piping bag.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9-inch square pan.
• In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the egg, and mix in the molasses.
• In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Blend into the creamed mixture. Stir in the hot water. Pour into the prepared pan.
• Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan before serving.