Gingerbread Teddies Recipes

Steps:

• For the gingerbread cookies: Beat the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the molasses, vanilla and egg until smooth and combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Meanwhile, whisk the flour, gingerbread spice, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. With the electric mixer on low, gradually add the dry mix into the wet until just combined.
• Using a 3/4-ounce cookie scoop, scoop the dough onto a parchment-lined plate or baking sheet into uniform balls (you should have about 30 balls, each about 1 heaping tablespoon of dough). Sprinkle generously with sanding sugar. Refrigerate until chilled through, about 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment.
• Transfer the chilled dough balls to the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between each. Bake until the tops are matte and the cookies puff slightly and are just set at the edges, 12 to 15 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• For the cookie butter filling: Beat the butter, cookie butter spread and salt in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy and thoroughly combined, about 5 minutes. Slowly add the confectioners' sugar 1/2 cup at a time, beating until combined and smooth. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip.
• Flip half the cookies over and evenly pipe on the cookie butter filling, then sandwich with the remaining cookies to make 15 cookie sandwiches. Refrigerate until the filling is just set, about 15 minutes. Serve immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Cut cookie dough into 4 equal pieces. Work with 1 piece of dough at a time; refrigerate remaining dough until ready to use.
• Cut 1 piece of dough into 10 equal portions. Using 1 portion for each cookie, shape dough into 1-inch ball for body, 1/2-inch ball for head, 4 (1/4-inch) balls for arms and legs, and 2 smaller balls for ears. Arrange balls to look like teddy bear shape on ungreased cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough, placing cookies 2 inches apart on cookie sheets.
• Bake 10 to 13 minutes or until set. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets. Decorate as desired with icing.

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.

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:

• 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.