Gingerbread cookies

[dhitri]

Ladies, please enlight me in the art of making gingerbread cookies. I used Bec's Gingerbread dough recipe.

My first batch burnt. I also didn't realize that the dough would rise so much during baking. I placed them too close to each other, so they ended up misshapen. I tossed them.

My second batch was ok. But I didn't ice them properly. I dipped them in royal icing and that turned out too thick. I didn't want to send my child and anyone else's into a sugar shock, so I tossed them.

My third one turned out okay and they were yummy, too! But they are plain and un-iced and I am too scared to even put a glaze over them.

My questions:
1. How do you make sure the cookies retain their shape, ie don't expand too much and crack? Should I have rolled them out thicker?

2. What is the best temperature? I have a temperamental gas oven :/

3. How do you decorate them? Do people expect them to be fancy at all? The cookies were meant to be Christmas presents for Miss A's daycare mummies.

Any tip would be appreciated!

[snappy]

Hi TL,

Could you post a pic so we can see how thick your cookies are.  I'm not sure about Becs recipe, I normally use a womens weekly one,  but I cut my cookies reasonably thick, probably about 1cm.  I don't use baking powder in mine because I don't want them to rise too much otherwise they lose their shape.

I love decorating my cookies but I rarely decorate gingerbread men because my two love to eat them!  This is one of the best cookie decorating blogs on the web if you want some ideas

http://bakeat350.blogspot.com.au/

[EmeraldSue]

First of all TL, I hope you didn't really toss the biscuits out- they would have made a delicious base for cheesecake. Next time, toss them in the freezer until you can face turning them into something else.

I have made star biscuits using this recipehttp://www.ukthermomix.com/recshow.php?rec_id=53
I iced them with royal icing, and then stacked them to make a Christmas tree.
Gingerbread does rise as it cooks, so you need to leave room for a little spreading when baking.

If you are worried about the biscuits being too sweet after being iced, why don't you put the icing into a bag and then just drizzle it over the biscuit in a zig zag pattern. That way, they won't be overly sweet.
Here are some photos of the biscuits I made with the linked recipe.

[*suzanne*]

I used the recipe out of the festive flavour cookbook and for the decorations I used icing pens for the face and to stick the buttons on some icing sugar and water to make a thick paste

[Kimmyh]

I used the same recipe as Suzanne and it was so easy and yummy. No dramas either.

[dhitri]

Thank you for the tips! Yikes, I tossed most out, couldn't stand even looking at the burnt ones and the mangly iced one. But thank you for opening my eyes; I will keep that in mind for when I have another kitchen drama :-)

I guess I could cut down the baking powder. They just rise too much for my liking. Another friend suggested freezing the dough after they've been cut in shapes. I cut them 1cm thick. What do you think?

I guess with the icing... I need to make the icing a little thinner AND just pipe the outline or zig zag. I am no good with icing pens, I seem to trigger wrist pain whenever I try to work em.

Gosh your pictures look so good and delish! I will have another go tomorrow morning. Thank you for the kind words and encouragement!

[dhitri]

First of all TL, I hope you didn't really toss the biscuits out- they would have made a delicious base for cheesecake. Next time, toss them in the freezer until you can face turning them into something else.

I have made star biscuits using this recipehttp://www.ukthermomix.com/recshow.php?rec_id=53
I iced them with royal icing, and then stacked them to make a Christmas tree.
Gingerbread does rise as it cooks, so you need to leave room for a little spreading when baking.

If you are worried about the biscuits being too sweet after being iced, why don't you put the icing into a bag and then just drizzle it over the biscuit in a zig zag pattern. That way, they won't be overly sweet.
Here are some photos of the biscuits I made with the linked recipe.

This is really clever!!!

[goldfish]

ES - did you use regular cookie cutters for this?  May I ask where you got them?

[dhitri]

Here they are *bows head in shame*

[EmeraldSue]

TL there is no need to bow your head in shame!
Dont worry about using an icing pen. I would make up some royal icing and pop it in a ziplock sandwich bag, and just cut a small corner off. Or use a disposable icing bag from the supermarket. Then place all your bickies out on a drying rack and hold the bag over the rack and drizzle the icing in a zig zag pattern. You will be able to ice all the biscuits at once, and they will look pretty (and taste yummy). Leave the icing to dry before removing them from the rack.
Next time, roll them out twice as thin as they will rise as they cook.

I have bought a Christmas  tree cutter set from a kitchen shop. It contains star cutters in varying sizes, plus a hole cutter, a stand and a stick. I bought one for a friend at Spotlight yesterday for half price.

There is a funny story attached to the Christmas tree in the photo. Last year I entered one in the Royal Show, but as I was driving over the speed humps at school, with the tree in a box in the boot, I heard a crash. Sure enough, when I got to the show grounds, the tower had collapsed. I had to hastily try to stack my spare biscuits, but it kept falling over as the stewards tried to move it. I eventually won second prize, but I vowed that the same thing wouldn't happen this year, so this year, I  glued a stick of dowel onto a cake board and threaded the biscuits onto it, so that it wouldn't collapse. I spent ages on it and was really happy with the final result. I successfully got it to the show grounds in one piece only to discover that I hadn't actually entered that section this year. The steward wouldn't accept it and I had to take it home!

This is the before picture.

This is the after photo!

[goldfish]

Thanks ES -

Oh yes, I remember now . . . . will you enter again ES - surely 3rd time lucky!!!  and it's such a beautiful tree . . .!!

and TL - agree with ES there - totally nothing to hang your head about!  You should have seen some of my attempts! LOL Some excellent advice there from ES . . .Thanks from me, too, ES

[judydawn]

Give us the registration date next year ES and we will all remind you to do it    You deserve to win first prize with your Christmas tree.

[EmeraldSue]

I'm blushing Judy

[Kimmyh]

Lovely Christmas tree ES and great story. You must enter next year, definitely third time lucky.

[cookie1]

That tree is very beautiful ES. I am sure you would have won first prize this year.