How to bake delicious gingerbread cookies. Gingerbread cookies
If you've ever tried gingerbread cookies, you are unlikely to be able to forget these amazing, spicy and crispy cookies. Well, if you haven’t tried it, here’s a recipe for you - very simple, affordable in terms of ingredients and not requiring any special culinary skills. Gingerbread cookies will come in very handy for the New Year and Christmas tables. By the way, they are prepared according to a similar recipe, only the dough is rolled out thicker and the baking time increases. It's time to get out your hidden cookie cutters and start working your magic for the New Year and Christmas.
Ingredients
- flour 250 g
- egg 1 piece
- butter 100 g
- powdered sugar 100 g
- ground ginger 2 teaspoons
- ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon
- ground cardamom 1/2 teaspoon
- ground cloves 1/2 teaspoon
- ground allspice 1/2 teaspoon
- cocoa powder 1 teaspoon
- honey 1 tbsp. spoon (25 g)
- soda 1/2 teaspoon
- salt 1 pinch
Please note that cloves and allspice are used in ground form in the recipe.
Preparation
The first thing to do is take out the butter and leave it in the kitchen at room temperature for an hour or two until it softens. It is advisable that the eggs are not cold either, so you can also get them in advance or warm them in warm water.
Mix ground ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, allspice, cloves and soda. If you don’t have any ground spices, grind them yourself in a coffee grinder, mortar or other simple methods. 
Add a pinch of salt and stir. Don't be afraid - this won't make the cookies salty. Salt is a natural flavor enhancer! 
Sift flour and cocoa into the spices and mix. I add cocoa to make the cookies a little darker. If you want light cookies, you don't need to add cocoa. Sugar can also affect color. More on this below. 
In a separate bowl, mix the butter and powdered sugar with a mixer. Let's return to the question of color: if you use regular powdered sugar, then, as you understand, it lightens the cookies a little. If you want fairly dark cookies, use fine brown sugar such as Cassonade or Muscovado. 
Add the egg and liquid honey to the oil mixture (if the honey is thick, just heat it a little in a water bath or in the microwave). Stir until smooth. 
Add this mass to the flour with spices and knead again. You can do it with a mixer at low speed, or you can do it with your hands. 
The dough turns out soft and slightly sticky. Don't let this scare you. Wrap it in cling film (or put it in a regular bag) and put it in the refrigerator for an hour. After this procedure, the dough will be very easy to work with. 
After the allotted time, we take out the dough, divide it into 2 parts: we put one part in the refrigerator, the other we roll out with a rolling pin on a sheet of parchment or a silicone mat, and we will bake on it, because we can transfer our future cookies to a baking sheet without deforming them. it will be quite difficult. I roll out the dough very thin - 1-2 mm, during baking the cookies will rise a little, but they will still be quite thin and crispy, these cookies are sold in Sweden. If you roll out the dough thicker, up to 5 mm, the cookies will turn out thick and soft, most likely they won’t even be cookies, but gingerbread. When rolling out the dough, you can cover it with a second sheet of parchment so that it does not stick to the rolling pin. 
We cut out the figures using molds. Do not place them too close to each other; the cookies will expand slightly during baking and may stick together. We remove the excess dough and put it in the refrigerator for now. 
Carefully transfer the parchment sheet to a baking sheet and place in the oven, preheated to 180 degrees, for 5-6 minutes; if you are making thicker cookies, increase the baking time to 7-8 minutes. While the cookies are baking, prepare the next batch. 
The cookies are soft immediately after baking, but become hard and crispy as they cool. Therefore, for 30 minutes after baking, cookies should be kept on a flat surface to avoid deformation of their shape. Gingerbread cookies ready to serve! If you tie it beautifully with a ribbon, you can give it to friends. 
But, as a rule, gingerbread cookies are painted with icing - a protein-sugar glaze. It will look especially beautiful on the New Year's table or directly on the Christmas tree. 
For a better understanding of this process, look at our separate material -. 
Here it is - ginger christmas cookies! The finished cookies can be stored for quite a long time, they will last exactly 2 weeks, I once left them for a month and they were preserved normally, having slightly lost their taste properties. But cookies should be stored in a closed box or bag without air access, otherwise they will dry out in the first week. 
Place sugar, honey and all the spices in a saucepan, bring to a boil, remove from heat. Add soda and stir. The mixture should foam strongly.
Place the cubed butter in the pan and stir until it dissolves. Add the egg and flour, knead the plastic dough.
Divide the dough in half, wrap one part in film and set aside. Roll out the rest of the dough into a layer 0.5 cm thick and cut out cookies with cookie cutters. If you are going to hang cookies on the Christmas tree, before baking, make a hole in each cookie for thread or ribbon.
Place on a baking sheet and bake in an oven preheated to 170 degrees for 12-14 minutes until the edges are browned. Repeat with the remaining dough.
While the cookies are baking, prepare the glaze. To do this, beat the whites into a foam and gradually pour powdered sugar into it. You should get a homogeneous viscous mass.
We put it in a bag, cut off a corner and decorate the cooled cookies as your imagination allows.
Let the cookies dry and... eat or decorate the Christmas tree :)
China is considered the birthplace of ginger. It appeared in eastern countries more than 2,000 years ago. Initially, it was used only in medicine, but today ginger is an ingredient in many dishes.
Fresh ginger is most often used to prepare various salads. In China they love it pickled. But dry spices are used for baking.
It should be noted that this plant has beneficial properties: it improves the functioning of the immune system, warms, activates blood circulation, and helps to get rid of extra pounds.
English monks began using these spices to make cookies and decorate the New Year tree. It is baked in the form of various figures, so you need to prepare molds or cut geometric shapes from the dough with a knife.
Step-by-step simple recipes with photos of making ginger cookies at home
To bake delicious ginger cookies, just follow a specific recipe. The whole process takes no more than ten minutes. There are several baking recipes. In this article we will look at the simplest and most common options.
Menu:
1. Gingerbread Cookies Recipe
First of all, let's look at the simplest baking method. Even an inexperienced housewife can prepare such cookies. If desired, you can change the composition of spices or add other ingredients. Don't be afraid to experiment.
Ingredients:
- 0.5 cups wheat flour.
- 1 tsp cinnamon.
- ¼ tsp table salt.
- 1 tsp ground ginger.
- 2 tsp baking powder.
- 170 g butter.
- 1 chicken egg.
- 1 cup brown sugar.
- 0.5 cups of powdered sugar.
- 0.25 cups black molasses.
Cooking process
1. Sift flour into a bowl, add table salt, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, and powdered sugar.
2. In another bowl, add melted butter, chicken egg and brown sugar. All ingredients must be mixed until smooth.
3. Add molasses to the prepared mixture and mix everything thoroughly.
4. The mass must be stirred well for several minutes so that it acquires a creamy consistency.
5. At the next stage, you need to gradually add flour to the prepared mass. Mix with a mixer at minimum speed. Add flour in small portions to avoid the formation of lumps.
6. The finished dough must be divided into several parts using a measuring spoon.
7. The next step is to roll the dough into small balls and roll them in a small amount of white sugar.
8. Place the formed balls on a baking sheet. There should be sufficient distance between them, as they will increase in volume during cooking.
9. Before you start baking, the balls need to be pressed down a little so that they take the shape of a cake.
10. Place the baking sheet in the oven, which must first be heated to 190 degrees. Bake for 10-15 minutes, no more.
2. Ginger cookies with honey
This recipe uses fresh ginger, which makes the cookies spicy and aromatic. You can add dry ginger, but then the taste will be completely different.
Ingredients:
- 100 g ginger.
- 300 g flour.
- 150 g sugar.
- 200 g butter.
- 2 chicken eggs.
- 0.5 tsp baking powder.
- 2.5 tbsp natural honey.
Cooking method
1. Ginger root needs to be washed well, peeled, and then grated.
2. Before cooking, you need to remove the butter from the refrigerator so that it softens. When it becomes soft, you need to mix it with granulated sugar, ginger, honey and egg. All ingredients must be thoroughly mixed until a homogeneous mass is formed.
3. Then add sifted flour and baking powder to the mixture. Knead the dough for several minutes.
4. The finished dough should be rolled up, wrapped in cling film and placed in the refrigerator for one hour.
5. The chilled dough must be rolled out into a flat cake about 1.5 cm thick. Using molds, squeeze out several pieces. If you don't have molds, you can cut the dough into any shape.
6. Place parchment paper on a baking sheet and grease it with butter. Then lay out the cookie blanks and place them in the oven, heated to 200 degrees. Bake for 10 minutes.
3. Classic gingerbread cookie recipe
Cookies with ginger prepared in the classic way will not leave anyone indifferent. The baked goods are very aromatic and melt in your mouth. It is served with coffee, tea or milk.
Ingredients:
- 3 tsp grated ginger.
- 1 chicken egg.
- 100 g butter.
- 2 cups flour.
- 0.5 cups granulated sugar.
- 5 pcs cloves.
- 1 tsp cinnamon.
- 2 tsp baking powder.
Step-by-step preparation
1. Grind cinnamon and cloves in a mortar, place in a plate, add wheat flour and ginger. Mix everything well.
2. In a separate bowl, beat the egg with granulated sugar and add softened butter. The mixture must be beaten with a broom until it becomes airy.
3. Then you need to add the flour mixture to this mass. Knead a stiff dough.
4. Now roll out the dough into a layer of small thickness. Use cookie cutters or cut out cookies. If desired, you can sprinkle a little sugar or nuts on top. Place parchment paper on a baking sheet and arrange the cookies.
5. Place the baking sheet in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for 10-15 minutes. When the baked goods have cooled, they can be served.
4. Icing for gingerbread cookies
The taste of cookies depends not only on the cooking method and ingredients, but also on the glaze. It should have a thick consistency and snow-white color. Preparation requires some experience and enough time. You need to follow these steps:
- Prepare 2 chicken eggs, separate the whites and beat them with a mixer at high speed. The result should be a foamy mass.
- At the next stage, add powdered sugar (300 g) to the whipped whites and mix with a mixer.
- If you want to make patterns on cookies using icing, the mixture should be quite thick.
If desired, you can add cocoa powder and lemon juice.
5. Gingerbread cookies with frosting
Baking with icing is an excellent option for decorating a holiday table. If you do not have experience in making such cookies, then just follow the preparation steps and you will definitely succeed.
Ingredients:
- 1 small ginger root (40-50 g).
- 700 g flour.
- 4 tbsp natural honey.
- 2 chicken eggs.
- 300 g butter.
- 250 g sugar.
- 4 tbsp cocoa powder.
- 200 g of powdered sugar.
- 1 piece of orange.
- 1 piece of lemon.
- 2 tsp baking powder.
- 1 protein.
Step-by-step preparation
1. Melt the butter over low heat, then set aside until it cools to room temperature.
2. Add butter, natural honey, granulated sugar and two eggs to a blender. Beat on high speed for several minutes.
3. At the next stage, sift the flour, add baking powder, mix and add half of the mixture to the prepared mass. Add in small portions to avoid lumps.
4. Add cocoa powder, grated ginger, and orange and lemon zest to the bowl with the ingredients. After this, add the remaining flour and mix everything well.
5. Wrap the resulting dough in cling film and place in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours.
6. Roll out the chilled dough onto a 5 mm sheet, make cookies of any shape, place on a baking sheet and place in the oven, which must first be heated to 190 degrees. Bake for no more than ten minutes.
7. To decorate the cookies and give them an original taste, you need to prepare the glaze. To do this, in a separate bowl, mix lemon juice, powdered sugar and egg white. You can use a mixer, a fork or a kitchen broom. Add the mixture to a pastry bag and decorate the baked goods to your liking.
6. Gingerbread cookie recipe with step-by-step photos
Let's look at another way to make delicious cookies. This recipe is slightly different in the ingredients. You can experiment and use other spices.
Ingredients:
- 3 tsp ground ginger.
- 0.5 cups white flour.
- 2 tsp soda.
- 0.5 tsp allspice.
- 1 tsp cinnamon.
- 0.5 tsp salt.
- 0.25 tsp ground pepper.
- 0.5 cups granulated sugar.
- 220 g unsalted butter.
- 0.5 cups brown sugar.
- 1/3 cup molasses.
- 1 chicken egg.
Cooking process
1. Add spices, soda, table salt and flour to a deep bowl. Mix all ingredients.
2. Beat sugar and butter with a mixer for about three minutes. After this, add the molasses with the egg and beat at medium speed for another two minutes.
3. Pour dry ingredients into the resulting mixture and mix evenly at minimum mixer speed. Wrap the dough in cling film or plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for two hours.
4. Turn on the oven and heat it to 180 degrees. Meanwhile, spread parchment paper on a baking sheet and grease it well with butter. Form small balls from the chilled dough and place them at a distance of 5 cm, as they will increase in volume during baking. If you prefer soft cookies, bake them for 10 minutes, or for firmer cookies, wait 15 minutes.
Cookies can be stored in the refrigerator for a month or at room temperature for up to one week.
7. Video – Recipe for ginger cookies from Yulia Vysotskaya
In conclusion, watch the video with Yulia Vysotskaya. She offers an easy way to make gingerbread cookies using simple and affordable ingredients.
Bon appetit!
Gingerbread cookies in the form of New Year's figures are a symbol of Christmas in Europe, like the Christmas tree, Christmas cake and Santa Claus. It is customary for the whole family to bake ginger cookies - this charming tradition, which has come to us from time immemorial, brings relatives together and turns Christmas and New Year into the brightest, most comfortable and delicious holidays. I would like to thank an unknown monk who lived in the 11th century, because it was thanks to his absent-mindedness that the classic recipe for ginger cookies appeared. While preparing for the monastery's Christmas meal, the monk confused ground ginger with flour, but everyone in the monastery liked the baked goods so much that the recipe spread to other monasteries. Now homemade ginger cookies have turned into a magnificent culinary handmade that decorates the festive table for Christmas or New Year. Ginger cookies in the shape of deer, snowflakes, Christmas trees and houses, painted with sugar icing, are a very tasty and sincere gift that always evokes joy and warm feelings.
DIY gingerbread cookies for the New Year
The German city of Nuremberg is called the ginger capital of Europe, so many people specifically go there for the best in the world.
To prepare the dough, first mix dry products - flour, soda and spices, and separately grind soft butter with sugar, eggs and honey. After this, the ingredients are combined together and the dough is kneaded until the crumbs stick together into a dense, uniform ball. Properly prepared dough usually does not stick to your hands and has a texture similar to marzipan. The finished dough is wrapped in cling film and placed in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. This is necessary so that the butter hardens, because it is easier to cut out figures from a denser dough using gingerbread cookie cutters.
Next, part of the dough is rolled out with a rolling pin on the table, figures are cut out of it, placed on a greased baking sheet at a short distance from each other and baked for 5-15 minutes at a temperature of 180 ° C - the baking time depends on the thickness of the cookies. By the way, the other part of the dough is in the refrigerator at this time, otherwise it will begin to melt. For the same reason, the figures need to be cut out as quickly as possible so that their contours are not blurred. By the time the baking sheet is filled with cookies, the oven should already be preheated. When the cookies have darkened a little around the edges, they are considered ready, but if they are kept in the oven, they will become hard. Properly prepared gingerbread cookies start out soft and then become crispy.
How to decorate gingerbread cookies
A classic decoration is gingerbread cookie frosting, which can be made from 1 egg white, cup powdered sugar, 2 tbsp. l. water and 1 tbsp. l. lemon or orange juice. Beat all ingredients in a mixer or blender until the glaze thickens. You can add more powdered sugar if the mixture is too runny. The thicker the icing, the easier it is to draw patterns on the cookies.
You can make glaze without protein. In this case, for 150 g of powdered sugar, take 1 tbsp. l. water and 1 tsp. citrus juice. Grind the mixture until smooth. When the sugar drop does not spread, but remains in a ball on the saucer, the glaze is considered ready.
The custard glaze is also very tasty. To prepare it, boil 50 ml of water in a saucepan, then reduce the heat and gradually add 300 g of powdered sugar. Stirring the mixture constantly, pour 1 tsp into it. lemon juice and cook for 5 minutes.
You can add food coloring to the glaze, and to apply designs, use a pastry bag or plastic bag with a corner cut off. You just have to draw on the cookies very quickly, because the icing hardens instantly. You can find examples of patterns in photos of gingerbread cookies with icing posted online, or come up with your own version.
Gingerbread cookies decorated with glaze should sit for 10 hours until the glaze completely dries. Now you can wrap Christmas gifts without worrying about the cookies sticking together. And if you poke holes in the cookies with a cocktail straw before they go in the oven, you can hang the treat on the tree or make a spectacular and delicious garland. New Year is the best time for culinary creativity!
Ginger cookies: recipe step by step
To make these delicious cookies using a classic European recipe, you will need the following ingredients.
Ingredients: for the dough: flour - 250 g, butter at room temperature - 70 g, brown sugar - 80 g, egg - 1 pc., cocoa powder - 1 tbsp. l., ground ginger - 1 tsp., fresh grated ginger - 1 tsp., ground cinnamon - 1 tsp., ground cloves - 0.5 tsp., soda - 0.5 tsp. .; for glaze: powdered sugar - 250 g, white of a large egg - 1 pc. (about 40 g), warm water - 2-3 tbsp. l., lemon juice - 1 tbsp. l., food coloring of any shades, edible beads and snowflakes - to taste.
Cooking method:
1. Chop the butter into cubes.
2. Mix butter with sugar and eggs, beat with a mixer for 3 minutes.
3. Add soda, cocoa, spices, ginger and flour to the mixture.
4. Using a mixer, knead the dough.
5. Wrap the dough in cling film and place it in the refrigerator.
6. Roll out half of the dough with a rolling pin on the table, and leave the other half in the refrigerator. The result should be a layer 7 mm thick.
7. Turn on the oven and preheat it to 180°C, cover a baking sheet with baking paper.
8. Cut out shapes with molds and place them on a baking sheet.
9. Bake cookies for 10 minutes.
10. Do the same with the second batch of dough.
11. Mix all the ingredients for the glaze.
12. Beat the mixture with a mixer for 10 minutes. To check readiness, run a knife across the surface of the glaze. If the mark remains for at least 10 seconds, then you can paint with this glaze.
13. Place the glaze in a pastry bag and draw any designs on the cooled cookies.
14. Decorate the frosting with brightly colored food beads, snowflakes or colored sprinkles.
15. Let the cookies stand for 4 hours and serve.
Fragrant gingerbread cookies, smelling of cinnamon, will cheer you up on cold winter evenings, because you don’t have to bake them exclusively for Christmas!
Secrets for making gingerbread cookies
In the process of kneading the dough, sometimes not everything goes according to plan, since ginger dough is very capricious, often crumbles and spreads. But you can safely make your own adjustments. If the crumbs don't come together into a ball, add a little butter; If the dough is too sticky to your hands, stir in a little flour.
You need to learn to feel the dough, despite the fact that the recipe for gingerbread cookies with the photo gives completely different proportions, because the consistency of the dough also depends on the quality of the products.
In pictures in magazines, gingerbread cookies have a beautiful coffee-and-cream hue. To get this color, you need to add a little dark syrup, molasses, burnt sugar or cocoa to the dough. The simplest and most affordable option is cocoa, with which the cookies will acquire a delicious chocolate taste.
The sticky dough can be placed between two sheets of baking paper sprinkled with flour and rolled out to the desired thickness - this way you won’t have to mix excess flour into the dough, the layers won’t stick to the table and will turn out even.
If you want the cookies to be softer and more crumbly, bake them on a greased baking sheet; If you want crispy cookies, use baking paper lightly dusted with flour.
As you decorate, the icing may set in the piping bag. In this case, you need to put it in a cup, dilute it with a small amount of water and grind it well. When preparing the glaze, water is always added drop by drop to achieve the correct consistency.
Recipe for ginger cookies from Yulia Vysotskaya
Shortbread ginger cookies according to Yulia Vysotskaya’s recipe are tender and crumbly. To prepare it, you will need 125 g of pre-softened butter, which must be combined with 50 g of powdered sugar, ¼ tsp. grated ginger and the zest of one orange. Mix all the ingredients well, sift 200 g of flour into the resulting mass in small portions and add 0.5 tsp. sea salt. Knead the dough, roll it out and use molds to make beautiful cookies. Bake it for 10 minutes at 180°C on a baking sheet lined with baking paper, and then decorate. However, the cookies are incredibly delicious even without fondant and icing.
Yulia Vysotskaya also has other interesting recipes - ones made with maple syrup and cream, and crispy ginger cookies with spices.
Gingerbread cookies can be different, and it doesn’t matter which recipe you prefer. With the aromas of baking, everything in the house is transformed, and we become closer to the New Year's magic and... to ourselves.
On the eve of the New Year holidays, we take out and remember all the New Year's recipes. This is one of the important and very relevant recipes. In my family, it is customary to bake ginger cookies for Christmas holidays and Holy evenings. I treat them to the children who come to us to cast spells and be generous. And many of them are already going specifically for these cookies. The recipe is very old, and take my word for it, it’s proven. It is very simple to prepare, but products from it must be baked quickly enough. Listen to my advice, follow the proportions exactly and you will succeed. I’ll also mention the quality of flour and butter, it must be impeccable.
Ingredients:
- egg - 1 piece;
- butter 82% fat - 100 grams;
- premium flour - 200 grams;
- honey (I use flower honey) - 3 teaspoons;
- sugar - 110 grams;
- soda - 1.5 teaspoons;
- ginger - 2 teaspoons (ground);
- ground cardamom - 1 teaspoon;
- cinnamon to taste approximately - 1-2 teaspoons.
Gingerbread cookies. Step by step recipe
- Let's start with honey, we definitely need it to be liquid. If yours is candied or very thick, heat it in a water bath for just a couple of minutes.
- Grind very soft butter at room temperature with sugar until smooth. You can beat with a mixer at medium speed. I usually grind it.
- Cool the honey and add to the butter and sugar, also beat in the egg. Whisk everything together.
- Sift the flour and mix with ground ginger, cinnamon, cardamom and soda. Mix the bulk ingredients; you can sift everything together with the flour again to avoid lumps in the finished product.
- Add the flour mixture little by little and knead the dough. Knead quite long and hard, about 10-15 minutes, until it turns out completely homogeneous. If you suddenly feel that the dough is too sticky, add a maximum of a tablespoon of flour, no more.
- Wrap the dough in cling film and refrigerate for 1.5 hours.
- Sprinkle with flour, sprinkle the rolling pin with flour, and quickly, without heating the dough, roll it into a thin layer. Determine the thickness yourself, but I recommend 0.5 centimeters. While the dough is being rolled out, preheat the oven to 180°C, then quickly place the cookies in there. You don't want the dough to lie on the table for a long time, otherwise it will float.
- Now cut out the cookies from the dough using cookie cutters, and carefully, using a knife, place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake cookies for no more than 7 minutes.
- The cookies will be soft when you take them out of the oven, but they will harden as they cool. It will turn out evenly smooth and flavorful.
Decorate the finished ginger liver with glaze as desired, leave overnight so that the glaze dries evenly. These cookies can be stored in a box for more than a week. “Very tasty” wishes you a bon appetit! And be sure to try to cook
