I have got the Christmas fever!! I am pretty much useless around December because between Christmas and my birthday, I am too excited to do much productive work. All I want to do is eat Christmas cake, put up my Christmas tree, decorate it and sing Christmas carols.

That’s why this post by Fabida, a recipe on making Gingerbread cookies (aren’t they adorable) are right up my alley. I am going to try this as soon as possible and I hope you guys too.

This post is by Fabida Abdulla, the regular contributor to The Mom Views and blogger at . Fab writes about parenting, baking, shopping and all the little joys in life. 

Christmas is usually a time associated with warmth – the type that emanates from people’s hearts as well as their ovens.

 In most parts of the world, Christmas means baked goods in some form – cakes, puddings, cookies etc. Where I live, plum cakes are the order of the day – stores and bakeries are filled with shelves after shelves of dense, yummy cakes bursting with the flavor of plums.

 A popular cookie baked during Christmas season is the Gingerbread Man Cookie. Somewhere between a crunchy cookie and soft bread, this cookie is a hit not just for it’s sweet n spicy flavor but for the countless ways you can decorate these men (and women)!! So here’s an easy homemade cookies recipe that your kids are sure to be delighted with!!

GINGERBREAD MAN -RECIPE FOR COOKIES

Ingredients for Gingerbread cookies 

½ cup butter, softened

3/8 cup brown sugar

3/8 cup white sugar

1 small egg

1¼ cup flour

1 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp powdered cinnamon

1 tsp powdered cloves

1 tsp dry ginger powder

Directions:

1. Sift the dry ingredients together and keep aside.

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar till creamy and light in color. Beat in the egg.

3. Blend the sifted dry ingredients into the wet mixture, till everything is mixed together and the mixture looks crumbled.

4. Use a spatula to bring the mixture together into dough. The dough will be quite sticky and not very firm, but if it’s unmanageable, you may add another 1/8 cup of flour.

5. Divide the dough into two and follow these steps for each one: shape into a ball, flatten a little and wrap in cling film. Refrigerate for about 2 hours, so that it becomes firm.

6. Cut out parchment of the same size of the baking sheet you are planning to use. Flour it lightly, place the chilled dough on it and cover with a sheet of cling film.

7. Roll out the dough on top of the cling film till it reaches a thickness of 1/8 inch. Peel off the cling film.

8. Dip the cookie cutter in flour before cutting out gingerbread men shapes. Leave a gap of about ½” between each man, leaving space for the cookie to expand slightly during baking.

9. After all the shapes have been cut, peel out the remaining dough, leaving behind only the gingerbread men. Put the parchment with the men onto the baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 180° C and chill the gingerbread men in the refrigerator while the oven heats up.

10. Once preheated, take out the chilled gingerbread men and bake for 6 minutes, turning once after 3 minutes. The edges should just begin to brown.

 12. Cool cookies on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then remove with a flat metal spatula onto a wire rack and let cool completely.

13. When completely cool, decorate as desired with frosting.

Frosting:

1 cup icing sugar

¼ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

½ tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp milk

 Procedure

1. With an electric beater, beat the butter until smooth and well blended.

2. Add the vanilla extract. On low speed, gradually beat in the sugar.

3. Add the milk and beat on high speed until frosting is light and fluffy (about 3-4 minutes). Add a little more milk if needed.

4. Place the frosting in a pastry bag fitted with a decorative tip and decorate the gingerbread men as desired. Ensure that the icing tip is proportional to the size of your gingerbread men. If it is too big, put the icing in a Ziploc bag and make a tiny cut in the corner and use as a piping bag.

Classic gingerbread man decoration seems to be two eyes, a smile and buttons.

Although of course, you could dress them up any way you like your lovely Gingerbread Cookies.