Baking gingerbread men conjures memories of happy times in the kitchen during the holidays for many people. Continue the gingerbread man tradition throughout the year with a favorite recipe and a little creativity.
Instructions
1. Mix and refrigerate your favorite gingerbread recipe. You can use any spice cookie recipe. Cold dough is firmer and easier to handle and does not stick to your rolling pins and cutters.
2. Preheat the oven to the temperature specified to bake in your gingerbread recipe. Set the oven rack to the middle of the oven. Placing the oven rack to low in your oven creates cookies with burnt bottoms and undercooked tops.
3. Prepare the baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper or Silpats. Restaurant or bakery supply stores sell precut parchment paper the size of standard baking sheets and pans. King Arthur Flour and Ace Mart are two companies selling precut parchment paper (see Resources below).
4. Roll the dough out on a floured counter or between two pieces of wax paper to prevent the dough from sticking as it warms to room temperature. Roll the dough to ?" to 1/8" thickness depending on the size of your cookie cutter.
5. Cut the gingerbread man or woman shape out of the rolled out dough. Put a little flour on the cutter to prevent the dough from sticking. Move the cut shapes to the lined cookie sheets. Decorate the men with raisins or turbinado sugar for buttons and bow ties. Use a knife to carve a face. Put a freeze pop or lollipop stick under some of the shapes to have the option to make a gingerbread bouquet.
6. Bake the cookies according to the recipe. Under bake them a bit and allow them to finish baking on the cookie sheet for a couple of minutes when you take them out of the oven to avoid overcooked, hard cookies.
7. Prepare royal icing for further detailed decorations such as outlines and buttons. Substitute meringue powder for raw eggs. Also cut gingerbread or other decorative shapes out of fondant and use fondant.
