Debby Donnelly-Addison, the Boho Baker shares her fantastic festive gingerbread recipes.
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Roll your dough out directly onto the baking paper. This negates the use of extra flour, making your dough less likely to dry out.
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When baking a gingerbread house, cut around the panels again post-bake using a large knife or pizza cutter as soon as they are cool enough to handle. The sharper the edge, the studier the house.
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If you’re baking and constructing on different days, store the gingerbread pieces between sheets of baking paper in an airtight container, to prevent them from going soft.
Gingerbread house recipe
Charming, delicious, and guaranteed to put a smile on your face, this little gingerbread house is as sturdy as it is spicy. Pop some battery-operated lights inside for some extra Christmas magic, just don’t forget to switch them on before you stick the door down! You can make your own template, or use this one.
Prep time: 10 minutes
Bake time: 7-21 minutes (depending on oven size)
Ingredients:
125g unsalted butter
100g dark muscovado sugar
4tbsp golden syrup
300g plain flour
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
2tsp ground ginger
5 boiled sweets
For the caramel glue:
100g caster sugar
30ml water
For the decoration:
100g royal icing
100g icing sugar
Sugar sprinkles
Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 200C/180C (fan)/gas mark 7.
Combine the butter, dark brown sugar, and golden syrup in a saucepan. Gently heat until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved.
In a separate bowl, mix the flour, ginger, and bicarbonate of soda. Stir in the wet ingredients before using your hands to bring the dough together.
Take a large portion of dough and roll it out to the thickness of a pound coin. Place your template on top of the dough and cut around it using a large knife or pizza cutter. Knead any offcuts into the original ball of dough and repeat until all panels have been cut out.
Cut out the window cavities and place a boiled sweet in each one. Cut out the door.
Bake each sheet of gingerbread panels for 7-9 minutes. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack.
Make the caramel glue by combining the sugar and water in a pan and leaving to turn amber over a medium heat. Try and resist the urge to stir the caramel, just leave the sugar to melt and do its own thing.
Remove the pan from the heat. Carefully dip the edges of each panel into the glue and stick the pieces together (this will set shockingly quickly). If your caramel starts to set before you’ve had time to finish, give it another slow heat on the stove.
Decorate your gingerbread house with the royal icing and sprinkles. Finish with a flourish of icing sugar snow.
Gingerbread snow globe cookies recipe
A fan favourite among little ones, these cute cookies are filled with festive sprinkles that can be shaken like a snow globe. This recipe relies on royal icing rather than caramel glue, making it a lovely family baking project for a snowy afternoon.
Yield: 10 snow globes
Prep time:10 mins
Cook time: 5 mins
Ingredients:
85g unsalted butter
65g dark muscovado sugar
2.5tsp golden syrup
200g plain flour
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
2tsp ground ginger
20-30 clear boiled sweets
For the decoration:
100g royal icing
Sugar sprinkles/edible decorations
Ribbon
Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 200C/180C (fan)/gas mark 7.
Combine the butter, dark brown sugar, and golden syrup in a saucepan. Gently heat until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, ginger, and bicarbonate of soda. Stir in the wet ingredients before using your hands to bring the dough together.
Roll out the gingerbread to the thickness of a pound coin. Cut out 30 large circles before cutting a smaller circle out of the centre of each one (you may need to re-roll the dough a few times to do this). You will need three circles per snow globe.
Place 1.5-2 boiled sweets in the cavities of 20 of the gingerbread circles. Bake everything in the oven for 7-10 minutes, or until the boiled sweets have melted and the gingerbread is firm and golden. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack.
To construct your snow globes, take one of the windowed biscuits and use a little royal icing to glue a windowless biscuit on top. Fill the globe with sprinkles and edible decorations before adding a little more royal icing and sticking a further windowed biscuit on top of the plain one. Decorate the top with royal icing, sprinkles, and a pretty bow. Don’t forget to give it a good shake before tucking in.
Gingerbread Christmas tree recipe
A simpler project, this little tree can be whipped up in under half an hour. I’ve used a set of star cutters, but this looks just as pretty cut out in circles instead. Have a rummage around for about five different sizes: mugs, beakers, egg cups, anything round that could make a good cutter. If caramel isn’t your thing, you could always stick the biscuits together with royal icing and decorate with sprinkles instead.
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
85g unsalted butter
65g dark muscovado sugar
2.5tsp golden syrup
200g plain flour
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
2tsp ground ginger
For the caramel glue:
100g caster sugar
30ml water
Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 200C/180C (fan)/gas mark 7.
Combine the butter, dark brown sugar, and golden syrup in a saucepan. Gently heat until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, ginger, and bicarbonate of soda. Stir in the wet ingredients before using your hands to bring the dough together.
Roll the dough out to approximately 1cm thick. Cut out approximately 14-16 stars or circles, gradually decreasing in width (I usually cut out 2 or 3 of each size). If using star shaped cutters, don’t forget to cut out an extra one for the top of the tree.
Bake the biscuits for 7-10 minutes, or until firm and golden. Leave to cool on a wire rack.
Make the caramel glue by gently heating the sugar and water until a thick, amber syrup has formed. Remove the pan from the hob and carefully stack the stars using a blob of caramel between each biscuit.
Once your tree has been constructed, dip a fork in the caramel and spin it over the top of the tree to create the sugar garland. Sprinkle with icing sugar snow to finish.
