Christmas Baking - Part 1

I would have to say that the time of the year I find the most enjoyable is when the Christmas baking begins!

This year I started a little bit earlier than usual for a couple of reasons:

1. I actually had the energy to do it
2. It was cooler on the weekend than I expect it to be for the next couple of weekends
3. Our Thursday night craft group have plans of doing a 'communal' craft and decorating gingerbread people for the night this week.
   

I managed to bake a grand total of 60 gingerbread people, 25 gingerbread stars, 7 mini gingerbread houses and a plain cookie santa sleigh which will be 'pulled' by 9 biscuit reindeers. Not a bad effort if I may say so myself, but I did have to have a nap in the middle of baking it all! Here is a picture of the pile of biscuits:


The recipe I used will definitely be going into the Christmas Traditions Book (which I am going to be working on this week also). Here is a copy of the recipe I used:

Gingerbread

Ingredients
125gm of butter
100gm of brown sugar
1/2 cup of golden syrup
1 egg, separated
2 1/2 cups of plain flour
1 tbs of ground ginger

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C and cover trays with baking paper.
2. Use an electric beater to beat the butter and sugar in a bowl until pale and creamy.
   
3. Add the golden syrup and egg yolk and beat until combined.
   
4. Stir in the flour and ginger.
   
5. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Press dough into a disc. Cover with gladwrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.
6. Once rested, place the dough onto a sheet of baking paper and roll out until approximately 4mm thick. Cut out gingerbread people using a cutter and place on trays roughly 3cm apart.
7. Bake in the oven for 7 minutes or until brown (watch carefully as they burn VERY easily). Remove from the oven and transfer to a rack to cool.
   

The recipe is particularly good as it does not produce a 'strong' gingerbread flavour so it is perfect for the kids!

I will post a photo later in the week of the iced gingerbread people!