Gingerbread Men with Dark Forest Honey
There is absolutely no point using those dreaded one liners stating Christmas’ time relevance to you - “with Christmas is fast approaching”, “Have you organized your Christmas presents because Christmas is around the corner” or how about “hang those stocking up because Christmas is here”. We get it! Christmas is here, you’re unprepared and the year is coming to an end and not a lot to show for it (apart from the successful year Jeff Bezos has had). Instead of making you feel overwhelmed, let’s create something that makes for the perfect gift or Christmas themed snack.
Don’t worry, this isn’t an article that makes you feel stressed or unprepared in the holiday planning. I’m here to tell you that presents don’t have to be over the top, expensive or a physically draining burden on you. Home made, home created, home baked is a gift made with love. These dark honey treacle gingerbread men are the perfect gift for a scrumptious Christmas. They are easy to make, delicious to eat and take the stress out of the Christmas preparation.
Making the dough
There are only a few steps that are key in achieving the perfect gingerbread mean cookies. Don’t forget we are working with a dough her so if the dough texture is not right, then the final cookies are quite likely be a little off as well. So what are the few steps you can follow to help you reach those “perfect” cookies to be then gifted and devoured?
Do not over boil the sugar mixture - this will cause a dramatic change in the colour, flavour and texture. Keep stirring the sugar mixture so it doesn’t catch or stick to the bottom and never turn the heat on full blast for this step
Allow the dough to sit for a minimum of 30 minutes. This helps the ingredients to bind together and results in less crumbling when baking and eating
Make sure you use good quality spices to enhance the flavour and create the best tasting and most delicious gingerbread men possible. I have used a spice blend from Koawach to create these Christmas edition cookies (here is the direct link to the product)
Now before you raise your eyebrows and question why molasses doesn’t exist in this recipe, let me explain. Molasses is the result of an extraction or refining processor of sugar cane or sugar beets into sugar. This lengthy processes gives the resulting dark, thick medium we know as molasses. It is commonly used in gingerbread to enhance the desired colour to darker, more nutty tones rather than relying on the spices alone to do this. It sweetens the cookies at the same time so white sugar is not necessary.
The problem occurs when you don’t have access too or cannot find molasses based on a variety of different things. Say, in Berlin where I am based, I searched high and low to find molasses but it’s like it doesn’t even exist here. Nothing, nowhere and the worst part was no one even knows what I was talking about (even when speaking German) when I asked. So what do you do? Not baking gingerbread men is out of the question so we need to adapt.
I began experimenting with other products to see if molasses could be replicated or copied in taste, structure and colour with the soul purpose being to provide a second alternative to molasses. The result was dark wild forest honey or date syrup which provides the darkness as well as the natural sweet element. So if you’re worried that you don’t have molasses or can’t be bothered going to the shops to buy some, worry no more. You now have a choice when the demand is real. Dark Forest honey or date syrup will do the job and honestly, I kind of prefer is as it’s more natural and compliments the ginger, cardamon, all spice and cinnamon very well.
Enjoy xx
Ginger Bread Men
Ingredients
1/2 cup margarine
1 cup soft brown sugar
1/4 cup date syrup or dark forest honey
1 3/4 cup flour plus extra for dusting
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp Lebkuchen Koawach powder
Icing pens
Method
In a medium saucepan, heat the butter, sugar and syrup. Be sure to stir ever 2-4 minutes to avoid the sugar catching and burning. Cook until sugar is completely dissolved (this should take 5-10 minutes)
Sift the dry ingredients together (flour, salt, baking soda, koawach powder) in a large bowl
Remove the sugar mix from the heat and leave to cool.
Add the sugar mix to the dry ingredients, mixing well to combine. The mixture should come together and form a dough (if not, add a little more sifted flour to bind)
On a clean, dry surface, tip the dough onto a floured bend. Kneed and form a large ball. Wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate for 15-20 minutes.
Meanwhile, line a baking tray (two if you have them) with baking paper and preheat the oven to 160℃.
Place the dough on a flour surface again and roll out the dough to between half and one centimeter thickness (if you do not have a rolling pin, a handy trick is to use the cling wrap as a roller)
Cut the dough using ginger bread men cutters. Once the flat surfaces have been cut, re-roll the dough and cut - repeat until dough has been used up
Place the men on the baking tray and place on the upper rack. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown
Remove from the heat and leave to cool
Using icing pen or royal icing to decorate the men as you wish
