Gingerbread is an iconic festive biscuit, often the first port of call when thinking about Christmas baking. The sturdy but delicious biscuits can be made into a gingerbread house, gingerbread people and gingerbread animals.
Flavoured with a range of spices – including ginger, cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon – the sweet treat is perfect for the Christmas season.
The flavour has grown so popular it is even used to sweeten coffees with gingerbread flavoured syrup.
The first recorded trade of gingerbread biscuits in England dates to the 17th century, and they were sold in monasteries, pharmacies, and town square farmers’ markets.
If you would like to have a go at making your own gingerbread people, below is a recipe courtesy of BBC Good Food.
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Using cutters, cut out the gingerbread men shapes and place on the baking tray, leaving a gap between them.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until lightly golden-brown.
Leave on the tray for 10 minutes and then move to a wire rack to finish cooling.
When cooled decorate with the writing icing and cake decorations, if using.
You could use a range of cutters to create designs from people to animals.
Elves, reindeer, Santa Claus and snowflakes are all ideal shapes for this time of year.
Colouring the icing could give a range of different designs too.
If you’re even more ambitious, you could try and make a gingerbread house – there are plenty of templates available with a quick search.