Christmas Food Pt 3

This is part of a series of posts focusing on Christmas. You can see all my Christmas posts here.

Today I’m sharing a couple of biscuit recipes.

First is my no fail gingerbread recipe (well I’ve never had it fail. I’ve used it for the last couple of years to make gingerbread men, gingerbread star trees & gingerbread houses). This year I’ve made mini gingerbread men (& a gingerbread cat and a gingerbread rabbit for Miss K).

Gingerbread men

  • 125g butter, at room temperature
  • 100g brown sugar
  • 125ml golden syrup
  • 1 egg, separated*
  • 375g plain flour
  • 1 tbs ground ginger
  • 1 tsp mixed spice
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • Plain flour, to dust

Preheat oven to 180°C. Brush 2 baking trays with melted butter to lightly grease.
Use an electric beater to beat the butter and sugar in a bowl until pale and creamy. Add the golden syrup and egg yolk and beat until combined. Stir in the flour, ginger, mixed spice and bicarbonate of soda. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Press dough into a disc. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest. Place the dough between 2 sheets of baking paper and roll out until about 4mm thick. Use a 9cm gingerbread man cutter to cut out shapes. Place on trays about 3cm apart. Repeat with any excess dough. Bake in oven for 10 minutes or until brown. Remove from oven. Transfer to a rack to cool. Decorate as desired.

*I’ll be using the egg white in a separate recipe. You can freeze egg whites quite well. I always have a stock of egg whites in my freezer, especially in summer as they are always leftover from making ice cream.

Chewy Toblerone Cookies (from Taste.com.au)

  • 125g butter
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 1 cup plain flour, sifted
  • 1/4 cup self-raising flour, sifted
  • 1/2 cup desiccated coconut
  • 100g Toblerone chocolate bar, finely chopped

 

Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Grease 2 baking trays. Line with baking paper. Place butter and honey in a saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally for 2 to 3 minutes or until smooth. Combine sugar, plain flour, self-raising flour and coconut in a large, heatproof bowl. Make a well in centre. Add butter mixture. Stir to combine. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool. Stir in Toblerone. Roll level tablespoons of mixture into balls. Place balls, 3cm apart, on prepared trays. Flatten slightly.  Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden and firm. Stand for 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Serve.

These are super yummy. I did learn a lesson the first time I made these – don’t make these in a metal bowl! the mixture takes forever to cool and then you get impatient and the Toblerone melts. Much better to make in a plastic bowl.

I’ll be back tomorrow with my recipe for shortbread and what to do with your egg white from the gingerbread.

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