Mum's Gingerbread Tree Decorations

I am home for Christmas for the first time since September! It’s absolutely boiling, because apparently the heating must always be on, which is something I’m definitely not used to being a poor student. The best thing is the cupboards and fridge stacked full of baking goodies. It is seriously exciting after living on potatoes for weeks.

This is a little warning that my blog will probably be inundated with ridiculous amounts of baking in the coming days.

We put up the Christmas tree when I got home yesterday (I made them wait) and we always make gingerbread decorations to hang. It’s pretty similar to the other gingerbread recipe I did here but my mum has much more exciting cookie cutters.

Ingredients

6oz butter

6oz light muscovado sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1 lb plain flour

2tsp baking powder

1-2tbsp ground ginger

2tsp ground mixed spice

First off sorry, I don’t have any photos of the method because my mum did it sneakily without me. It’s a really simple method though, and you can either do it by hand or use a food processor.

In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar.

Gradually beat in the eggs.

Sift in the flour, baking powder, ginger and mixed spice.

Stir everything until well combined.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently.

Wrap the dough in some cling film and leave to chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180⁰C.

Roll the dough out onto a sheet of baking parchment until around 3mm thick.

Use whatever cookie cutters you like to make shapes. If you want to string the biscuits onto the tree, use a plastic straw to make a hole where you can thread some string.

To make stain-glass windows, bash some boiled sweets inside a plastic bag using a rolling pin. Use a smaller cookie cutter to make a shape in the middle and fill the whole with crushed sweets.

Bake the gingerbread for around 12 minutes or until very slightly brown on the edges.

Cool on a wire rack. When the biscuits are cool enough, cut some thread (sparkly if possible) and hand them on the tree!