Ginger Bread Christmas Cookies & Jam n Lemon Tarts.

Good afternoon all,
                               My Princess Molly-Joy decided to volunteered me to make the Christmas cookies for the whole of year 2 and with only one days notice i had my work cut out.So i decided to make ginger bread cookies as there quick and simple to make one handed.




First of all i got every thing i needed in one place so i didn't have to go rummaging in my baking cupboard.

Next i made the dough using my trusty Kitchenaid. The recipe is 

800g plain flour,350g brown sugar,200g butter.2 eggs (whisked),8 tbs golden syrup,3 tsp bicarb,3 tsp ginger powder.(or 2tsp of lazy ginger)

I whizzed the butter and sugar till fluffy then added the eggs VERY slowly. (stops it curdling.. add a tbs of flour if it does to bring it back)

Add the golden syrup (pop the spoon in a mug of hot water before hand then the syrup will slide off easy) and mix well.

Next i  sieved the flour,bicarb and powdered ginger (if using lazy ginger then add just with the last bit of egg) into the butter mix and then put it on fast speed for 4/5 minutes.

Next i turned the dough out and wrapped it in clingfilm and popped it in the fridge for 20 minutes. (makes the dough easier to use) 

                             Once out the fridge i cut it in to four (easier to use) then i rolled it out on a lightly floured worktop i kept them about 2cm thick so they would be crispy on the outside and nice and soft like cake inside.I could not find my gingerbread man cutter so my reindeer's were a no go. :( Luckily i had a star,stocking,tree and bell shaped cutter to hand and got stamping (to stop it sticking "dip" the cutter in a little icing sugar) 

Cutting out the stockings .

While they were cooking (180 for 8/10 minutes) i whipped up some puff pastry and made some strawberry and lemon tarts and popped them in the oven for the same time.(i used a bit to much jam in a couple oops)but they still look yummy. 

Ready to bake

All cooked and cooled.

Once the cookies are cold i got to work decorating them i did some in a thick fondant and rolled it out on some grease proof paper using the same stamper as the cookies.I stick them on using melted jam then left them to harden. 

yummy trees

I love these stars they were tricky tho!

 Stockings didn't come out right but still looked ok.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

They are a deep purple in colour.

Next i dipped the remainder of the cookies into  fondant i had made by adding glycerin to normal  icing sugar,then sprinkled them with edible glitter and left them to dry.

Pink marbled bells.

I then added "snow" but they ran a bit but again still looked awesome,and the bells came out fab too.

Snowy top stockings.

 

So there you are my ginger bread cookies once they were dry (at stupid o'clock this morning) i packed them up ready for today's school party,(i forgot to a take a picture as i was knackered by this time)

When Princess Molly-Joy came home from school she said "Everyone loved our cookies and Josh and Mr Fox said they were 101% yummy" So i can only assume they liked them as Molly-Joy said there was none left (all 80 of them were ate).

I have warned Molly-Joy tho not to volunteer me again at short notice if was fun but stressful to do.

Thank you for getting this far and reading i do hope you liked my cookies.

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Till then Stay Lucky. xx

P.s check out Victoria's Vintage page Here & the Ableskills page Here