The most delicious gingerbread recipe. Homemade gingerbread

It is difficult to imagine a sweeter more atmospheric than gingerbread with icing: just look at the photo to feel this spicy smell, hear a delicious crunch and feel the mood of the holiday. Of course, such cookies are incredibly popular in the winter, but in the summer you will get no less pleasure from tea with fragrant home-made gingerbread. It remains to be seen how to bring this culinary ambition to life!

On the way to the perfect gingerbread

When it comes to baking, there are things to know before you head to the grocery store to get the ingredients, so you can be mentally prepared for the pitfalls and learn the basics of cooking. Your gingerbread cookies will definitely come out with a bang if you can follow these 3 rules:

1. Ingredients must be of high quality

We know that this truth is already a textbook, but with baking, the risk of seeing it in action is much higher than with soups or main courses. As for flour, eggs and sugar, it is difficult to make a mistake with them: even cheap brands will do the job quite well. But butter is better to choose proven. It is believed that real butter cannot have a fat content below 82.5%, so you will have to pay a little more for the taste and texture of your gingerbread.

It is not necessary to use premium flour. The first or second grade will give the cookie its own chic and make it more natural

2. You need to work with the dough quickly

After you take the finished dough out of the refrigerator, it’s better not to pull the rubber: if you get distracted or just roll and cut the gingerbread for too long, the butter will begin to thaw, and the dough may float. In this regard, preparing gingerbread cookies in the summer is a little more difficult, since you will have to act even faster.

Tip: When you take the dough out of the refrigerator, immediately turn on the oven to heat up. Did you cut out the cookies first and then turn on the oven? The contour will float, and the cookies will not come out too beautiful.

3. You will have to act according to the situation

No matter how hard you try to follow the recipe, the chance of getting a 100% copy of what the author turned out is negligible. A slight deviation in proportions, a changed brand of one of the ingredients or a different oven is enough - and such a carefully prescribed recipe will leave you face to face with cookies spreading on a baking sheet or crumbling dough when rolling out. These unpleasant moments can be avoided if you focus on the texture and not be afraid to make your own changes to the recipe. Is the dough runny and sticky? Add some flour. The dough is falling apart and does not want to gather into a ball? Mix some oil into it. Be bold and trust your culinary intuition!

Exemplary gingerbread cookies in just an hour and a half

If you think that an hour and a half is a long time, we remind you that usually the dough spends about 2 hours only in the refrigerator, not to mention the laborious rolling or painstaking mixing of ingredients. How to meet less time, what ingredients to buy, and how to do everything right? Let's talk in order.

What will be needed?

• 250 g flour (plus a little for adjusting)
• 100 g butter,
• 1 egg
• 50 g honey
• 100 g sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp ground ginger,
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• a pinch of nutmeg.

Without tinting with cocoa, the color of gingerbread will be something like this

Secret: In all the photos, gingerbread cookies are brown, but without tinting this color is very difficult to achieve. Usually a little cocoa is added to the cookies or they take brown sugar instead of white - so the color will be more saturated. Although the combination of honey + cinnamon gives a beautiful golden hue that intensifies when cooled, we recommend preparing the first batch without tinting.

What to do?

• The oil should be very soft, but not liquid, so you can’t use a microwave or a water bath. It is advisable to leave it in advance to warm up at room temperature for about an hour.
• If the honey is not liquid, you need to melt it in a water bath. You can also use it in the microwave, just make sure it doesn't boil.
• Now we grind the butter with sugar with a fork, pour the egg and honey into the mixture and mix. Honey should not be hot, otherwise the egg will curdle!
• Separately mix flour, baking powder and spices. We leave the sifting to your discretion: if you thoroughly mix the ingredients, then the difference in the taste of the finished gingerbread will be noticeable only to special connoisseurs.
• The dry mixture is gradually mixed into the oil until large spools form. It is quite convenient to do this with a fork, and not with a mixer, although here you have to decide on your own preferences.
• Large crumbs should easily gather into a ball, which in consistency will be a bit like marzipan. If the dough crumbles or spreads, don't be afraid to deviate from the recipe by adding a little butter or flour.

Proper gingerbread dough for gingerbread does not stretch and has a consistency similar to marzipan

• Now we make a pancake from the dough, wrap it in a film and put it in the refrigerator for 40 minutes. In this form, the dough will cool faster, and it will be easier to roll it out. By the way, if the dough turned out to be too much, it can be stored in the freezer for several months!
• After 40 minutes, the dough can be rolled out. This is best done between two sheets of baking paper, but the good old way of flouring the rolling pin and countertop will also work. The thickness of rolling our gingerbread is about half a centimeter.
• We cut out cookies using a mold, remove excess dough, transfer the blanks to baking paper with a knife and repeat the rolling with the rest of the dough. Such visits may require 4 or 5, until all the prepared dough is utilized. By the way, do not lay out the cookies too tightly, because in the oven they will increase slightly in size.
• The cookie sheet is placed in a well-heated oven at 180˚, where it is baked for 5 to 12 minutes: the time depends heavily on the thickness of the gingerbread and your preference for softness or crunchiness. In general, as soon as the edges begin to brown, the cookies are ready and can be removed.

Immediately after the oven, baking is really very similar to lush and soft gingerbread, but as it cools, the cookies settle and harden a little, becoming like cookies. So, when you want to keep the cookies in the oven for an extra 2-3 minutes, keep in mind that with tea, you may not eat a gingerbread, but practically a cracker.

Interesting: The shelf life of any cookie, even homemade, is several months, but, of course, over time, the aroma will go away, and the dough will become stale. It's helpful to know how long gingerbread lasts, but it's even better to cook as much as you can realistically eat in about a week.

Not without frosting!

Gingerbread cookies are good in their pure form, but, you see, gingerbread painted with colored glaze looks much more tempting, and sometimes it seems that such a decoration makes them even tastier. Of course, you can buy ready-made icing in the store, but since we got involved in home cooking, we suggest going to the end and making icing with your own hands, well, our little master class will help you with this.

Option on the water

Are you afraid of raw eggs? Then use the icing on the water! It may not be as hot white as an egg, but it is 100% safe and just as delicious!

The icing on the water turns out to be translucent, but it stays on the cookies no worse than the protein

What will be needed?

• 150 g of powdered sugar.
• 2 tsp lemon juice for white pasta or any other juice for a light shade.
• Some cold water.
• Food coloring optional.

What to do?

The basic principle here is: a lot of powder - a little liquid. Just carefully add juice and water in small portions until the powder turns into a viscous mass. It can take a lot of time and effort to knead, because soaking a glass of powder with a few drops of water is not so easy. You can exhale with relief when a drop of glaze holds its shape without spreading.

Protein variant

The icing on proteins turns out to be snow-white, but it will require a little more effort from you. But, if you are not too lazy to carry out this experiment, the cookies will turn out simply bewitching, like from the pages of culinary magazines!

For a dense contour glaze, beat the mixture at the maximum speed of the mixer.

What will be needed?

• 150 g of powdered sugar.
• 1 egg.
• Food coloring optional.

What to do?

Separate the protein from the yolk in any way known to you. The main thing is that the yolk does not get into our mixture. Now gradually pour the powder into the protein, whisking with a mixer at high speed. When a drop of glaze holds its shape, you can start painting.

Tip: If you want to make a fill instead of an outline, just make the frosting more liquid. Just keep in mind that the filling dries longer than the contour, and it is better to leave such cookies to dry overnight, especially if you plan to transport them.

Well, it remains to put the icing in a special confectionery or regular plastic bag, cut off the spout and let your imagination run wild. Good luck with your experiments and delicious gingerbread!

“Honey bread”, as the first gingerbread was called in Russia, became known in the 9th century. It was a mixture of berry juice, rye flour and honey, with honey making up a good half of the delicacy. Spices and seasonings began to be added later, in the XII-XIII centuries, as soon as caravans with spices brought them from India and the Middle East. Cooking gingerbread is a truly creative process that provides the master of gingerbread with the widest opportunities; not without reason, many secrets and mysteries have been associated with gingerbread technologies at all times

The name "gingerbread" in Russia came from the addition of a burning spice - dried ginger root - to honey cookies.

Soft fragrant gingerbread cookies have long become a symbol of Christmas.

It is said that ginger root can replace an entire pharmacy. With colds and digestive disorders, with headaches and muscle pains, with hundreds of various ailments, both a piece of fresh ginger root and its dried powder can help.

In gingerbread, this spice is added to the dough before baking. From this, the taste of the product improves, becomes subtle, noble and refined. That is why gingerbread has gained such wide popularity in the world and has become a real holiday treat.

The dough for real gingerbread is prepared in advance, ripens within one or two days. In addition to dried ginger powder, there are a variety of additives to choose from - chocolate, cocoa powder, ground cinnamon, pepper.

Gingerbread, unlike other cookies, does not become dense and crispy when taken out of the oven. So it's very hard to tell if it's done, especially since the baking time depends so much on the oven. As a rule, if the gingerbread has slightly risen and browned around the edges, it is ready. Leave it on the baking sheet for a few minutes, during which time it will begin to become crispy (if the gingerbread is still soft, return it to the oven for a few minutes). It is very common for gingerbread to lose its shape during baking, but this can be easily fixed by trimming it properly after baking.

Large, flat pieces of gingerbread must be refrigerated and stored on a flat surface, otherwise their shape will be distorted. It may be more convenient to bake the gingerbread the day before decorating. If you do this, let it cool completely and then wrap it in parchment or plastic wrap.

Nuremberg in Germany is known as the "Gingerbread Capital of the World" due to its central location on the northern trade routes. It was here that the art of making gingerbread of exquisite shapes and ornaments appeared. Here, kings and queens, windmills, letters, hearts and animals were molded from gingerbread dough. When the gingerbread cookies were taken out of the mold, they were often painted with golden paint and sold at markets and fairs.

Real honey gingerbread

Very good results are obtained by adding various powdered dried berries to the gingerbread dough, as well as finely grated nuts - experiment with their additives, and your gingerbread will surpass all others in taste!

Also, finely chopped with a knife (or passed through a meat grinder) can be added to the gingerbread dough. dried fruit(raisins, dried apricots, dates, prunes, etc.) - gingerbread will be even tastier.

Low-grade flour (just homemade coarse) gives better results in gingerbread. Gingerbread products should be baked well, but should not be baked for a long time, otherwise their taste deteriorates.- Gingerbread dough is one of the fastest baking. You can't make a good gingerbread without honey. Gingerbread dough, in comparison with other types of dough, is the easiest to prepare and very quick to bake.

The main thing is that any gingerbread dough should be thoroughly washed until the products are evenly distributed in it, i.e. until complete homogeneity is achieved. Active kneading the dough with your hands can take from 10-20 to 40 minutes. The better the dough is washed, the softer and more magnificent the gingerbread will be.

Cooking gingerbread dough in a custard way (the only way to cook real gingerbread!)

Put honey, sugar in a saucepan, pour water and heat to 70-75 ° C, add half of the sifted flour and finely ground spices and quickly mix with a wooden spatula or a strong spoon. If, pouring flour into hot syrup, leave it unmixed for 1-2 minutes, then lumps will form that will be difficult to stir.

The kneaded dough must be thoroughly cooled to room temperature (so that no warmth is felt in it! - this is important), only then add eggs, fat sour cream (from 100 to 300 g per 1 kg of flour - according to the consistency of the dough) or baking powder, flour residues and knead until a soft dough is obtained (depending on the amount of dough, knead vigorously for 10-20-40 minutes). Eggs in the dough can be given twice as much or not at all, changing the dosage of water accordingly.

You can not knead a very steep dough, as it will rise poorly and the finished products will turn out to be unsatisfactory in appearance, and tough in taste. Very soft dough is difficult to shape; when baking, it spreads, and the gingerbread is shapeless and without a pattern. The finished dough should be plastic, not very sticky to the table, to the hands and easy to shape. Small and thin gingerbread cookies are baked at a temperature of 220-240°C for 8-15 minutes, and large products and gingerbread - at a temperature of 180-220°C and a little longer.

The washed dough should be immediately cut and baked, otherwise it will drag on and the products will turn out to be of poor quality.

Spices for gingerbread

Typical for a good gingerbread dough is a whole mixture of spices: cloves, cinnamon, ginger, anise, coriander, cardamom, nutmeg, a little black pepper, red pepper and salt, all crushed into a powder. Also add crushed bitter almonds, lemon and orange zest. Usually, 1-2 tsp are laid for 1 kg of gingerbread dough. mixture, necessarily pounded into the smallest dust.

For any kind of gingerbread, the main component is necessarily characteristic. These are honey, rye, wheat, almond, lemon, mint, raspberry, syrup, sugar and other gingerbread. The names of some reflect an additional technological technique (raw, custard, beaten) or appearance (written, printed, curly, zhemki, i.e. pressed, stamped with a stencil).

Russian gingerbread (with the exception of mint and Vyazma) is covered with glaze, sometimes multi-colored, pink, but most often white. Many gingerbreads also have a relief pattern (Tula, Vyazma, Gorodets).

Different gingerbread recipes

One of the traditional recipes: put 175 g of butter and 300 g of sugar in a saucepan and melt over low heat without boiling. Warm half a glass of milk slightly and add 0.5 teaspoon of soda. Mix a glass of sifted flour and two tablespoons of dried ginger, a teaspoon of allspice and a teaspoon of ground spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves), gradually add melted butter and milk. Beat two fresh eggs until foamy and add to the batter. Thoroughly mix the mixture and roll out the cake with a thickness of 7-8 mm.

From a paper stencil, cut out figures of a Christmas tree, men, animals, balls, birds, stars, sprinkle a baking sheet with flour and lay out the gingerbread cookies. Bake at 180 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Lay the cookies out on a clean paper towel and let them cool.

Another recipe is:

• 1/3 cup runny honey
  1 teaspoon cinnamon
  1 teaspoon cloves
  1 teaspoon cocoa
  1 teaspoon salt (no top)
  a pinch of ground ginger
  120 g butter
  1 cup of sugar
  2 eggs
  1 teaspoon soda
  3 cups flour

For glaze:

• 1 protein
  150 - 200 g of powdered sugar
  a few drops of lemon juice or vinegar
  1 teaspoon potato starch
  food colorings

Mix honey, cinnamon, cloves, cocoa, salt and ginger and heat to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, add oil, stir, cool. Beat eggs with sugar and mix with honey-butter mixture. Add soda and sifted flour, knead the dough and leave in the refrigerator for a day.

Next, roll out the dough with a thickness of 3 - 5 mm, cut out gingerbread cookies with molds or a knife. Bake in the oven at a temperature of 180 degrees for 7 - 10 minutes, carefully remove from the baking sheet, wait until cool and decorate with glaze.

Glaze preparation:
Sift the powdered sugar several times. Beat the protein, gradually adding powdered sugar, add lemon juice and starch. If necessary, add colorants for multi-colored glaze. Immediately place the icing in a tight bag, cut off a small corner and decorate the gingerbread.

More recipe:

175 g plain flour
1/4 tsp soda
a pinch of salt
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
65g unsalted butter, cut into cubes
75 g powdered sugar
2 tbsp maple syrup, honey or molasses
1 egg yolk, beaten

This is the basic gingerbread dough recipe., which is used for sculpting gingerbread houses and other structures, as it can be rolled out thinly and has a dense texture. If you are using the dough for a large "construction project", wrap the finished dough in cling film and refrigerate before shaping.

1. Sift flour, soda, salt and spices. Rub the butter into the flour in a large bowl until it resembles crumbs. Or chop everything in a food processor.

2. Add sugar, syrup and egg yolk to the mixture and knead into a firm dough. Wrap in cling film and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Gingerbread dough

In a large container (possibly in a saucepan), mix flour, soda, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves.
Add the softened butter and chop it into crumbs along with the flour and spice mixture. Add sugar, syrup and eggs. If the dough does not bind, add 1-2 teaspoons of water. Dust a work surface lightly with flour, place the dough on it and knead until it is smooth. Wrap in cling film and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. You can make gingerbread houses from this dough.

Gingerbread with cocoa

Flour - 1 heaping glass
butter - 100 g
sugar - 1/2 tbsp.
egg - 1 pc.
baking powder - 1.5 tsp
cocoa -1 tsp
ground ginger - 1 tsp
ground cinnamon - 1/2 tsp
salt - a pinch

For glaze:
egg white - 1 pc.
powdered sugar - 1/2 cup
lemon juice - 1 tbsp. l.

Sift flour, baking powder, cocoa, ginger, cinnamon through a sieve. Add butter crushed with a knife into the crumbs. Pour sugar, enter the egg, quickly knead the dough. Roll into a ball, wrap in cling film, refrigerate for 1.5-2 hours. Roll out the chilled dough on a floured table into a layer 7-8 mm thick. Apply paper stencils (or use curly molds) and cut out the gingerbread cookies. Lay the biscuits on a floured baking sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 180°C.

Beat the cooled protein with a mixer into a stable foam. Continuing to beat, add in small portions of powdered sugar, lemon juice. Beat for another 15-20 seconds. If desired, food coloring can be added to the glaze. Decorate the gingerbread with icing and let the icing dry.

Painted gingerbread

Ready-made pastries can be decorated in different ways - with protein icing, multi-colored dragees or marmalade, colored sprinkles for the cake. To prepare protein glaze, you need to beat a few chilled egg whites until a stable mass is obtained. Then carefully add the icing sugar and beat everything well again. You can add cocoa powder, turmeric, pomegranate or beetroot juice for a colorful frosting. Put the sugar protein glaze in a pastry bag and decorate the gingerbread cookies.

Protein glaze (real glaze)

frosting with beaten egg whites real glaze)

Ingredients for 270 g glaze :
1 glass of granulated sugar,
2 egg whites
1 glass of water
aromatics and food colorings.

Boil sugar and water until a soft ball is tested. Whip the egg whites into a thick foam. The resulting thick hot syrup is gradually (with continuous beating) pour in a thin stream into previously well-whipped proteins, without stopping beating the mass.

Then put aside the mixer (or whisk), add aromatics and food colors to color the glaze in the desired color and, stirring with a spatula, heat to 60-65 °. After this, glaze the product with a brush, and then dry it. The glaze will be even better and tastier if in this recipe, instead of sugar syrup, use honey boiled to the desired density.

Gingerbread with real glaze looks prettier, retains its freshness better and tastes better.

My recipe for gingerbread cookies here is homemade gingerbread, I called them Dogai. It turns out very tasty.

Gingerbread Lambertz Contrella and others

For those who do not really like to cook, but love gingerbread, you can buy ready-made ones. Not all gingerbread is delicious, but there are options that taste just like homemade! Great choice for New Years.

They are on sale on the Internet - good cookies and gingerbread.

Lambertz Contrella are great gingerbreads made according to the classic recipe with spices, the lower part of which is covered with chocolate.

Syrup Gingerbread and others by Monin

Monin syrups are produced by the French brand of the same name, which is known as the leading manufacturer of alcoholic and non-alcoholic syrups in the world. Brand since 1912, production is located near the city of Bourges, in close proximity to large agricultural areas - the main suppliers of fresh berries and fruits. Syrup production became a core business for Monin in 1945, when a descendant of the founder, Paul Monin, took over as CEO. It was under his leadership that the range of the brand was replenished with a variety of syrups from natural ingredients, which immediately earned a brilliant reputation among fans of coffee drinks and cocktails.

Monin syrups are created exclusively from natural ingredients using unique technologies that allow preserving all the beneficial properties of natural raw materials in the finished product. Monin syrups are trendsetters in mixology. They are also for sale online.

The assortment of the French brand is by far the widest and includes one and a half hundred unique flavor solutions. In the company's catalog you can find both classic flavors for coffee drinks (chocolate, vanilla, nut and other syrups), as well as very exotic options (syrups with coconut, green mint, tiramisu, blue curacao, anise, grapefruit, pina colada, etc.). d.).

There is also Gingerbread syrup here - it is perfect for adding to the dough, with it the gingerbreads turn out fragrant and very tasty. Other syrups are also suitable for gingerbread - for example, vanilla, almond, cinnamon ... By the way, syrup does not have to be added to the dough, it was created primarily for drinks. Very tasty!

In North America, the word gingerbread is often associated with puffy cookies and a gingerbread house! All these gingerbread elements are associated with a feeling of warmth and comfort during the winter holidays. Feel warm and cozy by the fireplace by adding Monin Gingerbread Syrup to your drinks, which is a well-balanced blend of ginger and cinnamon that tastes like a real gingerbread.

TASTE
Complex aroma of spices with a strong note of cinnamon, rich taste of biscuits.
APPLICATION
Coffee, dessert drinks, cocktails, cocoa.

This is one of the most delicious gingerbread that you can treat your loved ones. It is easy to cook them yourself, masterfully make the shape and painting. This work is like a work of art.

Let's try to figure out what is the use of them?

• Ginger, cinnamon and cloves contained in gingerbread have a beneficial effect on our body. Ginger contains a large amount of vitamins, minerals and amino acids. It is rich in potassium and has a positive effect on the immune system. The eugenol present in cinnamon has an inhibitory effect on bacteria. Cinnamon also helps to normalize blood pressure, blood sugar levels and increases attention. Clove is a natural antiseptic and antispasmodic.

• Down with the bad mood! Delight the household with yummy k. Or just like that, for no reason, bake painted gingerbread. You can make them personalized, the kids will appreciate it!

• Gingerbread gift. What to give to those who have everything? Use your imagination and make, for example, a beautiful bouquet of gingerbread. Children will be partial to sweet cartoon characters. Gingerbread cookies for March 8, baked by you, dear men, will be highly appreciated by your halves. A fragrant gift for February 23 will also come in handy.

• We develop creativity! Conduct a cooking class with the children on the topic "How to make gingerbread with your own hands." Try it as a painted postcard or figurine.

• Family tradition. In Europe, gingerbread and cookies have been a symbol of Christmas for many centuries. You can make your own little tradition for the New Year or Birthday. Unites, delights and inspires!

How to cook gingerbread at home

• You need to prepare the spices.

To complete the flavor, it is better to buy natural spices and then grind in a coffee grinder. If this is not possible, take ready-made ones. The main spices are ginger and cinnamon, and include the rest in the recipe if desired. Very fragrant gingerbread is obtained by adding cloves, cinnamon, fresh or powdered ginger, coriander, cardamom, anise, nutmeg and a small amount of pepper (red, black, allspice). These are dry spices. Someone may not like, for example, nutmeg, you can remove or replace.

Show your imagination! Mix the components crushed to a powder and pour into a container in the required proportions.

It is also useful to add almonds and lemon (orange) zest. The latter is easy to prepare yourself and it will last a long time. Grind an orange on a grater, add sugar in a ratio of 1: 2 and stir.

You can come up with options for fragrant compositions yourself. Usually, a mixture is added at the rate of 10 g per 1 kg of dough. If you are preparing the dough for the first time, then add a little and try it. In the future, be guided by experience.

• Making gingerbread dough.

He needs to be given time to "reach", so we prepare in advance. The prepared dough needs to stand in the refrigerator for 8-12 hours (shelf life is about 2 months).

Ingredients: 200-250 g honey + 250 g butter + 850 g flour + 350 g sugar + 5 g soda + 4 eggs and seasoning composition.

You will need a saucepan of at least 2 liters or a heavy bottomed saucepan. Mix honey with spices, bring it to a boil and cool.

Be careful with your choice of honey. Buckwheat will give you a rich taste, while floral - more delicate. This unique fragrance will turn your head!

Melt butter and pour into honey. Add soda. The mass should rise slightly because damping occurs. Let everything cool down.

Whisk eggs and sugar. They should turn white and increase in volume. Seems like a lot of sugar? Believe me, gingerbread will not be cloying. Add the egg mixture to the fluffy honey syrup and stir gently.

Sift wheat flour. This is important, otherwise the baked goods will not be soft. Add to the cooled liquid part and knead the dough with your hand or spatula until smooth.

The prepared dough should be liquidy. Do not worry about this (the main thing is not to add more flour!). Wrap it in cling film and leave to ripen in the refrigerator for 12 hours.

• Let's bake gingerbread!

Roll out the dough into a 5 mm thick layer. With a thinner thickness, the gingerbread will lose its softness. Preheat the oven, top-bottom mode. Take cookie cutters and cut out shapes. You can find any figure you like on the Internet, print and cut out the dough on it.

For baking, it is better to take a Teflon coating or special paper.

Cooking temperature 170º, time - 15 minutes (do not overdo it, otherwise it will dry out). The edges are browned and the dough has brightened, which means it is ready. You can put a wooden plank on top to level the surface.

Remove from the pan carefully, the gingerbread may still be soft! Lay them out on a flat surface and let them dry. The shelf life of such gingerbread is up to 3 months.

• Cooking icing

It is necessary to mix 1 egg white with powdered sugar (250-300 g) and add lemon juice (5 ml). Add food coloring of your choice.

Please note that the protein is used raw and therefore the quality of the eggs must be good. Otherwise, buy a ready-made glaze based on albumin.

Rinse the eggs well and separate the whites from the yolks. Beat them with a whisk until bubbles appear. Do it without fanaticism and not for long, otherwise the glaze will be brittle. Add powdered sugar in portions, mixing gently. Divide the resulting mass into portions (depending on how many colors are chosen) and add a couple of drops of lemon juice and dye to each. She's ready! The more powdered sugar you add, the thicker the frosting will be. Pack it in pastry bags (or other cooking tools) and tie them up.

Get started coloring! If you are working with several colors, then apply the next one only when the previous one dries. Leave glazed gingerbread for a day in the refrigerator.

Tip: you can design a gingerbread garland for the New Year! To do this, before baking, make a hole in the dough (for example, in the handle of a snowman). Pass a decorative ribbon or serpentine through it and decorate the Christmas tree.

Festive gingerbread recipes

You will need: baking flour 600g + natural (82.5%) butter 80g + 3 chicken eggs + flower honey 80g + 200g powdered sugar + cocoa powder 15g + 1 tsp. soda. To prepare the glaze, you will need egg whites with powdered sugar (see below for the recipe for making the glaze).

Over medium heat, heat the honey, then the oil, mix and let cool. Whisk the eggs and add them to the honey-butter mixture. Add cocoa, a little soda and spices. You should get a mass of creme brulee color with air bubbles. Sift the flour and mix with the liquid part. You have to knead with your hands, otherwise there will be large bubbles.

Break the resulting dough into pieces, wrap with cling film and put in the freezer for half an hour. Then we roll out and form figures or just make stucco gingerbread. Cook in the oven at 150º for 20 minutes.

• With nutmeg

• • • Wheat flour 450g
    • Sugar 125g
    • Butter 125g
    • Chicken egg 1 pc.
    • Honey (preferably buckwheat) 125g
    • Ginger with cinnamon 1 teaspoon
    • Salt (a pinch)
    • Dough baking powder (sachet or 1.5 tsp)
    • Soda ½ tsp
    • Nutmeg ½ tsp
    • Cloves (a pinch, to taste)

Mix flour with sugar, spices, baking powder, soda and salt. Butter does not need to be melted, cut it into cubes and grind with the resulting dry mixture. Add a tablespoon of water, honey and an egg. Knead the dough, roll it into a layer and cut out the molds. Cooking mode - at 170º no more than 12 minutes.

As you can see, the dough does not require "ripening", you can cook on the go. This is a traditional recipe for Christmas baking. White chocolate is perfect for icing instead of icing.

• Gingerbread Lebkuchen

This is a German pastry with a large set of spices in the composition. The aroma is just incredible! In Germany, they are traditionally prepared for Christmas, served with mulled wine or hot chocolate.

A mixture of spices (in teaspoons): lemon zest - 2, orange zest - 1, cinnamon - 8, coriander - 1, anise - 0.5, nutmeg - 0.5, allspice and black ground pepper 0.5 each, fennel and ginger 1 each.

For test:

• • • Wheat flour 0.5 kg
    • Natural butter 82.5% fat 80g
    • Granulated sugar 80g
    • Egg 1 pc.
    • Baking powder and soda, 0.5 tsp each.
    • Honey 300g
    • Water 15-20 ml
    • A bunch of spices 3 tablespoons

Heat honey with butter, add sugar. The latter must dissolve. Cool down to normal temperature. Mix the egg and a bouquet of seasonings with the contents. Dissolve baking soda and baking powder in water, pour over remaining ingredients and stir. Add the sifted flour in parts to the ingredients and knead the dough until it is no longer sticky. It should stay in the refrigerator for 1.5-2 hours. Bake at 180º for 10 minutes. Enjoy the taste and aroma!

Ingredients: chocolate (bitter or any other 50g) + nuts (almonds with hazelnuts 90g each) + candied orange 100g + fresh ginger to taste + oatmeal (in the form of finely ground flakes up to 100g) + baking flour 200g + candied fruits (any up to 100g) + 2 chicken eggs + Peasant butter 82.5% 120g + cocoa powder (2-3 tablespoons) + powder or sugar 100-150g + a bag of baking powder + seasonings to taste.

Chop nuts into pieces. Grind an orange with candied fruits and ginger. In one container, prepare the following mass: rub "Peasant Woman" with sugar and add eggs. Beat with a whisk and sprinkle with chocolate chips. In a second container, mix oatmeal, flour (do not forget to sift), cocoa, spices, baking powder, nuts with candied fruit. Combine and stir the contents of the two containers. The dough is ready! According to the German tradition, such gingerbread is formed in the form of cakes and baked for 10 minutes at 180º. Decorate them with melted chocolate and serve with tea!

How to beautifully paint a gingerbread with icing for a beginner

This is an exciting activity for everyone and a great field for creativity! If you have perseverance, you can paint gingerbread with complex techniques. For beginners, there are many simple techniques.

Tools you will need:

• Pastry bag with nozzles
• shoulder blade
• Toothpick
• small spoon

The gingerbread should be cool and flat, and the icing should be creamy thick. Don't forget to cover the frosting or it will dry out quickly. In the refrigerator, under cling film, it can only stand for 2 hours. For convenience, make your favorite images on paper and put them in front of you. So let's get started!

• Stage 1- edge decoration. Choose the smallest nozzle in diameter and frame the edge of the gingerbread with the chosen color. Dry in the oven for no more than 10 minutes.

• Stage 2- filling the center. Use a nozzle with a larger diameter and spread the glaze over the entire surface. With a toothpick, you can align the edges. Try to make an openwork painting (lace or mesh). Dry again in the oven.

A painted sweet figurine is called a "roe". These are the traditional initial delicacies of the Pomors. Now they are made in the Arkhangelsk, Murmansk regions and in the Urals.

As you can see, you need to work quickly so that the glaze does not dry out. If it begins to dry out, dilute it with lemon juice (just add a few drops).

Frequently asked Questions

Why did the gingerbread cookies turn out hard? At first they were soft and fragrant, and after a couple of hours they hardened.

Answer: It's all about sticking to the recipe. Sometimes you can add a little less flour. Do not store ready-made gingerbread cookies open, they will dry quickly and will look like cookies or crackers. Put them in a container and put an apple slice or orange peel in there. Having been saturated with moisture, the gingerbread cookies will become soft again.

Why is the glaze porous? Dried out after coating and became porous. What's wrong?

Answer: Try not to beat the icing with a mixer at high speed. It is important to use very finely ground and sifted powder. It is advisable to do without water. Avoid high dryness! If the air is dry, the glaze may fall off.

How can you decorate gingerbread cookies without icing or make some simple decoration?

Answer: This is easy to do. A stencil of an inscription or drawing is required. Apply it to the surface of the gingerbread and apply cocoa powder. You will receive a brown inscription. Or use an airbrush.

My baby vomited after eating gingerbread. So they are harmful?

Answer: This is not true. Even many healthy foods are allergens. There are a lot of them in gingerbread. One honey is worth something, and if it contains chocolate and nuts, then such a delicacy can be no earlier than 3 years. Pay attention to the food coloring in the glaze. If your child suffers from allergies, then it is better to refuse them.

What is the best and most used recipe?

Answer: The most commonly used classic cooking option with ginger and honey is the simplest. But desires and tastes are different. Try to cook at least 3 different recipes and then you will understand what will be the best for you.

Friends, hello everyone! I continue to improve my culinary skills. This time I decided to bake gingerbread cookies. This issue requires a serious approach, it’s not for you to dry crackers. So I began to look and study how to cook such gingerbread with icing at home. That's right, dear readers. I want to learn how to make delicious, fragrant souvenirs. Or maybe this is the work of my whole life and I have a talent for this ?!

I won’t focus on where and who taught me and revealed their secrets on how to bake deliciously and beautifully decorate ginger and honey gingerbread, maybe sometime next time. Today we have something to talk about without this, as a large program for study is planned. I even divided the step-by-step master class into two lessons.

The first will talk directly about the recipe, about the intricacies and tricks of cooking that will make your magical masterpieces flawless. And in the second lesson, we will analyze how beautifully you can paint our delicacy, what devices should be used. In short, stay tuned next week for a recipe with a photo that will teach you the art of decorating gingerbread. And of course I recommend subscribing to blog news so as not to forget about the upcoming event.

Gingerbread Tale is knocking, open up! Let your dreams into your gingerbread house. Today, arrange a delicious holiday for everyone, draw flowers on the heart with icing.

Gingerbread Marathon

Ingredients:

• 200 gr. honey (candied);
• 300 gr. Sahara;
• 200 grams of butter;
• 3 medium sized eggs;
• 750 gr. wheat flour (including powder);
• 1 tsp baking soda.

Spices:

• ½ tsp star anise;
• ½ tsp nutmeg;
• ½ tsp white pepper;
• ½ tsp cardamom;
• 1 tsp cloves;
• 2 tsp ginger;
• 2 tsp cinnamon;
• 1 tsp orange peel;
• a pinch of salt.

Where should you start making gingerbread cookies? It's clear why. With the preparation of spices and spices. After all, every self-respecting gingerbread is proud of the high content of these ingredients in the recipe. Even the name of the rich pastries speaks of this circumstance.

spice preparation

Spices for making a spicy mixture are best used in their natural form, then grinding them in a coffee grinder.

So they are much more fragrant and fragrant.

But not always, however, you can find those in the store. Therefore, already pre-ground seasonings are quite suitable. To the standard gingerbread spices, cinnamon and ginger, you can add any other additives you see fit. I offer you a specially selected proven recipe for a mixture of spices. By the way, the gingerbread fairy also shared them with me.

Having prepared the necessary components, I mix them in one container in the right proportions.

And another irreplaceable ingredient that you can’t do without is this orange zest. Its invigorating, fresh aroma perfectly complements the main spicy component. I prepare the zest in the following way.

I remove it with a grater from one orange.

I transfer it to a jar, counting the number of spoons. Then I measure out the required amount of sugar based on 1 part of the zest 2 parts of sugar.

I mix everything thoroughly. And I store it in the fridge. The zest prepared in this way is stored for a very long time. And the next time you need it, it will always be at hand.

Dough for gingerbread

1. Well, let's move on to the preparation of the test. And the first thing I'm going to do is warm up the honey. When you add spices to warm bee nectar, they will fully reveal the unique, dizzying bouquet of aromas hidden in them.
   
2. I will need a pan with a thick bottom with a volume of at least 2 liters. I measure honey into it. I put it on the stove and start heating over medium heat. Constantly stir the honey, not bringing to overheating.
   
3. You should get approximately the same consistency that you see in the photo.
   
4. Now I add a mixture of spices to the honey and start mixing.
   
5. You can’t even imagine what amazing smells are now enveloping me! At this moment I feel like a real gingerbread tycoon, creating ginger culinary art in his fabulous factory.
   
6. In addition to the magic happening, I put in a teaspoon of orange zest and a pinch of salt. This minuscule is an essential part of every baking. After all, it is salt that allows the taste to reveal itself in the best way.
   
7. I shift the butter into the honey mixture and put the saucepan on the fire.
   
8. I'm waiting for it to dissolve.
   
9. Remove from stove and add baking soda. The honey-ginger mass begins to lighten, rise and become saturated with air bubbles.
   
10. This is a quenching reaction. Now you should cool the resulting mixture.
    
11. While it's cooling, I'll beat the eggs with the sugar. To do this, I separate the eggs from the shell.
    
12. I start to beat them quietly with a blender.
    
13. As soon as bubbles appear and the eggs begin to increase in volume, I gradually add sugar. It is naturally not possible for me to display this action in the photo due to the lack of a third hand. But what happened in the end, you can see.
    
14. While whipping, the honey mixture had just cooled down. Became dense and viscous.
    
15. Next, I combine a thick and whitened sugar-egg mass with a fragrant spicy composition.
    
16. I stir the lush honey mixture until smooth.
    
17. I'm all set to knead the gingerbread dough. I sift 720 grams of wheat flour. As you probably know, this is a must. When sifted, the flour will be enriched with oxygen, and the pastries will be soft, fluffy and tasty.
    
18. I combine liquid ingredients with flour.
    
19. I start mixing with a spatula.
    
20. Then I switch to the power option. I use for this the most reliable and trouble-free tool - my cleanly washed hands. I continue to stir until smooth.

note

Suddenly it seems to you that your gingerbread dough is too thin and sticky - God forbid you add flour to it. All work will go down the drain. Gingerbread cookies will turn out stale and not tasty, as excess flour will beat the dough "to death". If you did everything exactly according to the recipe, do not worry, it should be so. Further you will find out why.

Put the dough in a bowl, where it was kneaded for 15 minutes in the refrigerator, so that later, without effort and nerves, form a ball, as you see in the photo.

Next, I take a plastic bag, put the dough there and send it back to the refrigerator for 24 hours. During this time, the spices will give taste and aroma to the dough, which in turn will change the structure, becoming dense and elastic. That will allow you to work with him further and without much difficulty. will positively affect the taste of gingerbread. Wrapped in foil, it can be stored in the refrigerator for quite some time. Approximately about a month. And if you wish, you can always pinch off a piece and enjoy delicious, fresh pastries. Very convenient, especially when time is running out.

Day two baking gingerbread

A day has passed and in front of you in the photo you see what you need today.

Gentleman's Baker's Set:

• rolling pin;
• baking paper or silicone mat;
• molds for gingerbread (I think you have them in stock);
• straight board (later you will find out why);
• some flour;
• aged dough.

Immediately turn on and preheat the oven to 190 degrees - top, bottom without convection.

Sprinkle lightly flour on the work surface. I pinch off a small piece of dough. I roll a ball out of it, which I easily roll out with a rolling pin into a rounded cake 4-5 mm thick.

I take a mold in my hand and cut out a gingerbread man.

And now a honey butterfly.

On a baking sheet lined with baking paper, lay out the blanks.

At Easter and Christmas, warm in the home circle. Feel the magic, forget about the faded past. Meet the dawn with a pattern, see off the honey sunset. There are no restrictions for you! Create your own gingerbread!

Gingerbread cookies are a great sweet treat that both kids and adults love. It's time to bake such pastries for Christmas or New Year's Eve, since gingerbread cookies are easy to decorate and make them elegant, festive. Among 8 simple and delicious recipes for gingerbread at home, step by step with a photo, you can choose the very recipe that is right for you!

Andy Chef's Gingerbread Recipe

Cooking time - 1 hour

The number of servings - 20 pcs.

Delicious and elegant gingerbread cookies from Andy Chef will definitely not leave you or your guests indifferent. If you carefully follow all the steps of this recipe, you will get a result no worse than that of a famous confectioner!

1 hour. 25 min. Seal

Homemade gingerbread with icing

Beautiful and elegant - these are, of course, gingerbread cookies with icing. Preparing this sweet delicacy is not so difficult, the main thing is to follow the cooking technology correctly and stock up on imagination to decorate your products.

Ingredients:

For test:

• Wheat flour - 0.5 kg.
• Honey - 200 gr.
• Chicken egg - 1 pc.
• Sugar sand - 100 gr.
• Butter - 130 gr.
• Cocoa powder - 1 tbsp
• Ground ginger - 1 tsp
• Ground cinnamon - ½ tsp
• Nutmeg - 1/3 tsp

For glaze:

• Egg white - 1 pc.
• Powdered sugar - 1 tbsp.
• Lemon juice - 1 tsp

Cooking process:

1. Before you start making beautiful and delicious gingerbread cookies, prepare all the ingredients for the gingerbread dough.
2. Also, prepare and set aside all the ingredients for the glaze.
   
3. In a container that can be placed on a stove or water bath, combine honey, granulated sugar and all spices: cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, ginger and others to your taste. Place the container on the fire and slowly warm up until the honey begins to foam.
   
4. The finished mass should be smooth - as in the presented photo.
   
5. Pour the hot liquid mixture into a convenient container and immediately put the slightly melted butter there. Thoroughly mix the base, and then add the egg, and mix everything again. Lastly, add the baking powder and flour to the dough, and then knead the dough.
   
6. When you get a smooth dough that does not stick to your hands, wrap it in cling film and refrigerate for an hour.
   
7. Roll out the chilled dough with a thickness of about four to five millimeters, and then cut a variety of figures from the dough using molds. Send the gingerbread cookies to the oven at 180 degrees for ten to fifteen minutes.
   
8. Next, prepare the glaze with which you will cover the gingerbread. To do this, combine a little whipped protein and powdered sugar in a mixer bowl. Beat the mixture gently to get a fairly plastic and moderately runny glaze.
   
9. Spread frosting over pastry bags. If you use dyes, you will need several different containers for different colors. After that, start decorating your gingerbread with various patterns and inscriptions.
   
10. You can simply serve ready-made gingerbread cookies to the table or use them as a decoration for a Christmas tree, a cake, or pack them as a gift.

Bon Appetit!

Classic Christmas Gingerbread Recipe

One way or another, all gingerbread cookies are very similar to each other. But, at the same time, they can all have a completely different flavor. Some gingerbread cookies are more saturated, some of them are lighter. New Year's gingerbread should be very tart and remind with its aroma of the upcoming holiday.

Ingredients:

• Liquid honey -150 gr.
• Sugar -100 gr.
• Butter -100 gr.
• Flour -370 gr.
• Egg -4 Pieces
• Ground ginger -1 tsp
• Cinnamon -1 tsp
• Cocoa -1 tsp
• Baking powder -2 tsp
• Orange peel - 1 tsp
• Vanillin - a pinch

Cooking process:

How to bake delicious honey-gingerbread cookies?

Honey and ginger gingerbread are very fragrant and tender, due to the natural aroma of honey in the composition of the product. There is no need to add any additional spices to such gingerbread cookies, as they themselves have a wonderful aroma and taste.

Ingredients:

• Butter - 110 gr.
• Wheat flour 2 grade - 310 gr.
• Corn starch - 40 gr.
• Chicken egg - 2 pcs.
• Baking powder for dough - 1 tsp
• Ground ginger - ½ tsp
• Natural aromatic honey - 100 gr.
• Sugar sand - 50 gr.
• Powdered sugar - 250 gr.
• Egg white - 1 pc.

Cooking process:

Diet gingerbread (pp recipe)

Even while on a diet, you often want to indulge in something tasty. Finding recipes for diet sweets is not so easy, but this issue is very relevant during the holiday season. You can easily prepare pp gingerbread right in your kitchen and enjoy it with tea or coffee even in the evening without any remorse.

Ingredients:

• Almond flour - 100 gr.
• Ground oat flakes - 80 gr.
• Ripe banana - ½ banana
• Natural honey - 1/2 tsp
• Stevia (drops) - a couple of drops
• Natural cocoa powder - 10 gr.
• Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
• Peanut butter - 1 tbsp. l.
• Cinnamon - a pinch
• Ginger - a pinch

Glaze (optional)

• Egg white - 1 pc.
• erythritol

Cooking process:

A simple and delicious recipe for gingerbread without eggs

For one reason or another, many people choose egg-free pastries for themselves. On this occasion, we want to invite you to pay attention to the recipe for gingerbread without eggs in the composition. Gingerbread cookies are really very tasty and the absence of eggs in the dough does not make them worse.

Ingredients:

• Butter -60 gr.
• Sugar -0.5 tbsp.
• Whole grain flour - 2 tbsp.
• Honey -2-3 tbsp.
• Soda -1 tsp
• Ginger -2 tsp (fresh, grated)
• Nutmeg - pinch
• Ground cardamom - 2 pinch

Cooking process:

Step-by-step recipe for making gingerbread custard

Few people like to mess with shortcrust pastry, since its proper preparation requires speed of movement and accuracy. In addition, until shortbread dough products are in the oven, it is difficult to guess whether the dough is made correctly and whether the gingerbread cookies will “float” along the baking sheet. Choux pastry in this regard is much simpler and more stable.

Ingredients:

• Wheat flour - 0.5 kg.
• Honey - 200 gr.
• Chicken egg - 1 pc.
• Sugar sand - 100 gr.
• Butter - 130 gr.
• Cocoa powder - 1 tbsp
• Baking powder for dough - 10 gr.
• Ground ginger - 1 tsp
• Ground cinnamon - ½ tsp
• Nutmeg - 1/3 tsp

Cooking process:

How to cook gingerbread with burnt sugar?

Gingerbread cookies on burnt sugar have a very special taste and aroma. In order to properly prepare such a dough, you will have to work a little, but the result will meet your expectations and allow you to cook original, mouth-watering gingerbread cookies right in your kitchen.

Ingredients:

• Sugar sand - 450 gr.
• Wheat flour - 150 gr.
• Rye flour - 150 gr.
• Flour 1 or 2 grade - 0.5 kg.
• Natural honey - 450 ml.
• Butter - 160 gr.
• Chicken egg - 3 pcs.
• Cocoa - 30 gr.
• Water - 1 tbsp.
• Ginger - 1 tsp

Cooking process:

Bon appetit and culinary success!