Gingerbread women
You're too old for a teddy bear. Nobody rubs Vicks VapoRub on your chest at night any more, reads you stories with happy endings, or warms your little pyjamas by the fire. But - thank heavens - you can still eat gingerbread.
Ingredients
¾ cup brown sugar
¾ cup golden syrup
90g butter
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp fresh, grated ginger
1 tbsp bicarbonate of soda
500g plain flour
pinch of salt
2 eggs, beaten
Method
Combine the sugar, golden syrup, butter, spices and fresh ginger in a heavy-based pan over low heat, and let melt, stirring. Remove from the heat for 2 minutes, and then stir in the bicarbonate of soda until light and fluffy.
Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre, add the eggs and gradually add the syrup, stirring until all the flour is incorporated and you have a dough.
Wrap the dough in plastic and chill for an hour. Heat the oven to 180ºC and roll out the dough thinly on a floured surface.
Cut into gingerbread women (or people), stars or rounds, and place on trays lined with baking paper.
Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes before removing from the trays.
Cool on a wire rack.
Appears in these collections
The best recipes from Australia's leading chefs straight to your inbox.
Sign up
Jill Dupleix is a Good Food contributor and reviewer who writes the Know-How column.
