Gingerbread, Gingerbread, Ginger all the way!

Karen here, with another ginger recipe (I blimmin' love ginger!). This recipe is not just for Christmas, although its flavours definitely evoke that festive feeling.

I made these last year as gifts for family and this year I've just made the first of probably many batches this season as they're great to take to gatherings, work, or just to nibble on at home.

As with all of the recipes I share, they're really easy to make and fun to decorate. It would be a really nice thing to make with younger members of the family too.

This recipe makes about 26 biscuits depending on the size of your cookie cutters.

YOU WILL NEED: 150g vegan block butter (not margarine)

120g light brown sugar

100g golden syrup

50g molasses

4 tsp ground ginger

4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

390g plain flour

If you want to decorate them:

50g Icing sugar

Lemon juice

Decorate sugar shapes

METHOD

1) Melt the butter, sugar, syrup and molasses in a large pan.

2) When it is smooth, remove from the heat and add the spices and the bicarbonate of soda. Stir.

3) Stir in the flour slowly. I usually add about 100g at a time and stir with a spatula. Eventually it will make a dough. You don't even have to get your hands in!

4) Wrap in foil or biodegradable cling film and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.

5) Preheat the oven to 180C.

6) Remove the dough from the fridge and place on a large floured surface. It will be much stiffer than it was. Roll out to half a centimetre thick and use your cookie cutter to cut out your biscuit shapes.

7) Place the shapes on a baking sheet (they do not expand and spread much at all) lined with parchment paper and put in the freezer for 10-15 minutes.

8) Remove from the freezer and bake for 8-10 mins. The longer you bake them the crunchier they will be. I like them softer so I prefer to bake for 8 mins, just until they are a nice even light brown colour.

9) Remove from the oven and leave to cool on the tray for a few minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack and allowing to cool completely.

10) Once cool you can decorate. Slowly add lemon juice to the icing sugar whilst stirring until it is a stiff but pipeable icing that doesn't lose it's shape too quickly when dropped from a spoon. Fill a piping bag and get piping! You can make a simple piping bag using parchment paper. There are lots of tutorials online but for speed, here's one I found for you...

Learn How to Fold a Parchment Bag for Piping - YouTube