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As you already know, this blog is dedicated especially to those who take care of children. In addition to feeding the kids, the care we take for them can be translated into attention, involvement and entertainment. Both good food and the quality time we spend with the little ones strengthen the bond between parents and children or between caregivers and the little ones.
Thus, starting today, I will post a mini-series of articles dedicated to Festive Cooking with Kids, thus welcoming you with ideas for spending time with the little ones, preparing delicious homemade treats, especially for Christmas or New Year meals, but that doesn’t mean you can’t prepare them on an ordinary day, just to enjoy the time spent with the little ones and to delight your taste buds at the same time.
So, I invite you to discover together the first recipe that you can prepare together with the little ones for Christmas, namely the super easy gingerbread recipe.
Also, you should make this amazing No Bake Chocolate Biscuit Salami, together with your little ones. I am sure it will be fun and delicious, in the same time.
How to make homemade gingerbread cookies?
For those of you who have never prepared homemade gingerbread, it may seem like a complicated process, but I guarantee that today you will discover an easy gingerbread recipe that requires a very short list of simple ingredients, available to anyone, an extremely short preparation time, and the fun you will experience together with the little ones will be a huge success.
I’ll tell you from the beginning that you don’t need any cooking appliance to prepare this easy gingerbread recipe, but if you still have a kneading machine or a Thermomix in your kitchen, don’t hesitate to use it.
I would recommend you to prepare some cookie cutters for homemade gingerbread, because children love to cut the tender gingerbread dough using as many shapes as possible, and if they later have the opportunity to decorate gingerbread cookies, they feel as if they have conquered the world.
So, using an extremely short list of simple ingredients, you will be able to prepare homemade gingerbread cookies, but you can even venture into making a homemade gingerbread house, which really requires a little bit of time and attention, especially for gluing the walls.
The only rule you have to follow to get a delicious gingerbread cookie recipe is to knead the dough a day before baking the cookies or the shapes needed for the gingerbread house. Thus, the freshly kneaded dough will rest in the fridge overnight, and the next day it will be taken out and placed at room temperature for at least 1-2 hours before stretching and baking.
So, prepare the kitchen aprons and let’s have fun.
How to make a homemade gingerbread house?
This year I prepared homemade gingerbread house for the first time. My daughter saw the gingerbread house in a store, but we thought it was much better to have fun together while we prepare this beautiful and delicious house using our homemade gingerbread recipe.
So, to make a gingerbread house you will use exactly the same dough as in the case of homemade gingerbread cookies, only you will use different dough cutters, with the necessary shapes for the walls and roof of the house.
Please be aware, right from the beginning, that the homemade gingerbread house will not have a perfect shape, with perfectly right angles, and it doesn’t even have to be perfect! The goal is to have fun with the little ones, to enjoy together the magical season of Christmas and to enjoy homemade delicious gingerbread, in addition to the other sweet treats that you can prepare together.
Once the shapes necessary for the homemade gingerbread house construction are baked, I recommend that you leave them for at least a day to cool completely and “harden” in a spacious tray, before starting the decorating and gluing process.
We chose to decorate the house before gluing the walls, and as you can see in the pictures, the decoration was made by my 5-year-old daughter, so it is not a complex decoration, but an extremely simple one, using sugar glaze.
The sugar glaze that you can use both for decoration and for gluing the walls and roof necessary for the homemade gingerbread house construction involves mixing a generous amount of powdered sugar together with an egg white. If you let this mixture rest for 1-2 hours before using it, it will be much easier to handle, especially for the part that involves gluing the walls.
Also, for the part of gluing the walls for the homemade gingerbread house, I recommend you not to venture and be patient, if you glue 1-2 walls together per day it is OK. If you rush and try to glue several pieces in a short time, you risk the walls collapsing. Thus, be patient and stick the pieces in a row, allowing the sugar glaze to harden completely, preferably overnight.
You can cover the sugar glaze with a plastic film and keep it in the fridge for 2-3 days, or as long as you need, until you finish gluing all the shapes necessary for the homemade gingerbread house.
For the roof, I used some cups to support the piece of gingerbread overnight, thus making sure that the sugar glaze hardened completely, without the roof moving.
At the end, you can use homemade gingerbread house as a decoration, or you can enjoy it, because it is as tasty and tender as homemade gingerbread cookies.
Easy homemade gingerbread cookies recipe
Remember that you don’t need t use cooking appliances for this recipe, you can simply use a bowl and a spatula to achieve this amazing gingerbread cookie recipe in no time.
Also, don’t forget that you can use the same gingerbread dough for cookies or gingerbread house al well.
Homemade gingerbread recipe cookies
Equipment
- 1 Thermomix / Bowl and spatula
- Cookie cutters
- 1 Whisk
- 1 Metal Box
Ingredients
- 320 g flour;
- 100 g melted butter;
- 200 g honey;
- 1 pc egg;
- 1 tsp baking soda;
- 1 pinch salt;
- 2 tbsp gingerbread spices cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, ginger powder;
- 1 tsp vanilla extract;
Optional (Sugar glaze)
- 200 g icing sugar
- 1 pc egg white;
Instructions
- First, pour the honey over the melted butter and mix them together;
- Then, place all the ingredients for the gingerbread dough into a bowl and knead the dough by hand or by using a kneading machine;
- Using your hands, shape the dough into a sphere and cover wrap it into plastic foil;
- Place the dough into the fridge for several hours or overnight;
- The next day, take out the dough at leave it at room temperature for at least 1-2 hours to soften;
- Using a floured surface, or baking paper sheets, stretch the dough using a roller pin, until you get a nice 5-6 mm dough sheet;
- Using cookie cutter or gingerbread cutter, cut the dough and place the gingerbread shapes into a baking tray covered with baking paper;
- Place the baking tray into the preheated oven and bake the gingerbread cookies for 9 min at 170° Celsius (338° F).
Sugar glaze
- For the Sugar glaze, simply mix the icing sugar with the egg white, using a whisk. I used the Thermomix for 10 SEC – Speed 7; You can use the sugar glaze to decorate the gingerbread cookies or to glue the walls of the gingerbread house. IMPORTANT: For the gingerbread house, it is important to decorate and glue its walls at least 1 day after baking it, to allow the gingerbread dough to harden a little.
Storage
- After the gingerbread cookies are completely cool, transfer them into a metal box or a jar and store them for up to 1 month.TIP: The gingerbread biscuits are best serve dafter 2-3 days after cooking, because the dough softens a little on the inside.
Nutrition
Please keep in mind that this is a kidsfriendly gingerbread cookie recipe, because it has NO SUGAR in its dough. I used only honey, because this makes it healthier and also delicious. You can find a lot of kidsfriendly recipe here, on easeyourcooking.com, if you are trying to achieve a healthy diet for your little ones.
Also, if you are baking for Christmas or other family reunion meals, check out the Brown Sugar and Walnut Cookies or the 45 min Pear Muffins Recipe, which will definitely conquer all your guests.
I hope you will try this amazing gingerbread cookie recipe and also the gingerbread house recipe because this is a great way to bake delicious treats and also spend quality time with your little ones. Until the next easy and delicious homemade recipe here on easeyourcooking.com, I wish you all a great time, spent with your loved ones. Bye 😊
