Food & Wine

Gingerbread biscuit recipe

Gingerbread biscuits decorated for Christmas

Blanche Clark with Amit Sinha

Posted December 10, 2021



Everyone will love the smell of these homemade gingerbread biscuits baking in the oven. 

Gingerbread is synonymous with celebration and this easy gingerbread biscuit recipe from Le Petit Gâteau will sweeten any special occasion, including your Christmas festivities. 

In the Middle Ages, you had to belong to a guild to bake gingerbread – it was considered a specialised trade – but thankfully there are no such rules these days. 

Everyone’s an expert in their own kitchen, and children can help measure, mix and roll out the dough. The best part is getting creative with cookie cutters. Christmas shapes include stars, reindeer, trees and candy canes. This same recipe can be used to make gingerbread men and women. 

Over the centuries, the ginger flavour has been enhanced or interchanged with cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom and anise, while sweeteners have included molasses, brown sugar, corn syrup and honey. 

Photo: Getty

 

A child cutting out gingerbread men

Children will love making these gingerbread biscuits. Photo: Unsplash

Simple and sweet

Le Petit Gâteau Executive Pastry Chef Amit Sinha has kept this gingerbread biscuit recipe straightforward for home cooks with ginger, mixed spice, brown sugar and golden syrup. 

Once the biscuits have been baked and cooled down, you can decorate them with royal icing. This stiffer icing allows you to pipe fine details, such as eyes and buttons.

If you can resist devouring all the results yourself, these biscuits also make a great gift.

Gingerbread biscuits as a gift

Gingerbread biscuits make a great gift. Photo: Unsplash

Gingerbread biscuit recipe 

Serves

14-18 biscuits

Time to make

90 minutes

Difficulty

Easy

Ingredients

  •  120g unsalted butter, softened
  • 200g brown sugar
  • 120g golden syrup
  • 1 (60g) egg
  • 1tbsp vanilla paste
  • 420g plain flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • ¼ tsp ginger powder
  • ½ mixed spice
Royal icing
  • 2 large egg whites
  • 2tsp fresh lemon juice
  • 3 cups icing sugar
  • Food colouring if desired.

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 180°C.

  2. Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a large bowl and hand-held mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until completely smooth and creamy. Add the golden syrup and continue mixing until it’s combined and creamy.
  3.  Next, scrape the mixture off the sides and the bottom of the bowl, as required, and add the egg and vanilla paste. Mix until combined.
  4.  In a separate bowl, combine and then sift the flour, baking powder, ginger powder and mixed spice. On a low speed, slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined. Do not overmix.
  5.  Cover the dough in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.
  6.  Take the dough out of the fridge and roll it in between two sheets of non-stick baking paper until it’s about 4mm thick. Use a cookie cutter to cut out the shapes. The number of biscuits will depend on the size of the cookie cutter. Place the shapes on one or two baking tray and ensure they are nicely spread out, with about 2-3cm in between. 
  7.  Bake in preheated oven at 180°C for about 10-12 minutes.
  8.  Allow biscuits to cool for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack. Once completely cool, decorate as desired.
To make the royal icing
  1. Beat the egg whites with the lemon juice until frothy.  
  2. Add the sifted icing sugar and beat on low speed until combined, and it looks smooth and shiny.  
  3. Turn the beater to a high setting and beat the mixture for about five minutes until stiff and glossy.
  4. Add food colouring, if desired. Transfer icing to a piping bag and pipe fine decorations on the gingerbread biscuits.