Gingerbread cookies are a typical Christmas recipe, ideal to make at Christmas. Discover how to make them easily at home with this recipe and get to know them.

During Christmas, it is strongly traditional to make gingerbread cookies. Although little is customary in Spain, more and more houses are preparing them thanks to the influence of emigrants from other countries.

They are traditional in many Central European countries and the United States, and the best thing is that they can be made in different ways, each one having its own special meaning: gingerbread man, gingerbread house, Christmas tree, star… but the base is always is the same, and then we can decorate with colors to offer very original Christmas gingerbread cookies.

History of gingerbread cookies

It is said that the tradition of biscuits even has Roman origins, although baking biscuits as it is done today dates back to the 19th century. Specifically, when we refer to the gingerbread man or gingerbread man, we are referring to a cookie made of gingerbread, which is shaped like a man and is very popular with children.

Gingerbread dates back to the 15th century, and the making of human-shaped cookies was practiced as early as the 16th century. It is noteworthy that the features of the man in the cookie are made with caramel stuck on it with icing or chocolate, depending on each particular recipe.

As we have pointed out before, it comes from Christmas gastronomy in northern Europe.  Although we have Roman references, other historical origins establish that the idea of ​​making these Christmas cookies was the brainchild of the Armenian monk, Gregory of Nicopolis in Greece, the first to prepare cookies or gingerbread.

Its particular flavor

Gingerbread cookies tend to have a somewhat spicy flavor due to the ginger. It should be remembered that ginger is a spice of Asian origin that is consumed in many countries around the world. It is used to make sweet pastries, to drink with tea and also to season some other more forceful dishes, such as meat, fish and turkey.

To make the cookies we can also mix the main ingredient, ginger, with others such as cinnamon, honey or lemon.

Gingerbread cookie houses

Also traditional at this time of year, the well-known gingerbread house or gingerbread house are typical Christmas sweets from the countries of northern Europe and are destined to surprise children, due to their taste, but above all due to their originality, shapes and colors.

One of the closest theories is that the houses have their origin in the stories of Hansel and Gretel, when two brothers find a house made of gingerbread, cake and sweets in the forest.

As they were hungry they began to eat the house, as it was very appetizing, although the house hid an evil witch who wanted to eat them. Such little houses require a great deal of effort to make, although children often collaborate in their preparation, since they decorate it with chocolate, candies and other goodies to make it much better.

Gingerbread cookies recipe

There are many recipes, but the basic one is the one that uses flour, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, sugar, honey and egg. Let’s see what his elaboration is.

Gingerbread Cookie Ingredients:

  • Several cups of flour (Depending on the number of cookies to make)
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • teaspoons of ground ginger
  • teaspoons of ground cinnamon
  • A small tablespoon of ground cloves
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup of butter
  • A small cup of brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup of honey

Preparation of the gingerbread cookies:

  1. We start by mixing the flour, ginger, yeast, cinnamon and cloves. Then we must beat the butter (we will have to take it out of the fridge beforehand so that it is not cold) and mix it with the sugar.
  2. Add the honey and the egg to the previous paste so that there is a fairly homogeneous paste.
  3. This dough is placed in a sealable plastic bag or in an airtight plastic container (Tupper).
  4. We will let it rest in a cool place (not the fridge) for about 4 hours on average.
  5. Then we will stretch the dough on parchment paper before putting it in the oven.
  6. Subsequently, the cookies are cut and given the desired shape to be placed in the oven, which must be at a temperature of 180ºC. There it will rest for 10 minutes on average.

Then we can decorate to taste with chocolates, glazes and others of different colors.

 

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here