Kiddipedia
I have made these Gingerbread Men/Shapes every year for the past 14 years and they are always SO popular, with the adults AND the kids!
You can make them as a fun Christmas Eve activity or anytime! They last in a sealed container on the bench for more than a week (but mine are never around that long!!)
Recipe
125g butter, softened
1/2 C brown sugar
1/2 C golden syrup
2 and 1/2 C plain flour, sifted
2 and 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
(Makes about 12-15 shapes)
Method
Mix butter with sugar and syrup.
Add all dry ingredients gradually
Mix and stir until you form a dough
Roll out on a clean bench or board until dough is about half a centimetre thick.
Use a bit of plain flour to dust if dough gets sticky.
Use cutters to cut shapes out and carefully place on oven trays covered in baking paper.
Bake in a slow oven (160 deg) for 10-15 minutes or until just slightly golden for a softer gingerbread.
If you want a crunchy, harder gingerbread cookie, bake slightly longer until a little darker on top.
Allow to cool entirely on a wire rack before decorating with writing icing and mini M&M’s.
How can the kids get involved, and what does it teach them?
- Measuring ingredients – counting, using measuring cups, spoons, scales – learning basic maths skills including volume and capacity, and early numeracy skills
- Mixing ingredients – developing hand-eye coordination, and fine motor strength and observing chemical changes (science concepts)
- Choosing the shapes – star, boy, girl, bell, candy cane, heart etc – developing creativity and shape concepts
- Rolling the dough and squishing flat – developing hand-eye coordination, sensory exploration
- Pressing shapes in the dough – developing fine motor strength, spatial awareness and improving awareness of related vocabulary (language skills)
- Placing shapes on an oven tray – spatial awareness skills, fine motor skills
- Helping to decorate! Use smarties or mini m & m’s, and writing icing tubes. Kids can get creative with facial expressions, outfits, designs on various shapes etc – developing fine motor strength and hand eye coordination, creative expression, imagination, colour concepts and language skills.
