These cookies are worth baking for the smell alone that will fill your house while they are in the oven. There is nothing like the scent of cinnamon and ginger to put you right in the Christmas mood. They are easy and fun to make and have a lovely crisp texture and gingery taste. I tested these out successfully on my Spanish classmates, on some of my swimming friends (yes they ate them at breakfast!) and also at a Book Club gathering and I promised everyone I would share the recipe. Everyone adores Gingerbread Men so they would make a great homemade Christmas gift. The mixture is made in a food processor so the only real work is in the rolling and cutting out and of course the decoration (which is the real fun bit!). They are great for children to make too as very little can go wrong with them. You can have lots of fun decorating them with icing sugar, silver or gold balls, raisins or edible gold or silver dust.

PS – watch this space because next year I am  going to make Gingerbread Women!

Makes about 30 cookies

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

350g / 12oz plain flour, plus extra for rolling out
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger (I used heaped teaspoons)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
125g / 4½oz butter cut into cubes
175g / 6oz light soft brown sugar
1 free-range egg
4 tablespoons golden syrup

To decorate:
Icing sugar, silver balls etc

Method

• Line 2 baking trays with greaseproof paper
• Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4
• Sieve the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger and cinnamon and put into the bowl of a food processor.
• Add the butter and whizz until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs (usually 2/3 mins)
• Stir in the sugar
• Lightly beat the egg and golden syrup together, add to the food processor and pulse until the mixture comes together.
• Turn the mixture out and knead briefly until it is nice and smooth.
• Wrap it in cling film and leave to chill in the fridge for 15 mins
• Lightly flour the counter top and roll out the dough to a thickness of ¼ inch / ½ cm
• Cut out the gingerbread men shapes and place on a baking tray, leaving a gap between them as they will expand a bit during the cooking
• Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until lightly golden-brown.
• Leave on the tray for 5/10 minutes and then move them to a wire tray to cool fully.
• Have fun decorating!