Gingerbread Man in da house!

Ho Ho Ho! Are you still thinking of what to give your family/friends/colleagues for christmas? How about a gingerbread man to send some festive greetings along to everyone? It's easy to make, pretty delicious and fun to create designs unlimited by imagination! 

Recipe (Source)
a. 455g Plain Flour
b. 2 tsp cinnamon
c. 2 tsp ground ginger
d. 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
e. 1 tsp sea salt
f. 1/2 tsp baking soda
g. 117g unsalted butter, room temp
h. 100g brown sugar
i. 50g fine grained white sugar
j. 150g molasses (I used dark molasses)
k. 2 small eggs, cold (or 1 very large egg, mine is 55g per egg)
l. 1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Combine ingredients a - f and sift.
2. Using the paddle attachment, cream butter, brown & white sugar on high speed until pale & fluffy.
3. Add molasses and cream for another 2 minutes.
4. On medium speed, beat in eggs and vanilla.
5. On low speed, add flour mixture until fully combined. Dough will be soft and mallable but not sticky nor crumbly.
6. Separate dough into 2 portions, cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

When ready to bake:

1. Preheat oven to 175g.
2. Roll out 1 portion of the dough onto a floured tabletop. Use only a light layer of flour on the tabletop and try not to get it on the top surface of the dough.
3. Cut out shape of your choice, peel shaped doughs from surface and place it onto a lined baking tray. (Alternatively, I rolled out random patches of dough, place entire sheet onto tray, cut the shape and remove the excess. This way, it prevents the dough from breaking (especially the heads!) and getting mishapen when removing from tabletop onto tray) See pictures:

Mishapened limbs and askew heads:

 Easier way out - cutting the excess out from tray itself

 

4. Bake for 10 minutes until it starts to brown a little. this will give a slightly soft cookie base with a almost-crispy top. I baked for up to 12 minutes to get a crisp cookie base.

5. Cool completely before icing it. 

Royal Icing Recipe:

2 Egg Whites

1 tsp lemon juice

3 cups icing sugar

Add lemon juice to egg white and beat slightly. With the mixer on high speed, add sugar 1 cup at a time. Beat until stiff peaks.
If texture is too grainy or stiff, add a little water to thin it. If texture is too runny, add more icing sugar and beat further.
Cover and use quickly as it will dry up if exposed to air.

Wrap in Ziploc or air tight containers, keep up to 1 week. Have fun!