Gingerman Cookies

Gingerman cookies, as the name suggests is made of gingerbread dough and then cut out using specific cutters usually in the form of a human. And ginger bread broadly refers to various baked goods like cake, cookies etc made with flour, molasses, ginger and butter along with various spices. These recipes dates back to the 14 th and 15 th century. The gingerman cookies are usually decorated with icing and the eyes, lips are often highlighted

using candies or icing. However, one can always choose to leave out the icing. According to popular legends and fictional tales, once upon a time, a ginger man, comes to life and escapes from an old couple and other animals. After lot of struggle, finally in the end, he gets eaten up by a fox.

Last year, I had made some ginger cookiesusing whole wheat flour, jaggery and ginger for hubby’s office colleagues. Here is my first attempt on these gingerman cookies. It was fun to roll these out and cut them using the cutter. It’s also one of the most famous Christmas cookies. Actually, kids would love to join you as you cut these out and eventually decorate it with icing. As with all other cookies of mine, these are also eggless. I have used whole wheat flour instead of all purpose flour. Check out on the recipe of treacle used in the cookie.

If you don’t have icing sugar, simply pulse around 1/2 cup of granulated sugar with 2 teaspoon of cornflour. Sieve it and use it for icing. If you do not have jaggery powder, grate and use it. You may even add clove powder and increase Cinnamon powder if you like.

Ingredients:

For the cookie:

• Whole wheat flour 150 gm
• Salt a pinch
• Jaggery powder 50 gm
• Treacle 2 tbsp
• Butter 75 gm
• Ginger juice 1 tbsp
• Cinnamon powder 1/4-1/2 tsp
• Nutmeg powder a pinch

For the icing:

• Icing sugar 1/2-2/3 cup
• Water 1 tbsp

Method:

To make the cookies:

• Sieve the flour, salt, cinnamon powder and nutmeg powder 2 times.
• Cream the butter, jaggery powder and treacle till it’s soft.

• Add the ginger juice and mix well.
• Now slowly add the dry ingredients and assemble to form a dough. Do not knead hard. It will be a sticky dough.

• Transfer the dough into a cling wrap or ziplock and refrigerate it for atleast half an hour.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Take out half of the dough and roll it between 2 layers of parchment paper.
• Use a gingerman cookie cutter and cut it. If the rolled dough appears too sticky, dust it with some flour.

• Transfer the cookies carefully onto the baking tray lined with parchment paper.

• Repeat with the remaining dough.
• Refrigerate the tray with the cookies for 10-15 minutes.
• Meanwhile preheat the oven at around 150-160 degree Celsius for atleast 10 minutes.
• Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes or till the top of the cookie looks a bit form.
• Remove the tray from the oven and allow the cookies to cool in the tray for 5-6 minutes.
• Transfer onto a wire rack and cool completely.

• Store in airtight containers.

To do the icing:

• Sieve the icing sugar and mix it with water slowly. Beat till it’s smooth. It should not be too thick or too runny.
• Transfer it onto a piping bag and snip of the edge.
• Pipe it on the cooled cookies using your creativity and cool.

• Store in airtight containers.

Notes:

• You can use all purpose flour instead of whole wheat flour.
• Jaggery powder can be substituted by an equal quantity of brown sugar.
• If you do not have treacle, you can use honey or molasses or maple syrup.
• Ginger juice can be replaced with dry ginger powder.
• Icing is optional, you may chose to omit it.
• As each oven behaves differently, please check after 10 minutes or so.