Gingerbread Trees

Directions

• Preheat oven to 180°C. Line two baking trays with non-stick baking paper.
• Sift flour, ground ginger and baking soda together in a bowl (or food processor).
• Add the sugar and butter, and rub it in with your fingertips (or pulse it in the food processor) until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the egg and stir (or pulse) to mix. If the cookie dough is a little sticky, just add a little amount of extra flour to the mix. Wrap it in cling wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Using a rolling pin (or substitute a rigid drink bottle) gently roll the cookie dough out on a lightly floured surface – or between 2 sheets of baking paper, until approximately 5mm thick. Using a tree or star shaped cookie cutter, cut shapes out and place on the trays. Any leftover dough can be reformed into a ball and simply re-roll and repeat the cookie cutting until all the dough is used.
• In the pre-heated oven bake the gingerbread for 8-10 minutes or until cooked and nicely golden. Remove from oven and let cool on a baking rack.
• Icing: In a small bowl or a cup add 1 ½ tsp water to the icing sugar, and mix well with a teaspoon until smooth. Spread a thin layer or drizzle a pattern onto each cookie and leave to set.
• To Make “Christmas Gingerbread Star Trees’
• Use various sized star cookie cutters to cut the shapes and bake as instructions above. To assemble the trees, start by placing the largest star at the bottom and simply build a tree upwards, placing the smaller stars towards the tree top. Turning each layer 90 degrees helps to form a lovely little gingerbread pine tree. Dropping a small amount of icing in the middle of each star as you build helps hold the cookie layers in place – add a swirl of icing on top for a finishing touch. Dust finished trees with icing sugar – or for a more festive snow effect spread icing thinly on the edges and sprinkle with some Desiccated Coconut while still wet (see pic).