This week, I had the fortune of going to visit pastry chef Anna Polyviou at The Shangri-La Hotel in The Rocks as part of a book I’m working on. In the foyer was an unmissable child-sized gingerbread house, complete with a light snowfall of sweets. Ok, so for the average cook a gingerbread house is a bit of an epic task, no matter how naughty or nice your kids have been – but that doesn’t mean you have to miss out on the fun. Here’s a simple recipe for gingerbread biscuits; perfect for Christmas favours, afternoon tea and well-rounded men in red and white onesies.
Ingredients
3 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon bicarb soda
1 cups caster sugar
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch ground cloves
200g butter, melted
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 egg, lightly beaten
Preheat your oven to 180°C. Sift the flour and bicarb into a mixing bowl and add the sugar, ground spices and stir to combine. In a separate bowl, combine the butter, maple syrup and beaten egg. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir to combine into a dough. Turn out the dough onto some cling film, wrap it tightly and refrigerate it for 30 minutes to firm it up. Once firm, remove the dough from the fridge, roll it out to your desired thickness (just under half a centimeter is ideal), and use cookie cutters in your favourite shapes to cut the dough into shapes. Place the shapes onto a baking tray lined with baking paper and place in the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until golden.
Remove the cookies from the oven and allow to cool completely if you are icing them, otherwise, they’re pretty darn good with a cup of tea while still warm from the oven.
