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Prepared by: Daria Vakulova
10/11/2016 Cooking time: 30 min
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Gingerbread is a fragrant, spice-rich pastry that everyone loves, from young to old. Do you want to know how to make classic gingerbread without unnecessary additives and preservatives? Check out this recipe.
Description of preparation:
Gingerbread cookies are made from special gingerbread dough with the addition of honey and a spicy mixture of spices.
The gingerbreads turn out soft, fragrant, and moderately honey-like. It is very tasty to eat them with milk, a cup of tea or coffee. It is better to store them in a metal container with a tightly closed lid. Gingerbread cookies become tastier and more aromatic on the second day. Cook with pleasure! Purpose: Outdoors / For children / Afternoon snack Main ingredient: Dough / Choux pastry Dish: Baking / Gingerbread Geography of cuisine: Russian cuisine
Gingerbread dough
There are quite a lot of recipes for gingerbread dough and they mainly use natural honey, which is subjected to high-temperature processing. But today I want to share with you a recipe for gingerbread dough, which does not contain a single gram of this valuable product. Let's prepare a fragrant and very tasty gingerbread dough based on burnt sugar (zhzhenka), the finished gingerbread from which turns out truly wonderful.
This gingerbread dough and products based on it have many advantages. First of all, in terms of the cost of products, it turns out to be cheaper than what is prepared from natural honey. In addition, honey is a known allergen, which is especially important for today’s generation of children. Well, we won’t heat the honey, since we simply don’t use it (as is known, overheated honey in large quantities is harmful).
Another good thing about this gingerbread dough recipe is that you can store it in the refrigerator for even a year. We made a larger portion, wrapped it in a bag or film, and then, as needed, cut off a piece and baked gingerbread. And the gingerbread cookies made from this dough turn out to be very tasty: they are not dry at all, incredibly aromatic, very appetizing and can also be stored ready-made for more than a year.
In the recipe for gingerbread dough, I suggest using 2 types of flour - wheat and rye. If you don’t have rye, cook it exclusively with wheat flour (any type). From the specified amount of ingredients you get a decent amount of ready-to-use dough - you will definitely get 30 medium-sized gingerbread cookies!
Ingredients:
Sugar
(250 grams) Water (125 milliliters) Wheat flour (350 grams) Rye flour (150 grams) Chicken eggs (1 piece) Egg yolk (2 pieces) Butter (100 grams) Baking soda (0.5 teaspoon) Ground cinnamon (1 teaspoon) Dry ground ginger (1 teaspoon spoon) Cardamom (0.5 teaspoon) Nutmeg (1 pinch) Table salt (1 pinch)
Cooking step by step:
Step 1
The gingerbread dough recipe includes the following ingredients: wheat flour and rye flour, water, granulated sugar, butter, one chicken egg and two egg yolks, half a teaspoon of baking soda and a pinch of salt. I use cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and nutmeg as spices for gingerbread dough. All these additives are already in dry and ground form.
Step 2
Let's start preparing gingerbread dough by making burnt sugar or burnt sugar. To do this, pour half of the granulated sugar (125 grams) into a thick-walled saucepan or deep frying pan (small diameter).
Step 3
Place the bowl with sugar on the stove and begin to melt over a slightly lower than medium heat. First, a caramel of a pleasant golden hue forms at the bottom. You can use a spatula to help the sugar melt faster.
Step 4
Then almost all of the sugar will disperse and turn into a beautiful mass of rich caramel color. But this is only an intermediate stage - we need burnt sugar.
Step 5
Now is one of the most difficult moments - you need to catch the exact moment when smoke appears above the surface of the caramel and the mass becomes dark. But here it is important not to overcook the caramel, otherwise it will simply turn black and burn - you will have to start all over again.
Step 6
As soon as the mass has darkened, we begin to pour 125 milliliters of boiling water into it in parts (keep it ready, since it can burn at any moment). I tried very, very hard to capture the process of combining water and burnt sugar, but I think you understand that this is unrealistic. Stir the caramel with one hand, pour boiling water with the other, and take pictures at this moment... Moreover, at this moment the contents of the saucepan are more than active - bubbling and foaming to the very edge of the dish.
Step 7
In just 10 seconds everything will calm down and our burnt sugar will completely dissolve in the water. Let's move on to the next stage.
Step 8
Everything is simple here: pour the second half of the granulated sugar into the pan and stir it until it completely dissolves. In just a minute this will happen.
Step 9
Now it’s time to add 100 grams of butter to our burnt sugar base. Cold or soft is not so important, because it will completely disintegrate anyway.
Step 10
At the end, add our aromatic spice additives, mix everything and remove the pan from the heat.
Step 11
Let it sit on the table and cool a little. The temperature of the contents of the dish needs to drop to 60-70 degrees, but I don’t have a thermometer. so I just wait 3-4 minutes.
Step 12
Now we will brew wheat flour. We sift 130 grams of wheat flour in advance and add it to the aromatic sugar-butter base, which is still quite hot.
Step 13
Mix everything with a spoon or fork so that there are no lumps left. You can use a whisk or mixer - it’s even faster and more convenient.
Step 14
Let the custard base for the gingerbread dough cool again - this time to room temperature. I just took the saucepan out to the balcony, where everything cooled down in literally 10 minutes. Now it's time to introduce the eggs. Shake one whole chicken egg and 2 egg yolks a little with a fork and pour into a saucepan for the future gingerbread dough. Mix everything until it becomes homogeneous and smooth. Place the two whites you have left in the refrigerator for now, and then use them to make icing sugar to decorate the finished gingerbread cookies.
Step 15
Now mix the remaining (220 grams) sifted wheat flour and rye flour (150 grams). We also send half a teaspoon (without a slide) of baking soda there. Mix everything well and sift if desired.
Step 16
We begin to gradually add the flour mixture to our caramel mass. Stir and add again.
Step 17
When it becomes very difficult to stir with a spoon or fork, it’s time to move to the table.
Step 18
Pour all the remaining flour onto the work surface and dump the gingerbread dough on top. Although it is quite thick, it immediately begins to spread to the sides.
Step 19
Roll the dough in flour so that your hands do not stick to it too much. We rake some of the flour to the side and begin to knead the dough. Gradually add flour so as not to overdo it. If you add too much flour, the finished gingerbread cookies will shrink during baking and will be tough later. And if you regret it and don’t add enough flour, the dough will simply spread during baking and your gingerbread cookies will lose their shape.
Step 20
The finished gingerbread dough should be quite soft, stick a little to your hands, but still hold its shape. Place it in a bowl, cover with a lid (cover with cling film) and place in the refrigerator for at least 5-6 hours. And even better at night! I made the gingerbread dough in the morning and made the Christmas gingerbread the next afternoon.
Step 21
You know, this gingerbread dough is very tasty even raw. It is so fragrant and reminiscent of candy. Good luck in mastering gingerbread dough and delicious gingerbread, friends!
How to cook “Classic Gingerbread”
For the gingerbread dough we need these ingredients.
For glaze: 1 egg white and powdered sugar.
Crush the cloves and chop the nutmeg with a knife. Mix half the flour and all the spices.
Heat the honey and melt over low heat, add soda and stir thoroughly, remove from heat.
Add flour with spices, stir until smooth.
Add butter, stir. Then add the egg yolks and mix.
Knead into a soft, pliable dough that does not stick to your hands, gradually adding flour. The main thing is not to overfill the dough with flour so that the gingerbread cookies remain soft after baking. It all depends on the moisture content of the flour.
Divide the dough into 2-3 parts. Roll out into a layer 1 cm thick. Cut out circles with a diameter of 5 cm. Dip the cutting mold into flour so that it does not stick to the dough.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Place the gingerbread cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment and bake in a preheated oven for 12-15 minutes.
While the gingerbread cookies are baking, prepare the icing. Beat the egg whites into a strong foam, adding powdered sugar little by little, and beat the glaze.
Place the finished gingerbread cookies in a container with a lid (for example, a saucepan), pour the glaze into it and mix with a spatula. Wait until the glaze dries, and then you can serve it with tea. It’s better to put them in a container with a tightly closed lid and leave them for the next day. This way the gingerbread cookies will have time to soak in and be saturated with the aromas of spices.
Enjoy your tea!
Classic honey gingerbread recipe
To prepare gingerbread according to the classic recipe you will need:
- Honey of any kind – 250 g
- Flour – 450 g
- Granulated sugar – 75 g
- Butter (or margarine) – 1 tablespoon
- Baking soda - ½ teaspoon (or baking powder - 2 teaspoons)
- Spices (vanillin, cinnamon, cloves) – add to taste according to your choice
- Egg – 1 pc.
Preparation
- Place a small saucepan on the fire and add honey, sugar, butter and spices. When it starts to boil, turn it off and let it cool.
- Add flour and baking powder to a deep plate. Mix and break into it the egg and honey mixture that was just put on the fire. Mix well and refrigerate for 2 hours.
- Roll out the dough with a rolling pin to a thickness of 2 cm and cut out gingerbread cookies using a glass or mold.
- Gingerbread cookies are baked for 9-10 minutes at 180 degrees. Gingerbread cookies can be sprinkled with powdered sugar or icing.
Classic gingerbread cookies are ready, bon appetit!
Steamed honey gingerbread with walnuts
The peculiarity of steaming honey gingerbread is that they are not baked. They are prepared in a double boiler or in a slow cooker. And yet, they turn out soft and rosy.
We will need:
- Flour – 1.5 cups
- Sugar – ½ cup
- Butter – 50 g
- Honey – 1 tbsp. l. with a slide
- Egg – 1 pc.
- Walnuts – ½ cup
- Soda – ½ tsp.
Preparation:
- We prepare the nuts by chopping them in a blender or with a knife.
- Mix the dough: in a separate bowl, dissolve the egg, honey, butter and sugar in a water bath until smooth. Add soda there and stir until thickened.
- Then remove the pan from the water bath and add flour. Mix everything well. At the end of kneading, add nuts to the dough.
- We form balls from the dough with hands dipped in water and place them in a steamer or multicooker.
- Cook for 40 minutes.
Shortbread gingerbread dough
Shortbread gingerbread dough can be classified as a quick recipe. The finished base is infused for only half an hour, and only then it can be rolled out. The baked goods are soft, tender and crumbly. The store-bought one cannot be compared with it. The basis of the delicacy is baking, i.e. a mixture of butter with flour, sugar and eggs. You can also use margarine, but the delicacy will have a slightly different taste.
Ingredients:
- vanilla sugar – 10 g;
- flour – 2 tbsp;
- granulated sugar – 4 tbsp;
- butter – 200 g;
- egg yolk – 2 pcs.
Cooking method:
- Divide the eggs into whites and yolks, grind the latter with sugar.
- Next, add softened butter and vanilla sugar.
- Gradually add flour and knead the base. When ready, roll into a ball, wrap in cling film and place on the refrigerator shelf for half an hour.
- After the specified time, roll out the gingerbread cookies using molds, bake for 15 minutes at 200 degrees.
Honey gingerbreads with kefir
Even a novice cook can prepare delicate honey gingerbreads using this simple recipe.
Main ingredients:
- Kefir (yogurt) – 300 ml
- Eggs – 2 pcs. (1 white and 2 yolks for dough and 1 white for fudge)
- Margarine (or butter) – 100 g
- Granulated sugar - 1 cup for dough and 2/3 cup for fudge
- Honey – 1 tbsp. l.
- Flour – 2.5 cups
The first step is to separate the yolk from the white (we need the white for fudge), beat the remaining yolk and another egg with sugar. Pour all the kefir into this mixture, add honey, melted margarine, dissolved soda in vinegar (1 tsp) and salt. Add the sifted flour there and mix everything.
The main thing here is not to overdo it with flour. To prevent the gingerbreads from turning out heavy and tight, the dough should not be very steep.
Roll out the dough into a layer and cut out gingerbread cookies of different shapes. Bake on a greased baking sheet (or place the pieces on parchment) for 20-25 minutes (temperature approximately 180 degrees).
While the gingerbread cookies are baking, prepare the fudge. To do this, beat the sugar with the egg white until a white mass is formed, which should not be thick so that it can easily lubricate the surface of our gingerbread cookies.
After 20 minutes, remove the gingerbread from the oven, brush with fondant and place in the oven for another 10 minutes, lowering the temperature slightly.
