dessert recipes | Makes 14

Kids will love making, decorating and eating these biscuits – but let’s face it, more the eating! They can either be given as gifts, or used to decorate the tree. Make things more fun with a variety of cutters.

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4 and line 2 baking sheets with baking paper. In a large bowl combine the flour, bicarbonate of soda and spices.
2. Melt the butter, sugar and golden syrup in a pan over a low heat and stir until the sugar dissolves, then add it to the dry ingredients. Stir in until it forms a stiff dough, then cut it in half.
3. Transfer the paper from the baking sheets to a work surface and place a portion of the dough on each. Roll out to 5mm thick, then cut out directly on the paper, leaving a 2cm gap between each. Save the cuttings to make more people, or round ginger biscuits.
4. Carefully lift the papers back onto the baking sheets and bake the gingerbread in the oven for about12 minutes, or until lightly golden.5 Leave to cool on the sheet for a few minutes – if you want to hang them as decorations, now is the time to pierce a hole through the top of each with a skewer – then move to a wire rack.6 Once cool, ice the gingerbread men and decorate with sprinkles, sweets and edible glitter.


Makes about 14 gingerbread people (depending on cutter size)