Looking for an easy recipe for gingerbread men - and other cut out shapes

I make these with my 4 year old GD .They are great for cutting out ,dont spread and taste great.

480grms plain flour
3/4 tsp salt
227grms soft butter
200grams sugar
2 large eggs
mix in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer....GD uses the hand one
when it starts to stick together form it into a ball with your hands and wrap in cling film
leave in the fridge for at least an hour before rolling and cutting .
we usually cut the dough in half and she can use half and keep the rest cold
cut out and bake at 200 for around 10-15 minutes or until the edges start to colour .These keep well in a tin for a week if they dont get eaten .
You can add choc chips or flavourings at the mixing stage .

We sometimes ice these or dip the edges in melted chocolate or roll out fondant to stick on and paint with food colouring

I’ve made these Christmas biscuits for years - it’s a sort of bourbon type , secret is not to over bake as they harden up as they cool
Basic recipe from my notebook but I alway make double

paddyann54 should here be ginger in those?? I'll have go at them next week

Just bumping this is hopes of some clarification 😁

I put a recipe for what I call Gingerbread rocks. But it's a recipe to roll out and cut out shapes. But I can't use a rolling pin my hands won't let me. It tastes amazing and the shapes stay in the shape you cut. When I make it with my grandson he does the rolling out and cutting of the shapes.

Its on the Gingerbread/Parkin thread on page one about half way down.. I will bump the page up.

you can add any flavour you want ,we tend to make them plain as wee madam isnt a ginger fan just add ginger to the flour I think .T

Thank you everyone. I will give them all a go

Thanks paddyann54

We picked up a Waitrose recipe card this morning for Gingerbread men and MrA made them this afternoon. Very nice, very gingery. Don't know if we slightly overcooked them as the legs and arms are a bit harder than I expected, but the bodies are nice and soft 😄

We've made these with large groups of children because they could make their own patterns on them (e.g. scales on fish biscuits) before cooking and they keep the shape:
www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/easiest-ever-biscuits
I tried replacing some of the flour with cocoa powder to make chocolate biscuits and that worked well; I suppose you could add spice or citrus zest to make other flavours.

MyBero recipe is:
250g Self raising flour
Pinch of salt,
50 g Margarine (I use butter)
100 g caster sugar
3 x 15 ml ground ginger
3 x 15 ml golden syrup
4 x 15 ml spoons milk
currants
glace cherries
1.Sieve flour salt and giner together
2. warm syrup, fat and sugar together and add to dry ingredients
3. add milk and mix to a firm consistency
4. Roll out and cut to shape and place on greased baking tray
5. mark the eyes with currants, and down the body for buttons, and a piece of cherry for the mouth
6. Bake for 10 - 15 mins , 160C 325 F Gasmark 3. Probably lower with a fan cooker.
7 Ease from baking trays when mixture is cool enough
PS Biscuits made with golden syrup are often soft after baking, but will become crisp on cooling

Good Luck

I buy the IKEA frozen gingerbread pastry - the children (and I) enjoy using the Christmas shape cutters and packaging them for Family gifts!

Just a tip, many of you probably know, if you have a gingerbread man shaped cutter, if you turn the biscuit upside down when it’s cooked, it makes a reindeer’s head complete with antlers. Got the idea from
a supermarket’s free Christmas Bakes one year. Works a treat and the grandchildren can choose whether to turn the biscuit into Rudolph or Gingerbread man. I use the easily bought icing pens, easy for little hands.

Thank you storynanny, I have bookmarked your recipe! My two GC love home made biscuits as a treat and these look wonderfully simple and tasty.

And thank you to paddyann too - another one I've bookmarked!

Easy as 1,2,3 .....1 oz sugar, 2oz butter, 3 oz flour + ground ginger to taste. Any multiples of these obviously make more cookies - i.e.2,4,6 or 3,6,9 etc. Delicious! Just mix ingredients together and work with a mixer (I use hands!) until it gets to a consistency you can roll out. Bake at 180degrees for about 5-10 mins.

Thanks Paddyann and Fael, I have Gdcs coming to stay this weekend and have bought some nice new Christmas cookie cutters - I did have some but they’ve disappeared - maybe I gave them to dd.