Christmas Gingerbread Men Recipe

In a large mixing bowl, sift together the plain flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger, and cinnamon.

Add the diced butter to the bowl. Use a food processor or your fingertips to rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar.

In a separate bowl, lightly beat the egg with the golden syrup. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until the dough begins to come together.

Turn the dough onto a clean surface and knead gently until smooth. Wrap the dough in cling film and chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/Gas 4). Line two baking trays with greaseproof paper.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to about 0.5cm (¼in) thick. Use gingerbread men cutters to cut out shapes and place them on the prepared trays, leaving a small gap between each biscuit.

If you plan to use them as decorations, use a skewer to create a small hole at the top of each biscuit for threading ribbon.

Bake in the preheated oven for 12–15 minutes, or until the gingerbread men are golden brown.

Let them cool on the baking tray for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once fully cooled, use writing icing and cake decorations to give each gingerbread man a festive design. Let the icing set before serving or hanging as decorations.