Henry's Gingerbread Men

Ingredients

The Bloomed Butter and Spice Base

Same move as the gingerbread loaf. One minute, twice the flavor.

• 170g (¾ cup (12 tablespoons)) unsalted butter
• 8g (1½ tablespoons) ground ginger
• 5g (2 teaspoons) ground cinnamon
• 1g (½ teaspoon) freshly grated nutmeg
• 1g (½ teaspoon) ground cloves
• 1g (½ teaspoon) freshly ground black pepper

The Dough

• 150g (¾ cup) dark brown sugar, packed
• 170g (½ cup) unsulphured dark molasses
• 50g (1 large) large egg, room temperature
• 340g (2¾ cups) all-purpose flour
• 60g (½ cup) dark rye flour
• 4g (¾ teaspoon) fine sea salt

Royal Icing for Decorating

Meringue powder instead of raw egg white. Safer for a plate of cookies going out to other people's kids.

• 340g (3 cups) confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 20g (3 tablespoons) meringue powder
• 80g (5-6 tablespoons) warm water

Pro tip: No baking soda and no baking powder anywhere in this dough. That is on purpose and it's the reason the arms stay arms.

Equipment

Method

Bloom the Spices, Then Build the Dough (15 minutes)

The spices go into warm butter first, exactly like the loaf.

1. Bloom the Spices. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk in the ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and black pepper and keep it moving for 45 to 60 seconds. Pull it off the heat before anything scorches.
2. Add Sugar and Molasses. Scrape the spiced butter into a mixing bowl. Beat in the brown sugar and molasses until smooth. Let it cool to lukewarm, about 10 minutes, or the egg will cook.
3. Beat in the Egg. Add the egg and beat until the mixture looks glossy and uniform.
4. Add the Flours and Salt. Whisk the all-purpose flour, rye flour, and salt together, then add to the bowl in two additions on low speed. Stop the second the flour disappears. The dough will be soft and sticky. Do not add more flour, it firms up in the fridge.

Tip: Notice what's not in here. No baking soda, no baking powder. Chemical leavening is what makes a gingerbread man puff up and swallow his own arms.

Roll First, Then Chill (2 hours, hands off)

Everybody chills a ball of dough and then fights to roll it. Do it backward and the whole job gets easier.

1. Divide and Roll Now. Split the dough in half. Roll each half between two sheets of parchment to ¼ inch thick for a sturdy decorating cookie, or ⅛ inch if you want them crisp and thin. Rolling it soft means no cracking and no flour worked into the surface.
2. Chill the Sheets Flat. Slide the parchment-wrapped slabs onto a sheet pan and refrigerate at least 2 hours, or overnight. They can also go in the freezer for 30 minutes if you're in a hurry.
3. Cut Cold. Peel off the top parchment and cut your shapes while the dough is cold and firm. Cold dough cuts clean. Lift the cutouts with an offset spatula onto parchment-lined sheet pans, an inch apart.
4. Re-Roll the Scraps. Press the scraps together, roll them between parchment again, and put them back in the fridge for 20 minutes before cutting. There's no leavening to lose and the rye keeps the re-rolls from going tough.

Wait: PT2H

Tip: Rolling before chilling is the single biggest time-saver in this recipe. No waiting for a cold brick to soften, no cracked edges, no extra flour.

Bake (9 to 11 minutes)

Short bake, firm edges, and a rest on the pan before they move.

1. Preheat. 350°F (177°C), racks in the upper and lower thirds.
2. Bake. Bake 9 to 11 minutes for ¼ inch, 7 to 9 for ⅛ inch. Rotate the pans halfway. They're done when the edges are set and the surface no longer looks wet. They will not look brown, molasses already did that.
3. Rest on the Pan. Let them sit on the hot pan 5 minutes before moving them. Hot gingerbread is fragile and arms snap off if you rush it. Then move to a rack and cool completely.
4. Cool Completely Before Icing. Room temperature all the way through, or royal icing will slide off and never set.

Tip: Bake one test cookie first. Ovens lie, and one cookie tells you whether you're at 9 minutes or 11.

Royal Icing and Decorating (As long as you want it to take)

This is the part kids actually stay in the kitchen for.

1. Make the Icing. Beat the confectioners' sugar, meringue powder, and 5 tablespoons of warm water on low, then raise to medium-high and beat 5 to 7 minutes until it holds stiff peaks and looks matte.
2. Split It Into Two Consistencies. Keep about a third stiff for piping outlines and detail. Thin the rest with water a teaspoon at a time until a ribbon drawn across the surface disappears in about 15 seconds. That's flood consistency.
3. Outline, Then Flood. Pipe the outline with the stiff icing and let it set 10 minutes. Then fill the middle with the thinned icing and nudge it into the corners with a toothpick.
4. Let Them Dry. Royal icing needs 6 to 8 hours at room temperature to harden all the way through. Don't stack them before then.

Tip: Keep icing you aren't using covered with a damp towel. It crusts over in minutes and then clogs every tip you own.

Bake at 350°F

Hot enough to set fast, short enough to keep the middle tender.

Oven: 177°C / 350°F. Internal temperature when done: 90-93°C / 195-200°F.

Sheet Pans with Parchment (Recommended) (recommended)

Light-colored half sheet pans, parchment, no greasing.

Equipment: Half sheet pans, parchment paper

1. Preheat. 350°F (177°C), racks in the upper and lower thirds.
2. Bake. 9 to 11 minutes at ¼ inch, rotating halfway.
3. Rest. Five minutes on the hot pan before moving them.
4. Cool. Cool completely on a rack before any icing touches them.

Note: Dark pans run hot and the bottoms will scorch before the tops set. Use light pans if you have them.

Storage

• Room temperature: Undecorated, 1 week in an airtight tin. Decorated and fully dried, 5 days.
• Refrigerated: Not recommended. They soften and the icing can weep.
• Frozen: Baked and undecorated, up to 3 months. Rolled raw dough, up to 2 months.

If they soften in the tin, five minutes at 300°F brings the snap back. Cool before eating.

Frequently Asked Questions

I don't have rye flour. What do I use?

Swap in the same weight of all-purpose, 60g. The cookies are still very good, they just lose some of the malty depth underneath the molasses. Whole wheat is the closer substitute if you have it.

Why is there no baking soda? Every other gingerbread recipe has it.

Because most gingerbread recipes are written for a soft, puffy cookie. Leavening pushes the dough out while it's still soft and that's what turns a gingerbread man into a gingerbread blob. Leave it out and you get clean edges and a snap that holds up to icing.

My dough is too sticky to roll.

It's supposed to be soft when you mix it. Don't add flour. Roll it between two sheets of parchment right away and chill the slabs flat. It firms up completely in the fridge.

Can I make the dough ahead?

Yes, and you should. Rolled slabs keep 3 days in the fridge and 2 months in the freezer. Thaw a frozen slab in the fridge overnight before you cut.

How do I know when they're done? They're already dark.

Go by feel, not color. Molasses makes them dark going in. They're done when the edges are firm to a light press and the surface has gone from wet-looking to matte. Nine to eleven minutes at a quarter inch.

Can I use this dough for a gingerbread house?

Yes, and it's a good choice because it doesn't spread. Roll to ¼ inch, cut your panels, and bake 13 to 15 minutes so they dry out and stiffen. Let the panels sit overnight before you build.

Nutrition

Per serving (1 cookie (about 28g), undecorated): 130 calories, 19g carbohydrates, 2g protein, 5g fat, 1g fiber, 55mg sodium. Makes 30 servings.