Spooky Gingerbread Men
INGREDIENTS:
120g butter at room temperature
100g caster sugar
2 egg yolks
1 heaped tablespoon golden syrup
280g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon mixed spice
Pinch of salt
Coles Icing Halloween Decorations
ROYAL ICING
1 ½ cups icing sugar mixture
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 egg white
METHOD:
In the bowl of a stand mixer combine butter and caster sugar and beat until pale. Add yolks and golden syrup, and beat until combined.
In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder, bicarb, spices and salt. Mix well.
Add the dry ingredients to the bowl of the stand mixer and beat until a dough just starts to come together. Turn out onto a clean work surface, shape into a ball then wrap in plastic wrap and allow to rest for 1 hour.
Preheat conventional oven to 170ºC. Line two large baking trays with baking paper.
Lightly dust a clean work surface with flour and roll the dough out until about 4mm thick.
Use a gingerbread man biscuit cutter to cut as many men as you can from the dough. Gather up any dough scraps, re-roll and repeat.
Cut off some of the heads of a few of the gingerbread men to make the “headless mummies”.
Arrange the gingerbread men between the trays, allowing space between each biscuit.
Bake for 15 mins or until darkened. Allow to cool completely on trays before decorating.
To make the royal icing, combine lemon juice and egg white in a small bowl and whisk lightly.
Add to the icing sugar mixture and whisk until a thick paste forms.
Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a fine, plain tip (we used a Wilton #3 tip).
Decorate some of the biscuits with a skeleton and top with the skull icing decorations.
Decorate some of the biscuits with scars and top with Frankenstein icing decorations.
Decorate the headless biscuits with bandages and place a Mummy icing decoration near their hand/arm area, to appear as though they are holding their head.