How to Perfect Gingerbread Biscuits
Want perfect gingerbread biscuits for Christmas? We have tried-and-tested tips to make gingerbread biscuit baking fun and easy, and you’re sure to have fun with the whole family decorating!
Tips for gingerbread success:
- Chill the dough before rolling it out. You’ll find it is much easier to work with after it’s been refrigerated for at least an hour.
- Roll the dough out on a work surface lightly dusted with a mixture of flour and icing sugar, or between pieces of baking parchment.
- Keep biscuit cutters from sticking to the dough by dusting them with flour.
- If you’re cutting out large or delicate shapes, save them from falling apart by rolling out the dough on baking parchment, removing the scraps and sliding the parchment directly onto a baking tray.
- Let gingerbread cool completely before you ice it.
- A simple glaze of icing sugar and milk works well for decorating gingerbread men. Add essences or citrus zest to enhance the flavour.
- Use food colouring to transform icing into your desired colour palette.
- Add decorations before the icing dries. Some decoration ideas include: coloured decorating sugar, desiccated coconut, toasted flaked almonds, hundreds and thousands, dragées, multicoloured nonpareils, chocolate buttons, dried currants, Smarties.
- Let decorated biscuits stand until icing sets, about 2 hours.
- Gingerbread biscuits can be prepared up to 2 weeks ahead and stored in single layers between sheets of greaseproof paper in airtight containers.