Gingerbread stars

These gingerbread stars are nice and crisp – perfect for hanging as ornaments on the Christmas tree. Add them to the tree on Christmas Eve and they will be fine to eat the next morning. Also useful as table setting decorations, or great stacked up and wrapped in cellophane as gifts.

CHRISTMAS GINGER STARS

Makes: 16–20 large stars
Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 30 mins (plus one hour resting time)

Ingredients

• 40g / 1½ oz of unsalted butter
• ½ cup of caster sugar
• 1 tablespoon of golden syrup
• ½ teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
• ½ teaspoon of cream of tartar
• 1 cup of plain flour
• 2 teaspoons of ginger ground
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon ground
• ¼ teaspoon of ground cloves
• 1 pinch of salt (iodised)
• 1 tablespoon of water (extra may be required)

Method

1. Using your electric mixer, cream the butter, sugar and golden syrup until well combined.
2. In a separate bowl, sift the bicarbonate of soda, cream of tartar, plain flour, ginger, cinnamon, ground cloves and salt.
3. Add the dry ingredients into the bowl with the creamed butter and sugar, and combine on a low speed.
4. Add the water, a little at a time, and continue to mix on slow speed. You want the mixture to come together which won’t take long.
5. Lightly flour the bench top, and scrape the mixture onto the bench and knead lightly into a rectangular shape.
6. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and rest in the fridge for an hour.
7. Remove the dough from the fridge, and divide into four.
8. Preheat the oven to 160˚C fan forced. Line 2 baking trays with baking / parchment paper.
9. Take two pieces of baking paper, and using a rolling pin, roll each piece between the sheets of baking / parchment paper to 5mm thickness. If it is overly sticky, you may need to add a little more flour.
10. Using a star cutter (or preferred shape) and cut the rolled dough and place on prepared baking trays.
11. Bake in the oven for 5 minutes. If you want to hang them as decorations, remove the stars from the oven at this point and using a skewer or chopstick, make a hold large enough for ribbon to be tied through.
12. Return to the oven for 2–5 minutes.
13. Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack for around 20 minutes.
14. Thread ribbon through and hang on the Christmas tree.
15. Have yourself a very merry Christmas.

TIP

If you like your gingerbread nice and soft, then you will only need to cook them for about 5 minutes rather than 8–10.

Cooking for special occasions? Use the PlanBuyCook app to scale up your meals for large numbers.