What is better than baking away this festive season? My favorite winter baking projects certainly include gingerbread men and houses. Not to mention how divine it is when the whole house smells of sweet spices. To add my own creative touch, I wanted them to be more than simply cookies. I was thinking to bring a complete experience that goes beyond the flavor of the cookies. As a nice cup of warm winter drink often comes with gingerbread cookies, I was thinking how to combine them. Finally the idea to create gingerbread cookie mug toppers is born. It is very cute to see how the ginger bread man and gingerbread house stay on top of the cup. They immediately make the cup extra festive with a lovely edible decoration. You cannot give a nicer welcome to your guests at your Christmas party than this. Without further ado, let us get started!

Serving: 5 gingerbread houses, 5 gingerbread men (depending on the size of both your gingerbread cookie cutter and the template you make yourself for the gingerbread houses)

Baking time: 15 minutes

Preservability: 3 days at room temperature

Ingredients:
Gingerbread man and house
400 gram buckwheat flour (or another form of flour)
140 gram butter
150 gram soft brown sugar
30 gram apple syrup
1 large egg
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1½ tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves

Icing
250 gram confectioners’ sugar
little water

Method:

1. Line a 9-by-5 inch baking pan with parchment paper. This enables you to easily take out the cookies once they are done. Put it aside until it is ready to use.
2. In a large bowl beat together the brown sugar, egg, apple syrup and butter with an electric mixer for approximately 2 minutes until it becomes a light and fluffy mixture.
3. Add the flour, baking powder and spices into the mixture and mix them all together at a low speed.
4. Press the dough into the bottom of a plate until it becomes a flat rectangle. Wrap it in a plastic wrap and let it firm up in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
5. After the 30 minutes have passed, preheat the oven to 190 celsius degrees.
6. Take out your dough and roll it out with a rolling pin until it is about 1/8 inch thick. Depending on your preference, you can opt for a thinner dough to have crispier cookies.
7. Cut out the dough using the gingerbread man cookie cutter and the gingerbread house template to get nice gingerbread men and gingerbread house components out of the dough. Place them on the lined baking tray.
8. For the gingerbread men, make a small opening in them along the side so that they can be clinged to the upperside of the mugs.
9. Bake the gingerbread men and gingerbread house components in the oven for approximately 15 minutes at 190 celsius degrees.
10. Let the cookies cool completely.
11. In the meantime, get the frosting ready. Sift the confectioners’ sugar into a small bowl. Add just enough water to make it a smooth yet firm consistency. For an additional touch, you can use food colouring to give the icing a colour.
12. Pour the icing in a piping bag so that you can easily control and dose the amount that comes out of the bag. The alternative is to make one yourself by using a plastic freezer bag and cut off the tip of one of the bag corners.
13. Use the frosting first to glue the houses together. Then decorate the gingerbread men and gingerbread houses with the remaining of the icing. Give the decorations time to dry.
14. Place the cookies as mug toppers on the mugs with your favourite liquid goodness.. and enjoy!

Let me know whether you are going to give it a try. I am curious about your master pieces. Most important of all, do not forget to enjoy this wonderful holiday season.

Until next time.

Love always,

Mee-Ling