There’s nothing like floating at home the smell of gingerbread. This is an obvious signal that Christmas, long-awaited by both adults and children, is approaching. Melt-in-your-mouth cookies decorated with icing are the hallmark of these special December days. This is one of those elements of the holidays that can put everyone in a special mood.
Many people prepare spiced cookies in various shapes early, even in November. There are a lot of recipes for gingerbread. It’s safe to say that every family has its own method and favorite recipe. Although making them seems simple, sometimes there are complications that can spoil the joy of delicious baking.
Many people who bake gingerbread have encountered this problem – spice cookies very often they are very hard after baking. This can be troublesome, especially when there are only a few days left until Christmas. Fortunately, you can effectively influence the structure of cookies already at the baking stage. First of all, you need to understand why gingerbread cookies come out hard.
This is due to the presence of spices and honey, and more specifically, the proportions of these ingredients. The basis here will be an appropriate recipe, but in most cases it should be taken into account that the gingerbreads need some time to soften properly.
If yours Christmas gingerbreads They turned out to be extremely hard, and there’s not much time left until Christmas, don’t worry – everything can still be fixed. There are effective ways to help cookies soften.
Firstly, reach for slices of wholemeal bread. Place a slice of bread in the jar or any container where you plan to store the gingerbread. Then pour the cookies on it and put another slice on it. After such a night, the gingerbread will absorb moisture from the bread, making it softer.
Another way is to use apple quarters. As in the previous case, add 2-3 apple quarters to the gingerbread package and close it tightly. After a few days, the cookies will be softer. Importantly, replace fruit quarters with fresh ones. You can do the same by using lemon wedges instead of apples.
You don’t necessarily have to use fruit pieces, they are enough apple or orange peelings. The peels will also soften the spiced cookies and give them a bit of a fruity flavor, which can also add some variety.
As you can see, the key to success – if you want to taste soft, melt-in-your-mouth cookies – is proper storage of gingerbread. First of all, get a tightly closed can, jar or other packaging. Just in case this doesn’t help the gingerbread soften, you now know how to save the day in one night or a few days.
There are only a few days left until Christmas, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have a chance to prepare aromatic spiced cookies. Although traditional gingerbread, which needs a lot of rest, is certainly delicious, there are also recipes for those that will be soft immediately. Here is one of them.
Ingredients:
- 500 g of wheat flour (preferably cake flour),
- 150 g of honey (preferably buckwheat),
- 2 whole eggs and 2 extra yolks
- 1.5 teaspoons of baking soda
Don’t forget about spices:
- 1 teaspoon of nutmeg,
- 1 teaspoon of ground cloves,
- 0.5 teaspoon of cardamom.
Prepare a pot with a thick bottom. Put honey, sugar and all spices in it. Then heat using low burner power. Don’t forget to stir constantly. When 10 minutes of heating have passed, turn off the burner and add the butter so that it dissolves in the resulting moist mass. The whole thing should cool down.
Mix the cream with soda and set aside. Beat the egg whites, and when they are stiff, add the yolks one by one.
Pour flour into the eggs and mix gently using a spoon or whisk. When you get a uniform mass, add dissolved honey, sugar, butter and spices.
Mix gently again and then add cream mixed with baking soda. Cover the bowl with the thoroughly mixed dough (you can mix it with your hands at the final stage) with cling film and leave it in the fridge for at least 16 hours. When the dough’s resting time has passed, take it out of the fridge.
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Divide the dough into smaller parts and roll out to a thickness of 4-5 mm on a board lightly sprinkled with flour. Cut out your favorite patterns and place them on a baking tray lined with paper.
Bake for about 11-12 minutes. When they cool down, you can decorate the gingerbread cookies with icing or chocolate.
Source: Terazgotuje.pl
