This gingerbread wreath is an adorable, edible centerpiece that is equally fun to eat as it is to make.
- For the Gingerbread
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup salted butter at room temp
- 1 large egg
- ¾ cup dark molasses
- 3.5 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsps baking soda
- 2.5 tsps ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- For the Royal Icing
- ¼ cup egg whites plus a little extra if needed • 3 cups powdered sugar
- To decorate
- Small chocolate balls/smarties or similar for the Gingerbread Men ‘buttons’
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Put the sugar, butter, molasses and egg into a large mixing bowl. Use a handheld electric mixer to thoroughly combine until any lumps of butter have been dispersed.
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Sift in the flour, baking soda, ginger, cloves and cinnamon and mix on a low speed until the dough starts to cling together leaving the sides of the bowl clean.
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Use your hands to bring the dough into a ball. Lightly flour a surface and turn the dough out on to it. Knead very briefly until smooth then divide into two balls of dough. Flatten each ball of dough into a disc shape then wrap in plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
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Preheat the oven to 350F. Line two baking trays with parchment paper.
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Remove the chilled dough from the fridge. Roll out one of the discs between two sheets of parchment paper to a thickness of about 1cm.
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Leaving the rolled out dough on the parchment, use a dinner plate (ours was 26cm) as a template for a circle. Cut around the edge of the plate with a sharp knife and remove the excess dough. You will be left with a circle.
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Add a smaller plate (ours was 15cm) to the center of the circle of dough. Cut around the smaller plate then remove the dough from the center. This will leave you with a ring of dough. 8. Slide the parchment paper with the ring of dough onto a baking sheet.
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Roll out the rest of the dough between sheets of parchment. Use the Gingerbread Man cookie cutters to cut shapes from the dough. You will need at least 10 Gingerbread Men to make up the wreath.
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Gently transfer the cut out cookies on to the lined baking sheet. You may need to work in batches.
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Put both baking sheets in the oven for 10 minutes or until the cookies are lightly browned.
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Remove from the oven and immediately transfer to a wire rack to cool.
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Make the Royal Icing: Put the egg whites into a mixing bowl and whisk until frothy. Add the powdered sugar a cup at a time and vigorously beat until smooth.
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At this point you will need to check the consistency of the icing. It should easily flow in a thick ribbon from a spatula when picked up and the consistency of toothpaste. If it’s looking a bit thick add more egg whites (or cold water) a tablespoon at a time. Continue to beat until it reaches the desired consistency.
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Transfer the Royal Icing to a piping bag then snip the very end off with a pair of scissors.
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When the cookies have cooled you can decorate them. (Use the images for inspiration.)
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To assemble the wreath: Add a small amount of Royal Icing to the underneath of a Gingerbread Man cookie and gently press it onto the wreath. Repeat with the remainingcookies working your way around the wreath.
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Tie the ribbon onto the wreath and display it as holiday centerpiece. Enjoy!
• These wonderfully versatile Gingerbread Cookies are a tasty and robust cookie choice for a beautiful Gingerbread Wreath. The dough is easy to make and will not spread in the oven. The gingerbread cookies are delicately crunchy and gently spiced - perfect for the festive season!
• The ground cloves add a complex flavor dimension to the gingerbread. If you are not a fan of cloves you can substitute it with ground ginger.
• This is a large batch of dough that will make the wreath surround plus plentiful cookies. You might have some leftover as depending on the size, they may not all fit on the wreath.
• We used a 10cm Gingerbread Man cookie cutter. If you don’t have this exact size it doesn’t matter. Ensure you cut enough cookies to fit around the wreath.
• Once you’ve made the dough you can use it straight away, however, it will be softer and not as easy to handle so that’s why we recommend chilling the dough for a short time before cutting out the shapes.
• The dough will hardly spread during baking so you can fit quite a few cookies on the baking sheet. Leave about 1cm in-between.
• We recommend you bake for 10 minutes which will yield a crunchier cookie that is more robust for wreath making. For a softer cookie bake for 8 minutes but take care during assembly in case the cookies break.
• There is enough Royal Icing to decorate all the cookies and to use as ‘glue’ for the wreath assembly.
• Use pasteurized eggs (for the Royal Icing) as they are safe to eat raw. We would caution you against any form of raw egg if you are pregnant.
• Storage: The Gingerbread will soften over time. If you’re not consuming right away we recommend you store in an airtight container where the cookies will keep for at least a week. Gingerbread dough can be frozen for up to one month.