Earlier on in the year, Mark Murphy from Dingle Cookery School set weekly baking challenges for Mairead and transformed her from someone who had to throw all her bakes in the bin to a fully fledged baker!
Mark is back with the perfect Halloween recipe for gingerbread skeletons that's ideal for family baking no matter your skill level.
Ingredients:
- 50g butter
- 100g soft brown sugar
- 100g golden syrup
- 225g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 heaped tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp. water
To decorate:
- 100g royal icing
- 2 tbsp. water
- black food colour pen (optional)
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC
- Prepare a baking tray with parchment. Heat the butter, sugar and golden syrup in a small pot. Heat until it has dissolved and then take it off the heat and allow it to cool slightly.
- Sieve the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger and cinnamon in a large bowl and mix well. Mix the butter and sugar mixture into the dry ingredients, add the water and bring this to a dough. Wrap in cling film and leave it in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
- Lightly dust a surface with flour, roll out the dough to about ½ cm thickness. Use a gingerbread cookie cutter to out the shapes. Place these on the tray and bake for 12-15 minutes. Once out of the oven place the cutters over the shape again for a clean cut. Leave on the tray for a minute or two and then transfer to a wire rack.
To decorate:
Mix the royal icing with the water, it should resemble something like toothpaste. Place this in a piping bag and carefully draw a spooky or happy skeleton on each biscuit.
And by request, Mark also included a gluten free version of the recipe for anyone who might need it. He kept it very similar to the non-gluten free recipe, but as always with all gluten free recipes, check the labels of all ingredients to ensure they do not contain gluten.
They may be a little softer than non-gluten free gingerbread, you may need to leave them in your oven for an extra minute or so.
Ingredients:
- 50g butter
- 100g soft brown sugar
- 100g golden syrup
- 225g plain gluten free flour, plus extra for dusting
- ½ tsp xanthan gum (gluten free certified)
- ¼ tsp. bicarbonate of soda (gluten free certified)
- 1 heaped tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp. water
To decorate:
- 100g royal icing
- 2 tbsp. water
- black food colour pen (optional)
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC
- Prepare a baking tray with parchment. Heat the butter, sugar and golden syrup in a small pot. Heat until it has dissolved and then take it off the heat and allow it to cool slightly.
- Sieve the flour, xanthan gum, bicarbonate of soda, ginger and cinnamon in a large bowl and mix well. Mix the butter and sugar mixture into the dry ingredients, add the water and bring this to a dough. Wrap in cling film and leave it in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
- Lightly dust a surface with flour, roll out the dough to about ½ cm thickness. Use a gingerbread cookie cutter to out the shapes. Place these on the tray and bake for 12-15 minutes (see note above). Once out of the oven place the cutters over the shape again for a clean cut. Leave on the tray for a minute or two and then transfer to a wire rack.
To decorate:
Mix the royal icing with the water, it should resemble something like toothpaste. Place this in a piping bag and carefully draw a spooky or happy skeleton on each biscuit.
Tune in to Mairead Ronan weekdays from 12pm.
