Spooky Afternoon Fun Revisited

The kidlets had another go at decorating more Halloween cookies. This time I think they got a bit more creative. The recipe made quite a few cookies, about 4 dozen, so it was great to have them tucked away in an air tight container in the refrigerator until the kidlets were looking for something to do. And what better way to kick off Halloween with decorating spooky cookies the day before.

                                        Bats, cats and pumpkins... Oh my! 

                                                  Black gingham bats

                                         Dots and stripes suit this pumpkin


Happy Halloween everyone! - JW 

Skeleton Gingerbread Men

Halloween will soon be here and why not make these skeleton gingerbread men. It was my first time using this spooky cookie cutter. All was not frightful however delicious as they disappeared into thin air… 

                         

First you want to find yourself this cookie cutter. It is made out of plastic and has a dual purpose. One side to cut the body shape out and the other side to imprint the skeleton body onto the cookie. 

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Then you need a gingerbread recipe. The first recipe I made did not turn out at all. Fortunately having many cookbooks provides many recipes… I moved on to this one.

Gingerbread Men

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1/2 cup butter                                           

1/2 cup sugar                                   

1/2 cup dark molasses                                      

1/4 cup water 

2 1/2 cups unbleached flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon allspice                                                                 

                                                                

                                                                

Cream butter and sugar. Blend in molasses, water, flour, salt, soda, ginger, nutmeg and all spice. Cover; chill for 2 to 3 hours. 

Heat oven to 375º. Roll dough 1/4 inch thick on a lightly floured cloth-covered board. Cut with cookie cutter; place on a ungreased baking tray. Bake 10 to 12 minutes. Immediately remove from baking tray. Cool. Trim with icing. 

  

Notes:

First I blended all the dry ingredients together. Then added them to the wet ingredients. 

I used freshly ground nutmeg and the British spice called ground mixed spice.

Being busy meant the dough had to stay in the refrigerator for a couple of days before I could get to it. It was well chilled so I had to let it warm up a bit before rolling, by removing it from the stainless steel bowl and on to a floured surface.  

I rolled the dough out onto a floured surface with no cloth. When using this skeleton cookie cutter press firmly with the skeleton side of the cookie cutter the indentation has to make a groove to hold the icing.

You can make your own royal icing or icing to decorate. However I bought pre made ones from a baking supply shop. It saved me time.  

I found that the cookies I made were baked within 8 minutes. Ovens may vary so tweaking times may be needed. 

                                      

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