Gingerbread Cookies - recipe

X-mas cookies with bindi

Dear readers,
You may have noticed that I have now, with great success, X-mas decorated my house. I have been to X-mas partys and I have been to X-mas lunches. And I have had my moments of nostalgia: bye-bye-good-friends-I-miss-my-friends-and-family. Yes, I admit: I like this time of the year- wherever I might be! I have been eager to share this joyful time with our new Indian friends,  just like they included us so warmly in their wonderful Diwali celebration in November. I must say that not all our X-mas food and sweets was to their taste, but it was one X-mas sweet that they all enjoyed - and that was our gingerbread cookies! So for all our new Indian friends - and for everyone else out there - here is a great recipe for Gingerbread Cookies. I found this on a Norwegian food - blog which I think is very good: Trines Matblogg: Verdens beste pepperkaker. I adjusted it a bit- adding pepper -and here is the English version:

GINGERBREAD COOKIES
You need:

• 259 gr Sugar
• 2 dl Syrup (I used American Mable Syrup)
• 1 tsp ground Cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground Ginger
• 1/4 -1/2 tsp ground Clove
• 1/4 tsp ground Black Pepper
• 250 gr Butter
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 2 Eggs
• 650-800 gr Flour (in India: maida)

You do:
Cut the butter in pieces and put in a large bowl. Set aside. In a pan, bring sugar and syrup to boil. Remove from heat. Add all the spices - ( and enjoy the scent of X-mas spreading in your kitchen) and mix. Then add the baking soda. Pour the mix over the butter and stir until the butter is dissolved. Cool a little. Whisk the eggs together and add them. In the end add the flour. Mix well. Cover the bowl and put in the fridge for at least 1 hour. You can also keep it there over night.

Open the dough (like a pizza dough) and make the shapes and figures you like. Cook them in the oven until they are light brown . About 7-10 minutes at 200 degrees C. Keep in a closed tin-box (if they will last that long).
Enjoy!

Make the shapes and figures you like.

Aren't they gorgeous? When they are cold you can decorate them. I used icing sugar, water and some food colouring.

Last man standing!