George Brown Polytechnic is located on the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation and other Indigenous peoples who have lived here over time. We are grateful to share this land as treaty people who learn, work and live in the community with each other.
Not only does Chef Fleming take you through her classic gingerbread recipe, but she also shares her rolling technique for the perfect cookie and simple (but beautiful) decorating tips.
This recipe is a great one to share with friends and family... as tempting as it is to have them all to yourself!
Ingredients
Very soft butter: 225 grams (1 cup)
Brown sugar: 185 grams (7/8 cup)
Fancy molasses: 125 ml (1/2 cup)
Water: 2.5 ml (1/2 teaspoon)
All purpose flour or 50% bread and 50% pastry flour : 475 grams (3 ¾ cups)
Ground cinnamon: 5 ml (1 teaspoon) or 2.5 grams
Ground ginger: 5 ml (1 teaspoon) or 2.5 grams
Ground cloves: 2.5ml (1/2 teaspoon) or .8 gram
Baking soda: 2.5ml (1/2 teaspoon) r 2.5 grams
METHOD
- Scale all ingredients
- Cream butter and brown sugar 3 minutes until light.
- Scrape down and add in molasses and water, mix until fully incorporated.
- Sift together dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture. Mix until dough comes together.
- Chill in fridge until cool but not rock hard, and roll as desired. (.5 cm thick)
- Bake 350 - 375F (175C-190C) depending on how hot your home oven is, or 325F (165C) in a convection oven (at around 12 minutes, you are looking for browning at edges, and firm to the touch. Larger, thicker pieces will take longer. Non convection ovens also take longer.)
I usually package the dough in plastic bags and flatten it for easy storage. If I am not using it all in one day, I take it out of the fridge an hour or so before I need it. This dough can be frozen. It is a pretty dry dough, so try to minimize your scrap (left over from rolling). I have sometimes kneaded in a tiny amount of water when the scrap seemed too dry. Don’t use too much flour when rolling, or you will get some major alligatoring in your dough (a cracked appearance).