Merry Christmas everyone! Just fitting in some last minute baking and thought I'd take you along with me as I bake some delicious and cute little gingerbread cookies! These are perfectly crispy on the outside but still soft and chewy on the inside and make a great addition to your Christmas menu! 🎄

GINGERBREAD RECIPE (Plant-based)
Ingredients for Gingerbread:
2 + 3/4 cups of plain flour
2 Tablespoons Applesauce
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup softened vegan butter/spread (I used Nuttelex)- softened at room temperature
1/2 cup unsulphured molasses
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Ingredients for Icing:
1/2 cup icing sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon glucose syrup
3/4 teaspoon water

METHOD:
Gingerbread:
1. Add brown sugar, apple sauce, butter and molasses into a bowl and mix it up until it is well combined (you can use an electric mixer or the back of a spoon/fork to press out any lumps and mix it all together)
2. Add in plain flour, baking soda, ground ginger and mixed spice and using your hands, mix that up until it is a well combined dough.
3. Depending on the climate/temperature in your area- the dough may feel sticky but that is ok (try not to add more flour). Divide mixture into 2 seperate halves, wrap it up with some cling wrap and place in fridge for 60 minutes to allow the dough to set (this makes it a lot easier to roll out your dough)
4. Place the dough in between 2 sheets of baking paper and roll out to approximately 1/2 cm thickness. Use your cookie cutters to cut out your gingerbread and then peel away any excess dough.
5. Place your cut gingerbread cookies onto a baking tray and bake in the over at 180ºC for 7-10 minutes until the tops are just set (but they are still soft when you press on them)
6. Allow to cool for 5 mins in baking tray before transferring onto wire rack to cool down completely before icing

Icing:
1. Sift icing sugar into a bowl
2. Add in the lemon juice, glucose syrup, water and mix until well combined
3. Place into your piping bag (if you don’t have one then spoon into a zip lock back and cut a small hole in the corner)
4. Decorate your gingerbread and allow 2 hours for the icing to set completely!

Enjoy ❤︎