Last Minute Christmas Glift Idea: Massive Gingerbread Man

With only a few more sleeps till Christmas many people may have been forgotten about in the Christmas shopping spree. There's nothing more embarrassing than receiving a present from somebody when you've only got a card in return, to solve your dilemma I've got an easy present idea that can be made last minute without having the face the mad busy shopping centres on Christmas eve!

I don't think you'll find anyone who dons't love gingerbread at Christmas time so why not bake them a massive family sized man to share? I've made these for the past few years in addition to family and friends' presents and I think it's a great idea that shows you've made an effort , you could also personalise your gingerbread man to make it even more original

To make 3 of these gingerbread men you will need....

INGREDIENTS

350g plain flour
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
100g butter
175g soft brown sugar
1 egg
4 tbsp golden syrup

METHOD-

-Pre heat the oven to 180'C/ gas mark 5
-Mix together the flour, spices and bicarbonate of soda
-Rub in the butter until it looks like breadcrumbs
-Add the sugar
-In a separate bowl mix together the egg and golden syrup then add to the dry ingredients
-Mix together until it forms a dough. Tip out onto a clean, floured surface and knead till smooth
-Cut the dough into three pieces and roll each one out to roughly 5mm deep
-Place the rolled dough onto your baking sheet and cut out your gingerbread man shape using a knife
-Bake in a pre heated oven for about 15 minutes or until lightly brown around the edges

Decorating your gingerbread

After letting your men cool down for at least 15-20 minutes, it's time to start decorating. You will need some sort of icing, a piping bag or icing pen would work however I used plain icing sugar mixed with a little water to create my own icing. I then used m&m's as the gingerbread men's eyes and buttons although you could use any other sweets, maybe chose the persons favourite sweets that you're giving this present to!