Disney Baking... Gingerbread

I’ve always had a love of cooking and baking at home. I love making home cooked meals and treats for my friends and family to enjoy. However, I recently thought to myself that I should incorporate my love of Disney into this hobby a bit more. So voila! This is the start of a little Disney baking series that I’m going to be doing, so I hope you guys all join in and tag me in your treats on insta (@howtoholidaydisney). If you’re reading this as it publishes you might, like me, be in lockdown 2.0 and if you fancy it this might be a fun thing to do whilst we all stay inside!

My first Disney baking treat is gingerbread! I love Christmas but my boyfriend won’t allow it to be all festive in our flat until December; therefore I’m attempting to let it slowly creep in without him noticing. That is why I decided to make gingerbread. This treat just instantly makes me feel all Christmassy and cosy and I hope it will do the same for you. I also suggest having a little hot chocolate on the side to enjoy with your gingerbread treats! Below I will list all the equipment and ingredients you will need and then how to make them. I will also add in some hints along the way if baking isn’t a strong suit of yours!

Equipment

• Scales

• Mixing Bowl

• Sieve

• Knife and fork

• Mug

• Rolling Pin

• 2 Baking trays

• Baking/greaseproof paper

• Disney cutters (I got mine for £8 off of Amazon, just search for disney cookie cutters)

• Wire cooling rack (I use the wire from my grill pan)

Ingredients

• 400g Plain Flour, (plus extra for rolling)

• 1tsp Bicarbonate of soda

• 2tsp Ground ginger

• 1tsp Ground cinnamon

• 125g Low fat spread (I use I can’t believe it’s not butter)

• 175g Light soft brown sugar

• 1 Medium egg

• 4tbsp Golden Syrup

• Decorations (I used white fondant, icing sugar, icing pens, mini marshmallows and edible pearls)

Recipe

1. Sift together the flour, bicarb, ginger and cinnamon into the mixing bowl.

2. Add the butter and rub until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

3. Add the sugar and stir in with the knife.

4. Beat the egg and golden syrup together in a mug, using the fork.

5. Add to the mixture and rub together till it becomes a dough. (At this point your dough could be a little wet, feel free to add more flour until the dough is the desired consistency).

6. Lightly knead the dough inside the bowl, then leave to chill in the fridge for 15 mins.

7. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C Fan/Gas 4.

8. Line the baking trays with baking paper.

9. Take your dough out the fridge and lightly flour the surface.

10. Roll out the dough till it’s about ¼ inch thick. (The dough will rise and spread a little when cooked, so make sure it’s not too thick).

11. Cut out your shapes and place them on the trays. (Leave a little gap between each one as they will spread slightly).

12. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown.

13. Leave on the tray for 10 mins, then move each one to a wire rack.

14. When the biscuits have cooled you can decorate!

15. Lightly spread icing sugar across the surface and roll out the fondant.

16. Use the cutters on the fondant to create the perfect shapes for the biscuits.

17. Spread a little writing icing on the biscuit then place the fondant on top till it sticks.

18. Decorate however you fancy!

I hope you have a great time trying these out for yourselves. Don’t be disheartened if they aren’t perfect because in baking things just always seem to go a little wrong. Just have some festive Disney fun and enjoy doing a little bit of gingerbread baking. If you fancy, let me know what kind of Disney baking you’d like to see in this series and have a magical time!