Icing for Gingerbread Cookies

My last post was about making Gingerbread Cookies. Here's how we ice them.

Icing in a makeshift piping bag
Ingredients
Icing mixture
Water
Food colouring (if desired)
Plastic snaplock bag (sandwich size is good)
Rubber band

Method

1. Mix icing mixture and water until a thick paste
2. Add food colouring as desired. Be careful - a little goes a long way!
3. Place icing into a snaplock bag. I find it helps to line a cup with the bag and flip the bag over the edge so the cup holds the bag and there's a nice big space to put the icing in.
4. Push the icing into one corner, squeeze out the air and seal the bag. For extra help, put a rubber band just at the top of the icing. This will help stop it escaping and make it easier to push out the bag.
5. Cut a tiny, tiny hole in the corner for the icing to come out. Make sure you don't make too big a hole or it becomes very messy.
6. Decorate!

Here are pictures of Omnivore Girl doing some piping, to compare using the rubber band & without. It still works, but it's harder to control without the band.

Egg-free and Dairy-free Gingerbread Cookies

One of my sister's rituals is to decorate gingerbread cookies with Omnivore Girl. I couldn't leave Vegan Carnivore out of the action this time, so this was a recipe for him.

Egg-free and Dairy-free Gingerbread Cookies
Ingredients
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup treacle or molasses
1/4 cup plain soy or oat milk

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour or all-purpose flour (or a mix of both)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

spice blend:
1/2 teaspoon each ground nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

Method

1. In a large bowl beat together oil and sugar for about 3 minutes. Add treacle/molasses and soy milk. The treacle/molasses and soy milk won't really blend with the oil but that's ok.
   
2. In a separate bowl, sift together all the other ingredients.
3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet in batches. Mix together with a firm spoon or spatula until well combined. You should have a pretty stiff dough.
   
   
   
   
   Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap in cling wrap and chill for an hour or up to 3 days in advance. (If you chill longer than an hour you may want to let it sit for 10 minutes to loosen up a bit before proceeding).
4. Preheat oven to 180 C / 350 F. Lightly grease your baking trays or line them with baking paper.
5. On a floured surface roll your dough out to a little less than 1/4 inch thick. You can do this in 2 batches if you don't have the space. Cut out your shapes with your cookie cutters and gently place on cookie sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and let them cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet then move to a cooling rack. They will still be a little soft, but they will firm up a bit as they cool. Wait until they are completely cool before icing.

Cookie Notes

• This recipe is quite sweet, it is good to cut down the sugar.
• I am lazy so I roll out my dough between sheets of baking paper so it doesn't stick and it's less messy. I also line my baking trays with baking paper. My sister uses cling wrap for rolling.

See my next post for how to ice the gingerbread.