Ginger Cookies “Little Dragons”
Description
The baked goods are easy and quick to make. For a more festive look, I suggest baking the cookies in the shape of a dragon—the symbol of the coming year—and decorating them with icing. Instead of a ready-made spice blend, you can grind cloves, cardamom, star anise, and dried ginger in a coffee grinder. For the icing, aquafaba is used—the liquid from canned chickpeas or beans—but you can also make the icing with egg white. Store the finished cookies in a tightly sealed food container. They can be served with tea or coffee.
Instructions
- 1
Step 1
Prepare all ingredients.
- 2
Step 2
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt half of the sugar. It should become fully liquid and take on a light brown tint.
- 3
Step 3
Pour in boiling water and stir thoroughly until you get a uniform syrup. Then add the spices, a pinch of salt, and the second half of the sugar. Stir until the sugar has completely dissolved.
- 4
Step 4
Bring the mixture to a boil, add date syrup or honey. Stir until smooth, then add baking soda. The mixture should begin to foam and lighten.
- 5
Step 5
Cover the resulting mixture with a lid and let it cool slightly for 5-10 minutes. Then add the vegetable oil to the warm syrup. Mix everything thoroughly again.
- 6
Step 6
Sift the flour into a separate bowl and add the warm syrup. Knead until the dough is smooth and even.
- 7
Step 7
If necessary, add a little more flour, but the dough should remain slightly sticky. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let cool for 10–20 minutes. Then refrigerate for 4 hours.
- 8
Step 8
For the glaze, whip aquafaba with a pinch of salt on high mixer speed until white foam forms.
- 9
Step 9
Then gradually add the powdered sugar and vanilla flavoring. You should get a smooth, glossy icing. Finally, add the lemon juice and mix once more until smooth.
- 10
Step 10
Transfer the glaze to a container, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 4 hours to stabilize.
- 11
Step 11
For cookies, roll out the dough to a thickness of 3–4 mm on parchment paper dusted with flour. To keep the dough from sticking to your hands and the cookie cutter, lightly grease them with vegetable oil.
- 12
Step 12
Using a cutter, cut out the silhouette of a dragon at the start.
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Step 13
Then press out the dragon outlines with the second part of the cookie cutter. Bake the cookies in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for 5–6 minutes.
- 14
Step 14
Cool the finished cookies completely. Transfer the icing to a piping bag and cover the main part of the cookies with white icing.
- 15
Step 15
The glaze can also be tinted with food coloring. I tint part of the glaze black for the outline, and I will use blue for the eyes. If the glaze is too thick, you can add 1/2–1 tsp of boiling water to thin it slightly.
- 16
Step 16
Let the white glaze dry for about 1 hour, then apply outlines with black glaze.
- 17
Step 17
Using blue glaze, paint the eyes; at the end you can use white glaze to smooth out any uneven areas and add highlights to the eyes.
- 18
Step 18
Gingerbread for the Year of the Dragon is ready. Happy upcoming New Year to you!