Monday, December 9, 2013

Eatons Style Gingerbread Men (Guest Post from The Fig Tree Blog!!!)

Happy Monday everyone! Today I’m excited to welcome back Courtney from The Fig Tree Blog.  Last year, she posted this amazing Peaches & Cream Ice Cream.  I cannot even think about it right now without drooling!! She is a talented photographer, baker, blogger, but most of all she’s an extraordinary human being.  I am so lucky to have her as my friend!!

The Fig Tree Blog features vegetarian cuisine from around the world.   Everything on her blog looks & sounds amazing.  Check her out & give her a like on Facebook!

Hello! My name is Courtney and I'm the blogger behind The Fig Tree - a wholesome food blog that celebrates vegetarian cuisine from around-the-world. I started The Fig Tree to inspire others to use a diverse range of ingredients to create simple, healthy meat-free meals.That being said, I do have quite a sweet tooth and love to bake. Cookies are my weakness! 

The Fig Tree blog has also become a place where I can keep and share family recipes. Today, I am so excited to share a family Christmas favourite with you on Peaches & Cream. This recipe is special to me because it reminds me of my grandpa Jones. My grandpa was a head baker at the famous Canadian department store Eatons for many years. He made all sorts of delicious things such as breads, buns, pies, cakes and cookies - including gingerbread men! One of my biggest regrets is not getting many of my grandpa's recipes before he passed away. Thankfully, a number of years ago, my mom was able to find a gingerbread recipe that mirrors the one my grandpa used when he worked at Eatons. Every Christmas season, my mom, sister and I make the "gingies" and decorate them with royal icing in memory of my grandpa.

The dough is very easy to work with and the cookies have just the right blend of spice. The cookies remain soft for a few days (when covered) and then firm up. At that point, they are perfect for dunking in your favourite hot beverage.

Thank you so much to my friend Helena for having me on Peaches & Cream today! It's a huge honour, as I adore her and her sister's blog so much. The photos are drool worthy! Please stop by The Fig Tree to check out the Peaches & Cream guest post - Chocolate Cupcakes with Peppermint Frosting. YUM!

Wishing everyone a very happy holiday season. May it be merry and bright! xo

Eatons Style Gingerbread Men

Yield: 4-6 dozen cookies (depending on size of cookie cutter)

Ingredients

1/2 pound of vegetable shortening (such as Crisco)

2 cups of packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup of fancy molasses

1/4 cup of warm water

5 cups of flour

1/4 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon of ground all-spice

1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger

Method 

1. Preheat oven to 350'F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Blend together the sugar, shortening, eggs, water and molasses.

3. Whisk the flour, spices, salt and baking soda together. Add into the wet mixture. Mix well. 

4. Form dough into two discs and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill dough for 2 hours (or overnight). 

5. Roll each disc out to 1/4 inch thickness. Use a gingerbread man cookie cutter to cut shapes out of the dough. Note: I normally use a 2 inch to 2.5 inch size gingerbread man cookie cutter. Place 12 cookies on each cookie sheet. Bake one pan at a time for 10 to 12 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Ice cookies with royal icing if desired. I normally use this Royal Icing recipe from Canadian Living.

Thank you Courtney for posting-i'm going to make these cookies next week:D *drool*! Much love! xoxox.