"Christmas Traditions": Honey Gingerbread Cookies

Recipe steps

Mix the flour, corn starch, sugar, baking soda, and cocoa well. Grind the allspice finely in a mortar. Add it to the flour mixture along with the other spices. Mix again and sift everything through a fine sieve into a large bowl.

In a blender, whisk 2 eggs, the yolk, and honey. Then add the mixture to the dry ingredients and work thoroughly into a dough. At first, it may seem that the dry ground ingredients will never come together, but with patience and strength in your hands, you will manage it.

Wrap the finished dough in plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out, and place it in the refrigerator to rest for at least 3 days, ideally a week.

Thoroughly work the dough, ideally in smaller pieces. You can roll the gingerbread out on a floured rolling pin, but this will incorporate more flour into the dough, which is not ideal.

The best way to prepare the dough is to place a damp towel on the work surface and spread transparent film over it. Roll out the dough on this film, using another top layer of film. This way, the dough won't stick to the surface, and you won't need extra flour. Roll it out into an even layer about 2 mm thick (be careful of the folds from the crumpled film!).

Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Use cookie cutters to create various shapes and transfer them to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper using a spatula (don’t forget to leave enough space between them, or the gingerbread will stick together).

Place the baking sheet in the preheated oven for 5-6 minutes, and meanwhile, whisk the eggs in a bowl.

Once the gingerbread is baked, brush them with a thin layer of egg for a nice glossy surface. Let them rest for at least three days in a closed container before you start decorating.

Rub the bowl that you have thoroughly washed and degreased with half a lemon so that no pulp remains, just a bit of juice.

Sift powdered sugar (170-200 g, depending on the size of the egg whites) through a fine sieve at least three times to remove all lumps. Then mix the sugar with the egg white and whisk until a smooth and non-grainy icing forms.

Fill a decorating bag with the icing (or a sturdy plastic bag with a zip closure, which I prefer), cut off a small corner to create a narrow hole, and decorate the gingerbread according to your mood and imagination.

The baked gingerbread softens best if placed in an old stoneware pot from grandma and covered with an inverted plate.