Sweet and soft honey gingerbread cookies can be prepared on your own at home. Creating a confectionery masterpiece will require a proven recipe, readily available ingredients, and a little patience. In 40-60 minutes you can prepare delicious pastries that will impress your family and friends.
Honey gingerbread is a traditional Russian dessert loved by both adults and children. It is believed that a sweet and hearty delicacy was invented in Russia back in the 9th century. Time passed, and the recipes for gingerbread were improved. Today, cookbooks contain dozens of recipes, ranging from classic recipes to exotic ones.
Initially, honey cakes were made from rye flour and honey. An unimaginable amount of honey was put into the baked goods - 30–50% of the total mass of the dough came from this ingredient. A little later, spices and spices began to appear in the recipe for honey gingerbread - ground ginger, cinnamon, poppy seeds, nutmeg and even cloves. These ingredients gave the baked goods an amazing aroma and magical taste.
Useful tips for making honey cakes
Experienced confectioners have discovered the secret of soft and aromatic gingerbread. We advise you to take note of the little tricks that will help you prepare amazing pastries:
- If the gingerbread recipe contains milk, kefir and butter, remove the ingredients from the refrigerator an hour before cooking. The food should be at the same temperature.
- To create airy and soft honey cakes, it is recommended to sift the flour twice.
- When adding spices to the dough, remember the sense of proportion. A large amount of ground cinnamon will add a bitter taste to the honey cakes, and too much ginger will make the baked goods too spicy.
- The traditional honey gingerbread recipe can be improved. Take buckwheat instead of flower honey and appreciate the unusual taste of the delicacy.
- Be careful not to overheat the honey while cooking. Otherwise, the product will acquire an unpleasant aftertaste.
To bake honey gingerbread, use a baking sheet lined with parchment. During cooking, it is necessary to monitor the temperature regime, since otherwise the delicacy will burn. Thin gingerbread cookies are baked at 220-230 degrees, and bulky products - at 180-200 degrees. Check the honey cakes periodically by piercing the dough with a toothpick.
The classic honey gingerbread recipe
Even novice cooks and pastry chefs can master the recipe for homemade gingerbread cookies cooked with honey. Not many ingredients are needed for baking:
- honey - 250 g;
- wheat flour - 450 g;
- sugar - 75 g;
- butter - 1 tbsp. l.;
- soda - ½ tsp;
- egg - 1 pc.;
- vanilla, cinnamon, cloves to taste.
You can use baking powder instead of baking soda. It is taken in larger quantities - 2 tsp. Some housewives replace butter with margarine, and wheat flour - with rye. It's best to start experimenting with the honey gingerbread recipe after you get your hand filled.
Heat honey, butter, sugar and spices over low heat. Stir the mixture constantly so that it does not burn. When the mixture acquires a uniform consistency, it is removed from the stove and allowed to cool.
Pour flour into a deep bowl, add baking powder and break the egg. Then pour in the honey mass, knead the dough and leave it in the cold for 1-2 hours.
The finished dough is rolled out - the thickness of the layer should be about 2 cm, and then the gingerbread is cut out. You can use both special shapes and tea cups.
Future honey gingerbreads are laid on a baking sheet covered with parchment, and the delicacy is sent to the oven. Honey gingerbread is baked for about 10 minutes at a temperature of 200 degrees. The finished treat is poured with glaze or sprinkled with icing sugar.
