Gingerbread Garland

Gingerbread garlands are edible decorations that are often found hanging on Christmas trees or windows during the winter holidays. Besides being a fun activity to do as a family, they make the festive atmosphere even more joyful. Here is the recipe with an Italian twist.

Ingredients

  • 350 g of all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon of baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons of powdered ginger
  • 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon of fine salt
  • 125 g of butter at room temperature
  • 175 g of brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 4 tablespoons of wildflower honey (a very Italian touch instead of molasses)

Preparation

  1. In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt.
  2. In another bowl, whisk the butter with the brown sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy.
  3. Add the egg and honey to the butter and sugar mixture and continue to whisk until all ingredients are well-blended.
  4. Gradually incorporate the dry ingredients to form a homogeneous dough.
  5. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least one hour.
  6. Preheat the oven to 180 °C and line one or more baking sheets with parchment paper.
  7. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to about 4 mm thick.
  8. Use festive-themed cookie cutters to cut out the dough and make a hole at the top of each cookie if you wish to hang the garlands.
  9. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheets and bake for about 10-12 minutes or until the edges turn golden.
  10. Allow the cookies to cool completely before decorating them with colored royal icing and, if desired, sprinkle them with sugar pearls or edible beads.

As a final touch, if you wish to hang your gingerbread garlands, thread a lovely red or gold ribbon through the holes and tie a knot to hang them.

A bit of trivia: gingerbread is a dessert that has a long history, believed to have been known to the ancient Greeks and Egyptians. It became popular in Europe thanks to the Crusaders who brought it back home, with its ultimate expression in Germany, with the city of Nuremberg heralded as “the gingerbread capital.” In Italy, every region has its traditional spice-based sweets, such as Neapolitan mostaccioli.

Gingerbread Garland