How to Make Gingerbread Cookies Men and Women

Gingerbread Men and Women

MAKES 2 TRAYS
For the dough: ⅓ cup + 2 tbsp (100 g) butter, ¾ cup (250 g) honey, ½ cup + 2 tbsp (125 g)
sugar, ¼ oz (7½ g) gingerbread spice, 1 tbsp cocoa powder, 4¾ cup + 2 tsp (600 g) flour, 1
tsp (4 g) baking powder, 1 pinch salt, 1 egg
For the garnish: 2 egg whites, 3 cups + 2 tbsp (375 g) powdered sugar, bright mini sugar
pearls
Additional: flour for the countertop, cookie cutters for gingerbread men and women,
grease-proof paper, aluminum foil
The gingerbread dough must sit out for a night before baking, so on the day of
preparation, place the butter, with honey, sugar, gingerbread spice, and cocoa powder, in a
pot. Warm over low heat, stirring constantly, and wait for the sugar to completely dissolve.
Then take the pan off the heat and allow the honey mixture to cool.

Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl, add in the honey mixture, salt and egg, and knead everything into a smooth dough. Shape the dough into a ball, wrap in aluminum foil, turn a bowl upside-down over it, and let stand overnight at room temperature. The next day, preheat the oven to 390°F (200°C) unless you have a convection oven, in which case preheat to 355°F (180°C), or a gas oven, in which case preheat to level 4. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, cut to size. 

Roll out the dough on a floured surface until it is approximately 1\5 in. (½ cm) thick, cut out the gingerbread men and women, and lay them out on the baking sheets, making sure to leave enough space for the bread to expand a little bit. Put the baking sheets in the pre- heated oven, on the middle rack, for 12–15 minutes. After taking each baking sheet out of the oven, immediately lift the gingerbread people off the tray with a spatula, and place it on a wire rack to cool. 

For the decoration, using a hand mixer with a whisk attachment beat the egg whites with enough sifted powdered sugar that a fairly solid mass forms. Out of half of a sheet of parchment paper, make a piping bag, fill it with the icing, and cut a small hole at the end. Finally, decorate the gingerbread men as desired with the icing and colored sprinkles.