When changing a recipe it is important to understand what the different ingredients do in the recipe and how altering them can affect the overall texture, taste and look of the final bake.
I used a ginger snap recipe for my gingerbread cookies instead of a gingerbread recipe as I feel this recipe I so much nicer and easier to make. The cookies do not spread as much as the usual gingerbread tends to do. The final bake are really crunchy, tasty cookies which are a hit with everyone.
My original ginger snap recipe is as follows:-
- 275g plain flour
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1½ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- 115g butter
- 350g caster sugar
- 1 egg
- 4 tbsp treacle
- 1 tsp lemon juice
I made several changes to this recipe when I made the Halloween cookies for several reasons:-
- I didn’t add cloves and lemon juice as I didn’t have them in my store cupboard.
- I used an all-in-one method for this recipe and mixed everything together in one bowl. I often do this to save time. When I weighed the ingredients into the bowl this is when I decided to change the recipe.
- The original recipe asks for treacle to be added but in my ginger men which I made for Halloween I used golden syrup which gave a slightly lighter coloured bake but was just as delicious.
- Although I knew that the recipe made excellent ginger snap biscuits, I had always thought that they were too sweet. So when I made them with my children in mind I cut back on the sugar. I knew the sugar helped to give the crunchy texture to the cookie, that is, “the snap”. As the syrup gives sweetness to the recipe too, I felt that removing some of the sugar would not affect the overall bake. The original recipe asks for 350g of caster sugar I cut the sugar down to 200g and kept the syrup amount as it was.
The rest of the recipe I followed to the letter as I wanted the cookies to be really gingery, moist and perfectly snappy. I achieved this with a few simple changes. This is the recipe I will follow at Christmas when I make my children’s favourite gingerbread art ranging from 3D dinosaurs to large houses.
This is a recipe which I would recommend to my friends and family if they wanted to make gingerbread which is strong enough to hold together when built into 3D structures. When I start to make these gingerbread masterpieces I will endeavour to share them with you.