I found some great cookie cutters at Auckland’s macy home a few weeks ago. I haven’t made gingerbread men for ages but had to try these out! Here’s the recipe – you can of course use them for any shaped biscuits, but keep in mind that ordinary gingerbread men won’t silently slay your enemies.

Ninja Bread Men

4oz (125g) butter, softened
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup golden syrup
2 1/2 cups plain flour
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp baking soda

Preheat the oven to 190 (c). Line two baking trays with baking paper.

Cream the butter and brown sugar until light and creamy. Add the syrup and sifted dry ingredients, and mix to form a smooth dough. If you need to (probably not at this time of year!), chill the dough in the fridge for 10 minutes so the dough is firm to roll out. Roll the dough out to about 4mm thick. Cut into shapes and carefully place on lined baking trays. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown. Leave them on the trays for 5-10 minutes, then cool on racks.

Icing

I roughly followed the picture on the cookie cutter packet, just using black and white icing. Mix the white icing first: sift 1 1/2 – 2 cups of icing sugar into a bowl, and add a squeeze of lemon. Gradually add small amounts hot water, and mix until you have a good consistency. I left mine a little more liquid than usual to keep it shiny, and to make it easier to spread into a karate outfit. Ice all the biscuits in white. Then make your remaining icing black: firstly, make it into chocolate icing by adding a spoonful or two of cocoa. Then add a few drops of black food colouring – I settled for what was actually a dark greeny colour. It still looks black against the white icing, but didn’t taste bitter, as it will if you add too much colouring!

These would be great for kids’ parties … although they were also a big hit in my office!