Skeleton Gingerbread Men for Halloween

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This year, instead of baking Choc-Orange Halloween cupcakes for a sweet Halloween treat, my daughter and I made Skeleton Gingerbread men.  The idea came from the internet but we used a recipe that I already had on file for iced gingerbread men.

I baked the 'men' and my daughter decorated them.  This recipe makes about 15 gingerbread people and I doubled it, so there are plenty left for the lunchboxes this week.

Gingerbread Men

125g (4 oz) butter

1/3 C brown sugar

1/3 C golden syrup or, if not available, light treacle

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 C plain flour

1/3 C self-raising flour

1 Tbsp ground ginger

1 tsp baking (bicarb.) soda

Icing

1 egg white

1/2 tsp lemon juice or white vinegar

1 C sifted icing (confectioner's) sugar

Method

Preheat oven to moderate (180C/350F).  Grease two or three baking trays.  Beat butter, sugar and syrup until light and creamy.  Add egg and mix in well.  Sift dry ingredients and stir into the butter mixture until just combined.  Use a well-floured hand to combine the dough, then tip onto a floured surface and knead for 1-2 minutes until smooth.  Roll out the dough to 1/4"/5 mm thickness on a floured surface and cut into people (or other) shapes.  Using an egg slide, lift the shapes onto the greased baking trays.  Press the remaining dough into a ball and re-roll then cut out again, until all the dough is used up.  Bake for 10 minutes until lightly browned then cool on trays before icing.

To make the icing, beat egg white with an electric mixer until foamy, Add lemon juice then gradually add the sugar, beating until thick and creamy.  Pipe in a skeleton design on the gingerbread men - I used the smallest round nozzle that I have.  Allow time for the icing to harden before serving.