Pudsey Bear Cookies

In the U.K. tomorrow it’s BBC Children In Need Appeal raising funds for underprivileged children. A few weeks ago I brought some Pudsey Bear cookie cutters from Lakeland Kitchen Shop, where a donation from this sale also goes towards the appeal.

I thought it would be fun to bake a few of these cookies in gingerbread dough. This would be a great bake to make with the children and let them go crazy with their design in the icing department!

Of course you could bake the original recipe [link here] following instructions on how to ice the cookies too.

Here is my recipe for the gingerbread dough.

Gingerbread Cookies

Makes 10 – depending on size of cookie cutter used, it could be more/less

Ingredients
350g (12 oz) self-raising flour
Pinch of salt
2 tsp ground ginger
100g (4 oz) golden syrup
75g (3 oz) butter
2 tbsp caster sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten

Method

You will need 2 baking trays, lined with non-stick baking paper.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.

Sieve the flour, salt and ground ginger into a large mixing bowl, leave to one side.

In a saucepan add the golden syrup, butter and sugar, heat on the stove on a low heat until melted. Leave to cool just for a little while, then add to the flour mixture with the egg. Stir with a wooden spoon until it starts to form together and then bring the dough together with your hands. Knead the dough until smooth and wrap in cling film and place in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.

Slightly dust a work surface with a little flour and roll out the unwrapped dough to about 1cm (½ in). Using a cookie cutter cut out the shapes and re-roll the dough cutting out more shapes until all the dough is used.

Place the cookies onto the prepared lined baking trays and bake in the preheated oven for 10 – 15 minutes until slightly golden in colour. Place carefully onto a wire rack to cool completely.