star wars gingerbread men recipe

Celebrate opening day of Star Wars: The Force Awakens with these absolutely adorable Gingerbread Men. Your favorite Star Wars characters come to life in these deliciously spicy and sweetly decorated gingerbread cookie recipe.

Today’s the day! We’re counting down the hours until the weekend so that we can see Star Wars: The Force Awakens this evening. Have you seen it yet? Don’t spoil it! I promised two deliciously geeky recipes if you promised not to spoil it so here you go. In addition to our Millennium Falcon Peppermint Bark, I made these amazing Star Wars Gingerbread Men. I mean really, how stinking cute are they?

I used our tried and true gingerbread cut out recipe because I knew it would keep both its shape and the details of the cookie stamps while baking. By keeping clean lines it was super easy to flood the indentions with royal icing for an impressive result that anyone can achieve. I love cookie cutters that come with stamps to aid in decorating, but from many years of trial and error, I can attest that they can be a pain. To make your life infinitely easier, I’m sharing a few of my favorite tips below. Impress your friends and feed your inner geek by making a batch of Star Wars Gingerbread Men!

Tips for working with intricate cookie cutters and stamps:

• Always work with chilled dough. If it gets too soft, pop it back in the refrigerator for a few minutes.
• Roll cookie dough between two sheets of freezer paper to avoid adding extra flour during the rolling process. This ensures the cookies baked first and the cookies baked last have the same texture and bake time.
• Spray the surface of the stamp with a light coat of baking spray prior to stamping the cutouts. A single spray should allow you to stamp 4-6 cookies cleanly, but if it starts to stick, spray again.
• Once the cookies are stamped and on your sheet pan, chill the pan for another 5-10 minutes prior to baking to prevent cookies from spreading.
• Most importantly, HAVE FUN! These cookies are delicious regardless of whether or not they turn out perfectly.

 



STAR WARS GINGERBREAD COOKIES
 
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Yields: approximately 5 dozen 3-inch cookies
INGREDIENTS
Cookies:
• 6 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup packed dark-brown sugar
• 4 teaspoons ground ginger
• 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1½ teaspoons ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup unsulfured molasses
Royal Icing:
• 2 pounds (1 bag) confectioner's sugar
• ¼ cup meringue powder
• ¾ cup warm water
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
PREPARATION
Cookies:
1. In a large bowl, gently whisk together flour, baking soda and baking powder. Set aside.
2. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, pepper and salt on medium speed until fluffy.
3. Add eggs and molasses and mix until incorporated. Mixture may look lumpy, but will come together once flour mixture is added.
4. Carefully add flour mixture one cup at a time, mixing between additions until all is added and dough is formed. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
6. Break off manageable pieces of chilled dough and roll between two sheets of parchment paper until about ¼ inch thick. Peel off top layer of parchment paper and cut out cookies and carefully transfer cookies to prepared baking sheets.
7. Spray the stamp side of the cookie cutters with baking spray to prevent sticking and press onto the surface of each cut cookie. Bake for 11-13 minutes until edges are crisp, but not darkened.
8. Allow to cool completely before decorating with royal icing (recipe follows).
Royal Icing:
1. In an electric mixer fitted with whisk attachment, mix together confectioner's sugar and meringue powder.
2. Add extract to warm water and add to dry mixture in a slow, steady stream while mixing on low speed.
3. Once all ingredients are added, mix on medium high speed until icing is fluffy with stiff peaks, approximately 5-10 minutes. Additional sugar and/or water may be added in small amounts to thicken or thin the icing as needed.
4. Transfer to piping bag or squeeze bottle fitted with #1 decorating tip. Pipe into the indentions made by the cookie stamp.
5. After cookies are decorated, allow icing to set 24 hours before transferring cookies to an airtight container for storage.
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GADGETS
Star Wars Gingerbread Cookie Cutters
Joseph Joseph Adjustable Rolling Pin