“Is it ready yet?”. I politely answer, “No”. Two minutes later, the five year old girl asks, “Is it ready yet?”. I answer, “No”. “Is it ready yet?” No. “Is it ready yet?” No. “Is it ready yet?” Goodness me, I harness all the calm I can muster and slowly answer… “No”. The gingerbread scent is thick as it wafts through the classroom. “Is it ready yet?”
The book of the week was “The Gingerbread Man”, and I dared to bake gingerbread men in my Kindergarten classroom. I’m glad I did. I still remember it to this day, and I hope those kids do too. This week I decided it was time for N, M and E to have some gingerbread men memories of their own.
Gingerbread Men
Warning: this is a messy activity …
but the results are very delicious.
Ingredients
Half a cup of brown sugar
One cup of butter softened (or melted)
Half a cup of honey
One egg
A pinch of salt
Two and a half cups of four
Four teaspoons of ground ginger
One teaspoon of cinnamon
Half a teaspoon of baking soda
Chocolate bits and mixed cachous for decoration
Method:
Mix the sugar and the butter in a bowl. Then beat in the honey and the egg. Mix the rest of the ingredients by slowly adding them to the butter mixture to make a dough. If the dough feels much too wet, add some more flour to make it easier for the kids to handle. However, the wetter the dough, the more moist the gingerbread will be. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface. Cut out your gingerbread people. Place your gingerbread people on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and decorate.
It was great to let go and just let the kids do their own decorations…even if it meant that gingerbread men got squished. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 160C. Let your gingerbread people cool.
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