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Gingerbread Tiles with Butter Rum Icing: Day 6, 12 Days of Cookies!

A delicious and festive gingerbread with rum glaze from Ottolenghi
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Course: cookies, sweets
Cuisine: American, British
Keyword: gingerbread, holidays, ottolenghi, Peanut and Bittersweet Chocolate Cookie

Ingredients

Dough: Da Wet Mix

  • 6 tbsp 85 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1/3 packed cup plus 2 tbsp 90 g dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup 100 g blackstrap molasses (can substitute golden syrup or reg molasses 1:1 for sweeter cookie)
  • 1 large egg yolk*

Da Dry MIx

  • 1 3/4 cups plus 2 tbsp all-purpose flour (235 gms) plus extra for pressing
  • 1 tbsp Dutch-processed cocoa powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Rum-Butter Glaze:

  • 2/3 cup 80 g confectioners' sugar
  • 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tbsp 15 g unsalted butter, melted and warm
  • 1 tbsp dark rum or lemon juice
  • 1 tsp warm water

*On Food52 it was suggested to use extra-large egg yolk or add 1 teaspoon-1 tablespoon of water to dough if it doesn't come together. I added about 1 teaspoon water. It won't come together until you knead it). Makes 12–14 depending on the size of stamp and cutter

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C.
  • Place the butter, sugar and molasses in the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment in place.
  • Beat on medium speed until smooth and incorporated. Add the egg yolk and continue to beat until fully combined.
  • Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, salt and pepper into a bowl. Turn the speed of the mixer to low, and add the dry ingredients to the butter and molasses. Once the mix comes together, tip the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead gently.
  • Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Forming Cookies: Rolling dough

  • Roll out the dough so that it is about 1/4 inch/ 0.5 cm thick. If the dough is very soft, you will need to chill it.*
  • Dip cookie stamp in a small bowl of flour, shake off any excess, then press them firmly into the dough, one at a time to create a deep imprint. How far you need to press to get an imprint will depend on your stamp; the patterns on some are more deeply cut than others. Bear in mind that the cookies rise a little when cooked, so any soft imprints will disappear.
  • Using a round cookie cutter that is slightly larger than the pattern, cut out the pieces of imprinted gingerbread. Transfer the cookies to the lined baking sheets, spaced about 3/4 inch/2 cm apart. Reroll the dough and continue to stamp and cut cookies until all the dough is used up.

Stamping Cookies: No Rolling

  • I also tried instructions from the cookie stamps, roll 2 tablespoons of dough into a ball and flatten with cookie stamp. With both methods, make sure you press firmly enough to create a bold definite pattern in dough!
  • Bake for 9–10 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through, until firm to the touch. They will continue to firm up as they cool, so don’t be tempted to bake them for any longer.

Rum Glaze

  • Make the rum butter glaze while the gingerbreads are in the oven, as the glaze needs to be brushed onto the cookies while they are still warm.
  • Sift the confectioners’ sugar and cinnamon into a small bowl. Add the melted butter, rum (or lemon juice) and water and mix with a spoon until smooth. The glaze will thicken slightly if it sits around, if so stir a little more warm water in if you need—it should be the consistency of runny honey.
  • Remove the cookies from the oven, leave them to cool for 5 minutes, then brush or dab the glaze all over with a pastry brush. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

If you want to keep the glaze booze-free, the rum in the icing can be replaced with lemon juice.
Make-Ahead: Once the dough is made, it can be covered in plastic wrap and kept in the fridge for up to 2 days before baking.
Storage:  These will keep for up to 5 days in an airtight container. The glaze will discolor and crack a little, but this will not affect how they taste.