These gingerbread people are soft, gently spiced, and great for kids and adults. The gingerbread people are easy to make and even easier to eat--including for breakfast on Christmas morning (or before, because you might want to do taste-testing). Only a little sweet, the gingerbread people have plenty of flavor from molasses, sweet spices, and whole-wheat flour. Not quite cookies and not quite bread, the people are wonderful with a cup of tea, coffee, or cocoa, and they are just as great with a big glass of milk. The sourdough in the people provides a slight tang and isn't readily identifiable. Mostly, the sourdough accentuates the other flavors of the people. You can make the people ahead if you'd like. They keep quite well. Enjoy!
Sourdough Gingerbread Men or People -- Makes 12+ (6-inch People)
1 cup of sourdough starter/discard
3/4 cup of dark brown sugar
1/4 cup of canola oil
1/4 cup of molasses
1 large egg
2 1/4 cups of whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of ginger
1 teaspoon of cloves
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup of all-purpose flour, plus extra to shape/roll out
Sugar to sprinkle, optional
Icing, raisins, cinnamon candies, other decorations, you choose
In a large bowl combine the starter, brown sugar, oil, molasses, and egg until thoroughly mixed. Add the whole-wheat flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and salt and gradually stir/knead them into the wet mixture until a soft dough forms. Line baking sheets with baking parchment. Sprinkle the counter with a little flour and dump the dough onto the floured counter. Tear off small bits of dough (about the size of a tennis ball). Take one ball, again flour a space on the counter, and press the dough out on the flour until the dough is about 1/4-inch thick. Using a gingerbread person cutter (I use a 6-inch cutter), cut out one or two people. Lay the people a couple of inches apart on one of the prepared baking sheets. Take another ball of dough, make sure the counter is floured, and repeat the pressing/rolling/cutting process. Place the dough people on the baking sheet and keep making more dough people until you've used up the dough. If you want to use raisins to decorate the people, now is the time to press them into the dough. You also can sprinkle the people with a little sugar, if you like. I usually let my dough people sit out for an hour or so at room temperature before baking them, but it's not necessary. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake the dough people for about 13 minutes or until they are puffy and just barely firm to the touch. Remove the people from the baking sheets to cool completely. Decorate the people with icing, etc.
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