Christmas baking: Really good Gingerbread

I have lost count as to the number of people who have told me they don't like gingerbread.
'It's dry!' 
'It's flavourless!'
'I hate ginger!'
'I don't have a good recipe!'

Well now you're about to. This is a really good, incredibly easy, flavoursome, not dry gingerbread recipe. I used to be in charge of making a gingerbread house and over the years I tweaked and tweaked and created this fail proof gingerbread recipe. Right enough chatter, it's practically Christmas tomorrow, let's get in to it!

Ingredients - 

595g Self Raising flour
170g Plain flour
1 1/2 tbs ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
2 generous pinches of salt
185g butter, at room temp
215g brown sugar (or 1 firmly packed cup)
1/2 cup golden syrup or treacle
2 eggs, beaten

Method - 

1. In a bowl using a whisk, mix your flours, spices and salt and pepper until combined. Set aside.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together butter, sugar and golden syrup. Make sure you scrap down the sides regularly as the golden syrup will do a good job at sticking to the sides of the bowl. Once the batter had softened in colour ever so slightly, add in your eggs. Scrape the sides down again. 

3. Add in the flour/spice mixture and mix together - you can opt to do this with a wooden spoon to avoid flour flying out of the bowl. 

4. Tip the dough out on a clean bench and mould into round flat discs. Wrap in cling film and pop in the fridge for at least two hours to firm up.

5. Pre-heat the oven to 150c fan forced and prep a couple of baking trays with greaseproof paper. 

6. Once your dough is firm, remove from the fridge and tip the dough onto a flour dusted surface. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough to 5mm - 8mm thick. Cut into whatever shapes you like. 

7. Pop on the baking trays and bake for 8 - 12 minutes, depending on the size of your gingerbread shapes. My little gingerbread men took about 8 - 9 minutes with the outer edges just starting to brown before I removed them from the oven. 

8. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before enjoying! 

Trixie Tips and Tricks! 

SPICE IS NICE: Gingerbread needs more than just ginger to be delicious. The reason why some gingerbreads taste like nothing is because there is nothing in them. To me, gingerbread should be spicy, should have a tiny kick and be incredibly moreish. Use whatever spices you have on hand - cardamon and ground cloves can also be a lovely addition. 

SALT, BUT ALSO PEPPER: If you've followed me for a while, you'll know I love salt. In this recipe you also need salt's bestie - pepper. White pepper is what we need here which you can find in the supermarkets!

CUTTING SHAPES: I love little gingerbread men, but genuinely cut whatever shapes you like with this recipe. It's your Christmas! 

REST, BABY: The dough needs to rest. It's imperative. It helps the dough develop flavour and makes it easy to work with. Do not skip this step, so ensure you prep ahead!

MINIMAL DUST: Do not over dust your work bench with flour when you are working with your dough. Excessive flour will dry it out and make the dough incredibly crumbly and hard to work with. A light dusting is all you'll need!