Ginger Puzzle Piece Cookies

Name: Ginger Puzzle Piece Cookies
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 20 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: Cookies:; 1 cup (250 mL) butter, softened; 1 cup (250 mL) golden yellow sugar; 1 egg; 1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract; 2 cups (500 mL) Robin Hood® Original All Purpose Flour Robin Hood® Original All Purpose Flour; 1/2 tsp (2 mL) baking powder; 2 tsp (10 mL) ginger; 3/4 tsp (3 mL) cinnamon; 1/2 tsp (2 mL) cardamom; 1/4 tsp (1 mL) nutmeg; 1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt; Icing and Paint:; 2 cups (500 mL) icing sugar, sifted; 1/4 cup (50 mL) water; assorted food colouring; coloured sugars; assorted small candies

Prep Time 30 mins

Cook Time 20 mins

Serves 4

Difficulty N/A

Ingredients

Cookies:
1 cup (250 mL) butter, softened
1 cup (250 mL) golden yellow sugar
1 egg
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract
2 cups (500 mL) Robin Hood^® Original All Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp (2 mL) baking powder
2 tsp (10 mL) ginger
3/4 tsp (3 mL) cinnamon
1/2 tsp (2 mL) cardamom
1/4 tsp (1 mL) nutmeg
1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt
Icing and Paint:
2 cups (500 mL) icing sugar, sifted
1/4 cup (50 mL) water
assorted food colouring
coloured sugars
assorted small candies

Robin Hood^® Original All Purpose Flour

Directions

Step 1:

Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).

Step 2:

Cookies: Cream, in a large bowl of an electric mixer, butter and sugar until well combined. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add remaining dry ingredients and beat into butter mixture just until combined. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate dough for 1 hour for easy rolling.

Let your kids use a rubber scraper to get every last bit of dough out of the bowl.

Step 3:

Line two 15” x 10” (40 cm x 25 cm) baking sheets with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, divide dough into 4 pieces (puzzle boards). Roll each piece to form a rectangle 1/4” (5 mm) thick, about 5” x 7” (13 x 18 cm) each.

Try making gingerbread men with your kids. Roll the dough to 1/8“ thickness, cut out your shapes and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. You could even make a family portrait!

Step 4:

Transfer your puzzle boards to prepared baking sheets. Using cookie cutters, cut puzzle piece shapes into dough, allowing at least 1” (5 cm) between each shape. Cut through dough, but do not remove shapes.

Try this recipe around the holidays and have your kids make homemade ornaments. With the blunt end of wooden skewer, poke holes through the tops of the dough, then bake. While they’re still hot, carefully twist the skewer through the existing holes to enlarge them. Let the cookies cool completely, decorate them, thread some ribbon through holes and hang them on the tree!

Step 5:

Bake in preheated oven for 12 minutes or until edges start to lightly brown. Remove from oven and retrace shapes with knife. Return to oven for 7 to 8 minutes. Cool on pan 10 minutes. Carefully remove puzzles to wire racks. Cool completely, 15 minutes.

Step 6:

Icing & paint: Combine, in a medium bowl, icing sugar with water. To make fancy colours, divide into small containers. Add a different food colouring to each bowl. Decorate shapes with coloured icings, sugars and small candies. Put the puzzle back together.

Your kids will have a ball painting and decorating the cookies. Take one cup of Carnation® Evaporated Milk and add a few drops of food colouring. Presto! You have a homemade, edible paint that they can use before or after the cookies bake.