For dansk version af indlægget om Ampelmann cookies, se længere nede;-)

Ampelmann cookies
This is a tribute to the Ampelmann, that I baked a cake for in October, when he celebrated his birthday. It is Christmas (or almost), and I wanted to make some gingerbread men, using my Ampelmann cookie cutters.
My gingerbread recipe is very tasty, and the dough is easy to roll and cut out – and later decorate with royal icing.
I made these cute, little gingerbread men with a heart last year. Each and everyone of them had their own look. I made 3 versions of the recipe, and in January I used the last ones for at cheesecake base. This year I baked them again, but this time I used my Ampelmann cookie cutters as well as the traditional ones.

This recipe yields aprox. 100 gingerbread men.

Ampelmann cookies – gingerbread men
Ingredienser
The brown cookie dough
- 1½ dl water
- 400 g sugar
- 150 g golden syrup
- 300 g butter
- 1 tbsp ground cloves
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tbsp ground ginger
- 720 g all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
The white cookie dough
- 150 g all-purpose flour
- 100 g cold butter
- 50 g confectioner’s sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla sugar
- 1 tbsp cold water
Royal icing
- 1 egg white
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 270 g confectioner’s sugar
- Food colors optional
- Sprinkles
Sådan gør du
Brown cookie dough
- Bring water and sugar to a boil. Remove from the heat and add the syrup, butter and spices and mix well. Mix flour well with baking soda and knead it into the dough, until it is completely smooth and without any flour streaks.
- Wrap the dough in cling film and let it chill in the fridge for a minimum of four hours.
White cookie dough
- Mix the flour, confectioner’s sugar and vanilla sugar in a food processor. Add the butter (cut into small cubes) and mix again, until it looks like coarse sand. Knead the dough with a few drops of water at a time, until it holds together.
- Wrap the white dough in cling film and let it chill in the fridge for at least one hour.
Assembling the Ampelmann cookies
- Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F (regular, not fan). Line the baking trays with greaseproof paper.
- Roll out the brown cookie dough to a thickness of 3-4 mm on a lightly floured surface. Cut out the dough using your Ampelmann cookie cutter (or your preferred cookie cutter).
- Roll out the white cookie dough to a thickness of 2 mm and cut out hearts with a small heart shaped cookie cutter.
- Place the white hearts on top of the brown cookie men and gently fold in their arms, as if they hold the hearts. (For the green Ampelmann, just place the white heart underneath his hand.) Press lightly to keep the arms in place.
- Place the Ampelmann cookies on a baking sheet, leaving a gap between them, and bake them for 5-6 minutes, until lightly golden-brown.
- If you bake some of the brown cookie dough without the white dough, the cookies must bake for only 4½-5 minutes.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking tray for 5 minutes, before you move them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Royal icing
- In a clean bowl whisk egg whites until frothy. Gradually add the confectioner’s sugar and lemon juice, until it is incorporated and the icing is shiny. Add food coloring if desired.
- Transfer icing to pastry bag with a round piping tip, 1 or 2 mm wide. Decorate your Ampelmann cookies with icing and sprinkles as desired. Let dry completely before storing the cookies in an airtight container.
- Leftover icing can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to three days.



Dansk version
Opskriften på Ampelmann cookies er den samme som min Småkagemand med hjerte, blot oversat til engelsk, så udenlandske “Bagvrk-fans” også kan være med.

Jeg har rettet ganske få ting i opskriften i år, mest fordi jeg ikke helt kunne huske, hvordan jeg havde gjort sidste år, så jeg måtte begynde lidt forfra. – Og så var der nogle mål på sukker og sirup, som var angivet i deciliter i stedet for i gram, som jeg finder meget mere nøjagtigt.
Jeg har fået mange forespørgsler på, hvor jeg har købt min udstikker. Min småkagemand er en gammel svend fra Ikeas børnebagesæt, Duktig. Han er 9 cm høj.
Til årets julebag ville jeg naturligvis bruge mine Ampelmann-udstikkere, og det er der kommet nogle fine, nye mænd ud af. – Sammen med et hav af nye småkagemænd, som hver især er søde og glade.


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