Christmas town square cookies

It's only seven days away until Christmas! I can already smell the butter, ginger, cinnamon, rum, and raisin in the air already. To me, Christmas is a perfect time to express appreciation to those who have helped and supported me over the year. The only way to say that for me is a homemade gift!

Thank you for reading my blog and giving me a sense of presence in this online that seems connected but not so connected world. I am glad we share the same passion, food!

If you are thinking of doing a last minute Christmas shopping this week, perhaps all you need is butter, brown sugar, ground ginger and cinnamon, flour, baking soda and baking powder, and treacle. A one stop shop with potential many varieties of gifts to be made!

Preparation: 30 minutes + 2 hours chilling time 
Cooking: 20 minutes
Makes: 18 Amsterdam canal houses

Ingredients:

Ginger bread cookies  
3 cups of plain flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 cup of brown sugar
130g of unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon of ground ginger
1 teaspoon of ground cloves
1/2 cup of treacle
1 egg

Royal icing:
1 eggwhite
2 cup of icing sugar
2 tablespoon of hot water (if needed)

Methods: 
1. Beat sugar and butter together until fluffy. Add cinnamon, ginger, cloves, treacle and egg and beat again until creamy.
2. Add sifted flour, baking powder and baking soda. Beat on a low speed to form a soft dough. Refrigerate for at least two hours.
3. Preheat oven to 160'c. Draw and cut simple templates of Amsterdam canal houses. Dust the bench with extra flour and roll out the cookie dough 0.5cm thick. Use the templates to cut out as many canal houses as possible. Use small square pieces of dough to decorate windows and doors of the houses. Make a small hole at the top of the house if you would like to make it as a Christmas decorative ornament. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let them cool completely.
4. Make royal icing. Beat one egg white with a heaped tablespoon of icing sugar at a time until thicken. If it is too thick, add some hot water until getting your preferred density that you are happy to work with. Decorate the canal houses with royal icing. Leave them to set (about two hours).