Categories: Entertaining So Yummy

Gingerbread Shadow Box

Are you sick of the same ol’ plain and boring gingerbread houses? If so, you gotta try this super cool and fun Gingerbread Shadow Box! Trust us, it’ll definitely add some extra holiday cheer to your Christmas!

Difficulty: Medium • 20 Servings • Total Time: 2 Hour 30 Minutes

Ingredients:

Unsalted Butter 270g
Light Brown Sugar 180g
Whole Eggs 3ea
Molasses 480g
Cinnamon 22g
Ground Ginger 22g
All Spice 2g
Baking Soda 7g
Salt 5g
All Purpose Flour 1250g
Powdered Sugar 1kilo/ 1 bag
Water ⅔ cup
Gummy Bears, assorted 6ea
Jolly Ranchers, assorted 10ea
Tootsy Rolls 3ea

Directions:

Gummy Bear Window

Cut several gummy bears into quarters and place I inside a ring mold.
Place it in a 350 F oven and bake it for 10 minutes or until it is completely melted.
Once it is melted, remove from the oven and swirl it to get a window pain effect.

Candy Fire

Place a red, blue and purple candy in a nonstick mat, similar to the gummy bear process.
Place the tray in a 350F oven for 7-15 minutes or until the candy has melted.
Once the candy is melted, with a spatula drag the candy upwards to create a fire effect. Use caution when handling hot candy. Set aside and let it cool.

Gingerbread

In a stand mixer add your softened butter and brown sugar. Mix on low until the sugar is absorbed by the butter.
Next, add your eggs, molasses, and spices as well as baking soda and salt. Mix on low until everything is combines. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl in order to mix everything together.
Once that is combined, last add your all purpose flour. The dough should still feel a little moist. If you feel that it is too dry, you can always add a little bit of water, a teaspoon at a time until you feel it is good to roll out without it breaking.
Place the dough on top of a parchment paper, followed by another piece of parchment. This helps with rolling out the dough without it sticking to the rolling pin. Roll it out until it is about ⅛ inch in thickness.
Once it is rolled out, place in the refrigerator so the dough cools for about 30 minutes.
Once the dough feels firm, remove from the fridge and cut out the back side and the four sides surrounding the shadow box. With the remainder of the dough, cut out desired Christmas shapes.
Once you have all your pieces cut out, place them in a baking sheet ready to bake. If your dough has softened, place it back in the fridge for 15 minutes until it is ready to handle.
Bake your cookies in a 350 degree oven for 18 minutes. Remove from the oven and let them cool completely.

Royal Icing

Add all the ingredients in a bowl and mix completely.
Separate icing into smaller bowls and color icing into desired colors.
Put icing into piping bags or cover the bowl with plastic wrap to avoid the icing from drying.