When I dropped my little girl off at nursery she asked that when we got home could we make gingerbread men. ‘Of course’ I replied ‘I’ll get the ingredients ’. Of course I forgot and of course she didn’t, so I had to improvise slightly which is why this recipe is sort of gingerbread. A key ingredient in gingerbread is ginger, which was the one ingredient I didn’t have. I couldn’t face the tantrum, so carried on regardless, but it actually turned out to be a much softer taste so it was all good in the end.

Ingredients
12oz of gluten free plain flour plus some for rolling
2 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
4oz butter, cut into cubes
6oz golden caster sugar
1 large egg beaten
4 tbsp golden syrup
1 tbsp honey

Clingfilm for chilling
Plus any decorations

In a food processor add all the sieved dry ingredients then add the cubes of butter and using a dough hook on a low speed allow to form a crumb mixture.

Once you have a fine crumb, add the egg, syrup and honey, once the mixture starts to come together stop the processor and gently pat into a ball.

Lightly dust a sheet of cling film, add the dough, wrap and chill for 20 minutes in the fridge.

Pre-heat the oven to about 150c and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.

Remove your dough from the fridge and roll out to about ½ cm in thickness. Cut your desired shapes place on the baking tray. You could add chocolate drops to make features at this point.

Bake for about 15 minutes, the gingerbread will carry on cooking when it is out of the oven so to avoid it being overdone, remove it from the oven when the outside edges feel firm to the touch but the inside is a little bouncy.

Allow to cool and decorate as you wish.