History:

Do you ever wonder where this tradition of gingerbread men and gingerbread houses came about? (From www.pbs.org) here's the history came about, for this tradition.

The shapes of the gingerbread changed with the season, including flowers in the spring and birds in the fall. ... Gingerbread houses originated in Germany during the 16th century. The elaborate cookie-walled houses, decorated with foil in addition to gold leaf, became associated with Christmas tradition.

So this is a german tradition dating back to the 16th century.

Here's the recipe from a site www.bbcgoodfood.co.uk

Ingredients

175g dark muscovado sugar

85g golden syrup

100g butter

350g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tbsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 egg, beaten

To decorate

ready-made writing icing

chocolate buttons or small sweets (optional)

Method

Melt the sugar, golden syrup and butter in a saucepan, then bubble for 1-2 mins. Leave to cool for about 10 mins.

Tip the flour, bicarbonate of soda and spices into a large bowl.  Add the warm syrup mixture and the egg, stir everything together, then gently knead in the bowl until smooth and streak-free. The dough will firm up once cooled. Wrap in cling film and chill for at least 30 mins.

Remove the dough from the fridge, leave at room temperature until softened. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and line two baking trays with baking parchment.

Roll out the dough to the thickness of a £1 coin, then cut out gingerbread people with a cutter. Re-roll the excess dough and keep cutting until it’s all used up.

Lift the biscuits onto the trays and bake for 10-12 mins, swapping the trays over halfway through cooking. Leave to cool on the trays for 5 mins, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Use the icing to decorate the biscuits as you wish, and stick on sweets for buttons. Leave to dry for 1-2 hrs. Will keep for up to three days in an airtight container.

Also gingerbread men can make a great snack with hot chocolate or irn bru on Christmas Eve for Santa Claus.