‘Gingerbread Men’
Stir a bowl of gingerbread, smooth and spicy brown,
Roll it with a rolling-pin, up and up and down.
With a cookie cutter, make some little men,
Put them in the oven, until half past ten. Author unknown
Whole Wheat Gingerbread Men … I call them cookies with a heart even though I cut them out! There’s really nothing like cute little gingerbread men to bring a smile to your face. I’ve been making these for years, almost now a Christmas tradition.
I love the deep cinnamon and ginger flavours that get heightened by earthy whole wheat flour. For 100% whole grain cookies, these are nothing short of amazing. Crisp, spicy and sweet! C.U.T.E. too!
A few days ago, the husband said he was headed to a home for homeless girls as part of his company’s CSR, and asked if I could bake something. Yes! I instantly knew it was going to be these. He also asked me to try to make some goodie bags for the girls!
I haven’t had SO MUCH FUN in ages. Actually ever since the kids grew up and kissed birthday parties and return gifts goodbye. This was even more fun than those days. Also very interesting to see the level of interest it drew out of the daughter.
She began making the goodie bags in the car while I was driving her back from art class. She didn’t lose interest. For once. She continued to giggle stupidly, sing crazily, talk non stop to Coco while making the bags.
They are slightly tedious to make as compared to normal cut out cookies. The stamping out of the hearts, the adding little heart sprinkles, and then the smile of course are a little involved! There was a time I used to make the little smileys in a flash. Now with more years under my belt, the eyes aren’t as sharp. So the smileys take a little longer, the little dragees rolling all over the place. Some have a mind of their own!
Well, in the end, it was all very worth it. Just stamping out gingerbread men makes me happy. They promise to spread holiday cheer, sharing happiness with the nibblers! The kids got one each much to their delight since I was guarding the men with my life!
I made a few extra for another special cookie occasion too. More on that very soon! So are you into cookie mode too? I certainly am. What are your cookie monsters munching? My cookies are pretty much whole grain now. I look back in guilt at the many years of plain flour that I baked with.
The internet is a wonderful place, and food blogs are the best! So much inspiration, food for thought and so much creativity you can build upon. These days there’s plenty of oats, barley, whole wheat and amaranth in my baking.
Summary:These 100% Whole Wheat Gingerbread Men bring cheer to the cookie platter and make for great gifts. They are crisp, sweet, spicy and keep well in an airtight container for 1-2 weeks in a cool place. Makes approx 3 dozen 3″ gingerbread men cookies
Prep Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 1 hour Ingredients:
280g whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
10g ginger powder
10g cinnamon powder
100g unsalted butter, cubed
150g brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
15-25 ml milk, as required
Method:
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C. Line 4 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Sift the whole wheat flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking powder and salt.
In the bowl of a food processor, add the flour mix to the cold butter, & pulse briefly to make a breadcrumb like mix.
Tip in the sugar, pulse. Then add the beaten egg, and pulse briefly to mix.
Now add enough milk to make a firm yet pliable dough.
Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness & cut with desired cookie cutters.
Bake for 12-15 minutes till they smell done and the edges start turning golden-brown.
“If thou tastest a crust of bread, thou tastest all the stars and all the heavens.”
Robert Browning
Millet & Whole Wheat French Fougasse … this bread is like music to my ears; a celebration of all things ‘breadily‘ good! Rustic, earthy, chewy … good to grain! Warmer days are here. Feels like we missed spring somewhere along the way and landed up in summer. The days can only get hotter as the mercury hits 32C. At times like these, yeast is my BFF, performs beautifully, making me want to experiment endlessly.
We had a beautiful wholewheat soda bread that Sangeeta made while we drove from Pune to Baramati for the vineyard visit. I think I ate most of it, greedy me. It was bursting with earthy flavours of whole wheat and sun dried tomatoes. The whole wheat was stone ground and you could tell because of the texture. It had been given a good dunking of extra virgin olive oil too.
Bread like this makes you wake up and notice how good whole grain can get. Plain flour just doesn’t cut it for me anymore. The more I see plain flour breads on menus across eateries and in stores, the worse I feel. Whole grain is good and it’s a good choice to opt for.
Someone once told me that the luxury of plain flour bread is the way to go. You can eat salad and maybe soup on the side, other greens and veggies to tank up on fibre, and yet not feel guilty about ‘white bread’. I beg to differ.
Whole grain isn’t a punishment. Get used to it gradually and it might be difficult to return to plain flour. It’s a choice you have, and a good one you might make especially if you have young kids with changing palettes. Make a gradual change and you’ll be surprised at how they jump to fresh home made whole grain bread.
Sun-dried tomatoes are a wonderful addition to breads. My last experience of store bought ones from Fab India was pathetic. I didn’t have time to make some, so figured the Philips AirFryer could help a bit. I have now begun caramelising onions after Abha mentioned it to me one day! Great discovery! 1 tsp of oil for 1 sliced onion is all it takes, and a few minutes.
In went sliced tomatoes tossed in olive oil, dried herbs, garlic and some sea salt. Can say YUMMM? Just wonderful… it took about 15-20 minutes as I experimented on different settings but was thrilled to get just what I wanted. I always have a batch bottled in the fridge now.
The fougasse is as rustic as it gets. You will find a selection of French Fougasse, this flat French bread, on my blog as we love it at home. I began with a plain flour bread, graduated to part pain flour, part whole wheat, and this time did a version with some sprouted ragi flour / millet.
Rustic, moorish, and delicious! If you are a new to whole grain breads, the earthy flavours will gradually grow on you. It’s a dough that takes well to additions. Roasted garlic, roasted bell peppers, salty olives, sun dried tomatoes, caramelised onions, feta, fresh herbs, nuts {I particularly like walnuts in here} but let your imagination lead you.
[print_this]Recipe: Millet & Whole Wheat French Fougasse
Summary: Millet & Whole Wheat French Fougasse … bread as rustic as it gets. If you are a new to whole grain breads, the earthy flavours will gradually grow on you. It’s a dough that takes well to additions. Roasted garlic, roasted bell peppers, salty olives, sun dried tomatoes, caramelised onions, feta, fresh herbs, nuts … let your imagination lead you!
Squeeze out the roasted head of garlic and mash with 15g /1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil. Reserve in a small bowl.
Take 50ml of water {lukewarm} & dissolve the yeast into it. Stir the salt and 30ml of olive oil into 200ml of water.
Mix the flours, make a well in the centre and pour the yeast/water mixture into it. Use the remaining 50ml water if required.
Knead to a dough, kneading further on a floured surface for 8-10 minutes, till smooth & elastic.
Thermomix: Place both flours, salt and yeast in bowl of TM and whiz for 5 seconds on speed 10. Add the 250ml water and olive oil and mix on Speed 6 for 30 seconds. {Gradually add remaining 50ml water as required}. Knead in closed position for 5-6 minutes.
Place in an oiled bowl, cover the bowl with cling wrap & leave in a warm place for about an hour until doubled.
Punch down & divide into 2.
Roll one half out to about an 12″ oval, spread half the roasted garlic olive oil mixture on the base, sprinkle over half the snipped tomatoes, caramelised onions, half the walnuts and half the cheese. {Reserve some tomatoes and onions for topping if you like}
Season lightly salt and freshly ground pepper. Roll up gently like a swiss roll.
Fold over the dough 2-3 times on itself to incorporate the stuffing.
Shape each back into a flattish ball, then fold the bottom third up, & top third down to make an oblong. {I made one big round bread and one oblong, but the latter is tradional}
Roll into ovals with a flat base, cut slits diagonally, three on each side. Pull slightly to open the cuts. {Repeat with the other half.}
Place on parchment lined baking sheets. Cover with cling wrap & leave to double for 35-40 minutes while you preheat the oven.
Preheat the oven to 220C, brush the loaves with olive oil, sprinkle over sea salt {and tomatoes and onions if you like} and bake for approximately 30-40 minutes till golden brown. Brush with more olive oil as they come out of the oven. Cool on racks. Serve warm {that’s how we love it} or at room temperature with extra virgin olive oil or butter!
“Maybe now I`ll be able to have a couple of extra cookies or ice cream after dinner without feeling so guilty. Or, without my wife yelling at me.”
David Larsen
Every new year begins with indulgence as the daughters birthday is on the 2nd of Jan! We enjoy this guilty pleasure {’twas Chocolate Orange Almond Gateau this year}. Predictably, the next day I’m hit by New Year guilt pangs. It’s time to think everything on a healthier note, especially to give the year a good beginning blah blah blah… High on my list is plain flour substitutes, as in my mind ‘plain flour = empty calories’. Extended vacations with growing kids means 24 X 7 Cookie Monsters, A L W A Y S H U N G R Y! For me healthy doesn’t necessarily mean knocking the butter out of the cookies during winter … butter has important work to do in this incessant cold weather we are braving.
The primary difference between different types of flour are the quantity of the wheat germ and bran that are milled with the flour, and the type of wheat used for the flour, and the relative protein content of that wheat. Whole wheat flour is simply wheat that has been milled into flour with some, or all, of the germ and bran still attached. Additionally, different varieties of wheat contain different amounts of protein, and the more protein is contained in the flour, the higher gluten it has. {Source:Hubpages.com}
India is traditionally a country where whole wheat flour {aata} is found in virtually every home, and freshly made whole wheat flat breads {rotis, chapatis, parathas etc} often accompany main meals. Until a few years ago, the use of plain flour was limited to cakes, biscuits etc. Unfortunately that is changing as people fall for the disguised charm that plain flour offers, deceptively increasing the luxury in our daily bread, yet sacrificing important proteins in the process.Thankfully though, there are an equal number of adventurous foodies who try to experiment with whole grains. I am one of the latter though I do tend to keep on middle ground; a little bit of plain and a little of whole grain. Other than whole wheat, I often try including buckwheat and oat in my bakes. Quinoa is one whole grain I would love to try, but the price is exorbitantly high as it is an import from South America. So my oft used alternate is oats which are extremely nutritious, containing more protein and unsaturated fat than any other cereal grain.
Whole Grains are Much More than Fibre
Whole grains contain all three parts of the grain kernel – the germ, endosperm and bran. Most often during the milling process the bran and germ are removed leaving only the endosperm. This results in refined grains. However, whole grains contain all three parts of the grain – this makes them a richer source of fibre, vitamins and minerals.
Oats : The Super Whole Grain
Oats have more protein, calcium and Vitamin E than other common unfortified whole grains (wheat, brown rice or whole corn grain) on a gram per gram basis. Only oats have a high amount of soluble fibre (beta glucan) compared to whole wheat or rice. {Source: Quaker Oats}.
Whole Grains are Much More than Fibre
Whole grains contain all three parts of the grain kernel – the germ, endosperm and bran. Most often during the milling process the bran and germ are removed leaving only the endosperm. This results in refined grains. However, whole grains contain all three parts of the grain – this makes them a richer source of fibre, vitamins and minerals.
With all these inspired thoughts in my head, I set off to make cookies, or rather chocolate chip cookies for a healthier 2011! I made a small batch as I consciously stayed away from plain flour and knew not where I was headed. The resultant cookies were a shock to my system, and I now wonder why I even bothered to look at plain flour in my chocolate chip cookies for so many years. I have always included some whole wheat by default, but was taken aback to see that using whole grains alone still gave them a fabulous texture, and handsome bite.Try these, they’re worth every bite even though they don’t look very pretty. The cookie mightn’t be as indulgent as a plain flour smooth cookie if thats what you make. For me, the transition from part whole wheat to whole whole wheat was like I had won the first prize; including oats and demerera sugar giving me the runners up too.I must admit I used my precious stash of Ghirardeli dark chocolate chips in hope that the Ghirardeli would make up for loss of flavour and quintessential chocolate-chip cookie indulgence. I was soon to eat humble pie because they just added to an already delicious cookie.With this new cookie under my belt, 2011 began to feel better already almost! To prove me otherwise, the pre-teen & the teen hit the kitchen this afternoon, shrugging off the cold, and indulged in piling the calories onto my so called healthy cookies. The daughter made delicious ‘Cookies & Cream Strawberry Sundaes‘ for themselves {low fat cream being small consolation}; the son playing the loyal slave. He knew he wouldn’t get a crumb if he displeased his elder sibling; even then wasn’t ‘allowed’ as much as a lick of cream off the spatula!!So much so for my inspired beginning … thankfully this was just 4 cookies. The rest retained their ‘healthy’ status!!
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Whole Wheat & Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies Makes 2 – 2 1/2 dozen cookies
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup demerarera sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups oats
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped Method:
In a bowl, stir together the dry ingredients – flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder, salt, chocolate chips, walnuts.
In another big bowl, cream the butter and sugar till fluffy. Next beat in the egg and vanilla extract.
Fold the dry ingredients into the wet. Drop a tbsp of cookie dough onto greased cookie trays, leaving an inch and a half in between for spreading during baking. {I use a cookie scoop}. Flatten gently with the tines of a fork.
Bake at 180C for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown.
Remove from oven, leave to cool on trays for 1 minute, then remove to cooling racks and allow to cool completely. Store in an airtight box.
