Freeform Gingerbread Men

Who doesn't love kids' drawings? When I was a kid my Mum and I would make these freeform Gingerbread Men that look just like a cookie version of a drawing! Incidentally, in Australia we do ginger-related baking all year round, not just at Christmas. So today Eleanor and I decided to give it a go. Here's how:

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick (125g) butter
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 large eggs
• 1/2 cup dark molasses

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Sift dry ingredients together. Melt butter and molasses together then add to dry ingredients along with the egg. Mix with a wooden spoon and then get your hands in there to finish off. You might need to adjust the consistency by adding more flour or a little milk. it should be the consistency of play dough.

Now, depending on the age of you kid/s you can help them make the men. Eleanor is 2.5 so I broke off the pieces of each body part (head, body, arms, legs) and told her to roll them into balls or sausages. She then joined them together by pressing them onto the lined cookie sheet. We then used some raisins for eyes. You can use other dried fruits for buttons and other details if you like.

Bake them for about 10-11 mins, depending on what thick they are. When they start to get darker brown around the edges, they are ready.

And then eat. Mmmmmm.