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1
Preheat oven to 180C.
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2
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
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3
Add the egg yolk and beat well.
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4
Gradually stir in sifted flour and bicarb soda, ground ginger and golden syrup - mix well.
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5
Knead the dough lightly before dividing into four sections.
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6
Lightly dust your work surface and rolling pin with flour to prevent any stickiness.
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7
Roll each portion to a thickness of about 5 mm.
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8
Cut dough into people shapes using a cookie cutter.
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9
Place men/women on a lined baking tray and bake for approximately 10 minutes (they will harden somewhat upon cooling).
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10
Allow gingerbread people to cool completely before icing and decorating like crazy!
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11
ICING: Sift icing sugar and cocoa into a bowl and add the butter.
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12
Add the water one tablespoon at a time until you reach a consistency that's runny enough to spread but at the same time won't be so runny that it won't set.
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13
On the cookies it should set after a few minutes, and will then completely harden after an hour or so.
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14
If it hasn't set somewhat after a couple of minutes your icing is probably a bit too runny; if this is the case just sift in a little more icing sugar.
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15
DECORATING and VARIATIONS: Go crazy decorating, things like musk sticks, smarties, freckles, 100's and 1000's, choc bits and marshmallows are great lollies to use.
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16
Don't hesitate to try other shapes as well, you can use extra dough to add extra features to the men (I've made a pirate before!).
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17
Animals are also great (sheep are pretty fun and you can decorate with marshmallows!
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18
).
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19
Have fun!
