Bake gingerbread story characters for world book day

 

Our kids love getting involved in the kitchen and baking sweet treats are a particular favourite. It’s why we always include a recipe in the activity packs that we send to our Parrot Street Book Club subscribers.

These gingerbread story book characters are a perfect accompaniment to any World Book Day celebration. With a bit of coloured icing the kids can get creative with the decoration and I’m sure you’ll be amazed by what they create.

How to make gingerbread book characters

This recipe makes between 12 and 15 gingerbread biscuits.

Ingredients

• 225g plain flour
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 heaped tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 50g butter
• 100g soft brown sugar
• 100g golden syrup
• Writing icing in a selection of colours

Method

• Pre-heat your oven to 190C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
• Place the butter, sugar and syrup in a saucepan and cook over a low heat until dissolved. Set aside and allow to cool.
• Meanwhile, sieve the flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda, ginger and cinnamon into a large bowl.
• Once the sugar mixture is cooled, mix it into the dry ingredients to form a dough. Wrap your dough in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for 30 mins.
• Lightly dust your work surface with flour, then roll out the dough to approximately 0.5cm thickness. Use a cutter to stamp out the gingerbread men shapes, then re-roll any off-cuts and repeat. Don’t forget to cut out any props your characters might need as well.
• Place your gingerbread men on the lined trays, allowing space for them to spread. Cook for 10-15 mins, then remove from the oven and leave to cool.
• Once your gingerbread men are cooled, you can decorate them however you like to turn them into your favourite book characters!

Gingerbread book character hall of fame

Can you identify the characters from these photos? Scroll to the very bottom for the answers!

 

 

More ideas for World Book Day fun

You may be interested to check out our 40+ easy World Book Day costume ideas and 6 fun World Book Day activities to enjoy at home or school.

 

World Book Day also organising a lot of great activities and, of course, published their brilliant £1 books for families to enjoy. This is our pick of the World Book Day 2024 books and activities we’re getting excited about.

 

Answers: Rosie Revere, Tom Gates, Mary Poppins, Harry Potter, Asterix!