The coolest-dude-around cookies! I had so much fun making these surfing gingerbread men cookies with my kids. We used a cookie cutter for the gingerbread men, but got creative and crafty when we made the surfboards.
After we baked the gingerbread men cookies, we used royal icing to give them all fun boardshorts! Have you spotted the surfer wearing camo boardshorts? And surfing santa with a big heart?
What do you need to make these surfing gingerbread men cookies?
A good gingerbread cookie recipe. I’ve got you covered. Bonus: this a wholesome recipe for gingerbread cookies that my kids like a lot! WIN!
Preferably a gingerbread man cookie cutter (or you can do what I did for the surfboards and santa hats.. read below) .
Regular paper, a pencil and a pair of scissors. Because we cut the shapes for the surfboards out of paper (because I don’t have a cookie cutter in that shape).
And you need royal icing in different colors. Super easy to make. I will explain you below how to make it (2 ways).
Is it hard to make these gingerbread cookies?
Not hard, but it ís hard to be super precise (especially when you do this with kids), but I think ours turned out great (see all of the pictures in this post). This is the work of a 7 and 9 year old and it was their first attempt (with just a bit of my help…). But not perfect and precise by all means.
the dough
Making the dough is easy. Nothing can go wrong there. Just don’t be impatient; you need to chill the dough. I even roll out the dough after refrigeration and chill it again so it is even easier to cut out the cookies and transfer them to a lined baking tray without the cookies falling apart.
cutting out gingerbread men and surfboards
Cutting out the gingerbread men with the cookie cutter is simple and easy as well. Like I said, if the dough is chilled it is easier.
Cutting out the surfboards isn’t that hard either. Draw a surfboard on regular paper (that might be the challenging part (it was for me), but you can probably find a printable cut-out online..), cut it out and place it on top of the rolled out dough. Now trace the surfboard shape with a knife. Peel the paper shape off the dough and transfer the surfboard to the lined baking tray.
making royal icing
Making the royal icing is very simple; just combine all the ingredients. When adding color, I would suggest to use gel color to not thin the icing too much. Always start with just 1 drop and add another drop every time you think it is not bright enough. Red and dark colors need more than pale pastel colors. TIP: make the icing the night before. It will become a bit thicker and the colors intensify. There are a lot of professional tools for piping the icing onto the cookies, but I just used a small zip bag and cut off the tip of one of the corners (make sure you only cut of a VERY SMALL PIECE!)
icing the cookies
After baking the cookies and letting them cool completely, it is time to ice the surfing gingerbread men cookies. This is pretty hard for (young) children. I even had to get the hang of it. We watched a few tutorials together (this is a good one) so they/we saw how to do it. Basically you first draw a line around the area you want to fill in and after that you ‘flood’ it.
TIP 1: first draw lines on several cookies so they have time to harden a bit. Then fill them in (some tutorials tell you to make 2 different consistencies for outline and flooding icing, but we didn’t do that (too technical for kids in my opinion).
TIP 2: wait until 1 colored area is dry before you use another color. Otherwise they might ‘bleed’.
TIP 3: I had the kids give it a go on some crackers first. Once the got the hang of it, we started on the gingerbread men cookies.
How do I make these surfing gingerbread men cookies?
make the gingerbread cookie dough
I use the dough of my pepernoten AKA gingerbread marble cookies for this. It never fails me. I wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 30 minutes so it is easier to roll out. At the same time I also chill an empty baking tray in the refrigerator.
roll out the cookie dough and cut cookies
I roll out the refrigerated dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper to a 1/2 cm/1/4 inch-thickness. I remove the top piece of parchment paper and use my cookie cutter to cut out gingerbread men. And I use my paper surfboards and Santa hats to cut out these shapes. I remove all the leftover dough (which can be chilled and rolled out again to cut out more cookies).
‘build’ your surfing gingerbread men cookies
I transfer the parchment paper with the cut-out cookies on it, to the pre-chilled baking tray. On it I ‘build’ my surfing gingerbread men cookies (so they stay cool and firm). I place a ginger bread man on an upright surfboard or the other way around; I place a short board on top of the middle section of a gingerbread man, like he is carrying his surfboard to the beach. Same for the santa heads; I place a hat on top of a gingerbread man’s head.
bake the cookies
Now it is time to bake the cookies in the preheated oven. Once they are ready, after 18-20 minutes, I let them cool off completely before I start icing them. If I don’t let them cool off, the cookies will still be soft. Also, they will still be warm and the icing will melt off.
make royal icing
Meanwhile I whisk together all the icing ingredients; egg whites (or meringue powder), powdered sugar (or xylitol) and lemon juice. I whisk until everything is well combine and I have incorporated some air.
Now it is time to add color to it. I always start with just 1 drop of gel food coloring and add another drop every time I think it is not bright enough yet (red and dark colors need more than pale pastel colors). I usually make the icing the night before so it can become a bit thicker and usually the colors will intensive when I let it sit overnight.
Once I have all the colors I am going to work with, I scoop them into resealable bags. I cut off the tip of one of the corners of the bag and I am ready to start piping the icing on the cookies.
icing the cookies
First I draw a line around the area I want to fill in and after that I ”flood’ it. I outline all the cookies first, before I fill them all in (flooding). Since I always make these surfing gingerbread men cookies with my kids, I keep it simple. Some tutorials tell you to make 2 different consistencies of icing: one to outline the cookie (thicker) and another one for flooding (thinner), but I don’t do that (I know it makes for more precise iced cookies, but that is too technical for kids and they end up mixing the different consistencies anyway).
When I use different colors on a cookie, I wait until 1 colored area has dried a bit, before I use another color. This way there is less of a chance the colors will bleed.
Once the icing has hardened the cookies are ready to be eaten!
These surfing gingerbread men cookies don’t look perfect, but the afternoon making these cool cookies together was perfect! I hope you’ll have fun with your kids as well making them. They are
messy but super fun to make with kids – a wholesome cookie – so cute – & very delicious
More fun cookies to make with your kids: owl cookies, bunny cookies, cinnamon cookies cereal.
Surfing gingerbread men cookies
Equipment
- gingerbread man cookie cutter
- paper, pencil and scissors to cut out other shapes (surfboards and santa hats)
Ingredients
Cookie dough
- 1 batch gingerbread cookie dough* (* see Notes below)
Royal icing
- 2 egg whites (or if you don't want to use egg whites sub 2 tbsp of meringue powder)
- 300 grams powdered sugar (or sub xylitol)
- ⅔ tsp lemon juice
- a few drops gel food coloring
Instructions
- Make the cookie dough and wrap it in cling foil. Refrigerate for 30 minutes so it is easier to roll out. At the same time also chill an empty baking tray in the refrigerator.
- Preheat the oven to 350F/175C.
- Roll out the refrigerated dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper to a ½ cm/¼ inch-thickness. Remove the top piece of parchment paper and use your cookie cutter to cut out gingerbread men. After that use your cut-out surfboards and Santa hats to cut out these shapes out of dough. Remove all the leftover dough (which can be chilled and rolled out again to cut out more cookies).
- Transfer parchment paper with the cut-out cookies on it, to the pre-chilled baking tray. Now 'build' your surfing gingerbread men cookies by placing a ginger bread man on an upright surfboard or the other way around; place a short board on top of the middle section of a gingerbread man, like he is carrying his surfboard to the beach. Same for the Santa hats; I place a hat on top of the gingerbread man's head (check the photos in the text above for examples).
- Bake the cookies in the preheated oven. Once they are ready, after 18-20 minutes, let them cool off completely before icing them.
- Meanwhile whisk together all the icing ingredients; egg whites (or meringue powder), powdered sugar (or xylitol) and lemon juice. Whisk until everything is well combined and some air has been incorporated.
- Add color to the royal icing. Start with just 1 drop of gel food coloring and add another drop every time until you have reached the right color. Scoop every color into a resealable bag. Cut off the tip of one of the corners of each bag. Now you are ready to pipe the icing on the cookies.
- First draw a line around the area you want to fill in. After that ''flood' it; outline all the cookies first, before you fill them all in (flooding). When using different colors on a cookie, wait until 1 colored area has dried a bit, before using another color.
- Once the icing has hardened, the cookies are ready to eat!
Notes
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