Squirrel!

(In Portuguese)


To brighten up the life of a boy who's got a serious flu and can't even leave home,
I baked some squirrels.


This cutter is shaped so that you can hang the cookie on the edge of a glass/cup
(gift from a dear friend), but since I used a batter that comes out puffy it didn't quite work.
It doesn't matter. They are still great squirrels.


This is a ginger cookie recipe (aka Christmas cookie), and yelds about 40 5cm cookies.
Buuut, for me the math was a bit different, because I baked more than one batter, and
left some of it to the squirrels, wich are bigger.
I prepared it at night to bake in the morning, because the batter should really stay in the fridge for a long time.


Here's the deal:

For the cookies
Ingredients

100g butter
1 cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons honey
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda 
1 beaten egg
butter and flour to grease and dust the baking sheet (instead, I use parchment paper)

How to do it

1. In a small saucepan, mix the butter, brown sugar and honey, in low heat. Stirr with a spoon until you have a syrup. (Next time I think I'm going to sift the sugar. Those lumps end up dissolving only in the oven and sticking to the parchment paper).

2. In a bowl, sift the flour/ginger/baking soda. Mix nicely than add the syrup and the egg. Keep mixing until you a have a uniform batter.

3. Wrap the batter in plastic wrap. Don't worry about the consistency, because at first it is really soft. Put it in the fridge for at least 12 hours.

4. Preheat the oven to 180ºC (medium heat).

5. Sprinkle a LITTLE BIT of flour on a countertop, roll out the batter (one half at a time), untill it's 0,5cm thick. Use the cutters or the edge of a glass.

6. Line the baking sheets and distribute the cookies, allowing a distance of +-2cm between them. Bake for 12 minutes or until they became golden on the bottom side.

7. Take out of the oven and allow to cool completely. When the cookies are firm, remove them from the sheet with a spoon or spatula. If you're in the mood, ice them. Keep in an airtight 
container, in a dry, ventilated place, away from direct sunlight.

For the icing
Ingredients

1 teaspoon lemon or orange juice
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
food coloring, as needed (take care, if the icing becomes liquid you can add some more sugar) 

How to make it:

1. In a small bowl, mix everything using a fork, until it turn into a cream that won't drizzle. 

2. Save some white icing and dye the rest in the desired colors.

3. Decorate the cookies using a piping bag or a toothpick.