School holidays. I don’t even have kids at school and I am over it. I just went up to Woolworths to get some bits and pieces and I saw carloads of hyperactive tweens dragging along distraught exhausted mothers. Props to you mums-with-school-age-kids, here, make these – the perfect distraction on this unseasonably cold wet morning, day, week, month.

Ingredients

• Melted butter, to grease
• 125g butter, at room temperature
• ½ cup, firmly packed, brown sugar
• ½ cup golden syrup
• 1 egg, separated
• 2½ cups plain flour
• 1 tbs ground ginger
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• Plain flour, to dust
• (Decorations)
• 150g (1 cup) pure icing sugar, sifted
• Food colouring 
• Smarties, coconut, whatever you have in the cupboard - to decorate 

Method

Step 1

Preheat oven to 180°C. Brush 2 baking trays with melted butter to lightly grease. -

Step 2

Use an electric beater to beat the butter and sugar in a bowl until pale and creamy. Add the golden syrup and egg yolk and beat until combined. Stir in the flour, ginger, mixed spice and bicarbonate of soda. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Press dough into a disc. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest -

Step 3

Place the dough between 2 sheets of baking paper and roll out until about 4mm thick. Use a 9cm gingerbread man cutter to cut out shapes. Place on trays about 3cm apart. Repeat with any excess dough. -

Step 4

Bake in oven for 10 minutes or until brown. Remove from oven. Transfer to a rack to cool. -

Step 5

Once cool, mix up your icing sugar and prepare the decorations, then let the kids go wild creating their little master pieces. -