Earlier this month, the GeekMoms sounded off on their feelings about the most divisive topic of the season: pumpkin spice all-the-things. I noted that for me, it just means that the much smaller slice of the world that turns to gingerbread a month later is near.
One of the things I love about gingerbread (other than it simply being delicious) is how much you can adjust it to suit your mood. More sugar for sweeter or add cracked pepper for spiciness. Dial up the ginger or the cinnamon to suit. Change cinnamons! (Side note: If your cinnamon has been in the cabinet longer than six months, it’s time to buy fresh. You’ll be amazed at the difference.) As the time when I can get gingerbread lattes draws near, I thought I’d share a few of my favorite gingerbread-themed recipes:
Gingerbread Doughnut Muffins. I’m eating these as I write this. Not super sweet or spicy, just a good kickoff to Gingerbreadmania.
Gingerbread Spiced Marshmallows. I’m a huge fan of Joy the Baker. Her writing is delightful, and her recipes have never steered me wrong once. She also has two books you should check out (here and here).
Guinness Gingerbread. My beer tastes tend towards stouts and porters, so how better to improve on gingerbread than with Guinness? Alas, the gingerbread-themed items I can’t recommend are the gingerbread-flavored beers. I haven’t found one yet that wasn’t just awful.
Gingerbread Waffles. I don’t know why it had never occurred to me to do this until a local restaurant served them as a seasonal special with cream and lemon curd. You can do it with pancakes, too.
Monkey (Ginger)Bread. Like monkey bread. But better.
Gingerbread Scones. For some reason, I tend to forget how much I like scones until I go to a scone-eating country for a few days, and then I’m obsessed all over again. Making them gingerbread is just a double win.
Lebkuchen is the German version of gingerbread. If you’ve ever been through Bavaria, you’ve no doubt seen Lebkuchen’s cookie form, usually in the shape of hearts with messages on them. (I’d love to see your pics of some geeked-up Lebkuchen cookies!)
Finally, after all that baking, what better than a gingerbread martini? Enjoy the season!
Your link for the monkey bread is leading to the gingerbread scones (which also sound good, but the monkey bread intrigued me).
Oops! Fixed that. Here’s the correct link: http://food52.com/recipes/8266-monkey-ginger-bread