To make gingerbread (or gingerdead) men, you need more than five ingredients. You also have to roll out the dough and cut the shapes. Here's a gingerbread cookie you can make with fewer ingredients and without a rolling pin. This treat is so popular in England that people travel to the small town of Grasmere in the lake district just to buy it.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (F).
Line an oblong pan (approximately 7 x 11 x 2 inches) with parchment paper.
Mix the dry ingredients together.
Melt the butter and add it to the dry ingredients.
Add the chopped crystallized ginger to taste, one tablespoon if you're not sure if you like it and two if you know you do.
Spread the mixture over the pan in a thin layer, pressing it down lightly with your fingers or the bottom of a glass.
Bake 25 - 30 minutes until golden brown.
Cut the gingerbread into bars (approximately 1 x 2 inches) while it is still hot. Leave it in the pan until it cools. Remove the gingerbread by lifting the parchment paper.
Yield: 30 - 36 bars
Adapted from English Food by Jane Grigson.
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