{Gluten-Free} Krampus' Gingy Minions #FoodNFlix

'Tis the season...for gingerbread! Every December, I make batches and batches of gingerbread. {Gluten-Free} Burnt Caramel Quince Gingerbread, Puerquitos (Mexican Gingerbread Pigs), Piernik (Polish Gingerbread Cake); we even had a Gingerbread House Party for D's birthday in 2010.

Last year I bought these humorous gingerbread cutters that had pieces missing from them - bitten off legs, arms, and heads. But I didn't do anything with them. While watching the assigned movie, I finally knew how to utilize them!

For December's Food'N'Flix, Heather of All Roads Leads to the Kitchen asked us to watch Krampus. Here's her invitation. She specified that, though many movies have been made about Krampus, we were assigned to the 2015 version.*

Heather wrote: "As folklore has it, in Germany, Austria, and many Central European states, St. Nicholas and Krampus were partners. On the eve of St. Nicholas Day the two would work together, St. Nicholas would fill the boots of the good children with fruits, sweets or other treats, and Krampus would kidnap the naughty children, often beating them, and drag them away from their homes.

"Krampus wore chains and bells, and was said to have the cloven hooves and horns of a goat, with a long, barbed tongue. So yeah, horrifying enough to scare the naughty children straight, I'd say."

Never having heard of the movie, or Krampus for that matter, I was intrigued. It was rated PG-13, so I asked the boys if they wanted to watch it with me. They did and thought it was a good post-Thanksgiving tradition that we (1) watch Krampus, (2) drink hot chocolate, and (3) bake Krampus' Gingy Minions. Done.

And, yes, we played with our food...

On the Screen...

The film opens with a hilarious scene at a fictional store that includes people racing in as soon as the store opens, battling over Christmas items, trampling people to get to the best sales, and other atrocities of holiday shopping. It's commercialism at it best worst.

Then the family - Tom (dad), Sarah (mom), Max (son), Beth (daughter), and Omi (grandmother) - prepare for arrival of the extended family. At the dinner, the cousins steal Max's letter to Santa and read it aloud. Humiliated, Max declares that Christmas is ruined, tears the letter to pieces, and throws it out the window.

Almost immediately, a freak blizzard sweeps through, creepy snowmen appear in the yard, and the movie begins to feel like an 80s horror movie. You know: simultaneously creepy and funny. That's all I'm going to say about the movie. We chuckled through it, sipping our hot chocolate because, as Omi says, "Hot chocolate makes everything better." True.

R did note, "I'm glad we're watching this during the day, though. It might have actually been scary at night." 

On the Plate...

As part of Krampus' nefarious troops, there are deranged dolls, evil elves, and these flaming crazed cookies. We talked about how to set the gingerbread men on fire; we let the zombie-ish feel suffice.

Ingredients

Gingerbread Men

• 1¼ C organic dark brown sugar
• ¼ C butter, room temperature
• 3 large eggs (2 for dough and 1 for finishing)
• ⅓ C whole milk
• 1½ t ginger paste (you can use vanilla bean paste also)
• 1½ t baking soda
• 1½ t ground cinnamon
• 1 t ground ginger
• 1 t ground nutmeg
• ½ t ground cloves
• ½ t ground star anise
• ½ t ground cardamom
• ½ t freshly ground black pepper
• ¾ C molasses
• ¼ C maple syrup
• 6 C gluten-free flour
• ½ C candied ginger (diced or use flakes)

Royal Icing

• 4 egg whites
• 4 C organic powdered sugar
• ¼ t pure lemon extract
• candy eyeballs, optional

Procedure

Beat brown sugar and butter together in a large bowl until well-combined. Add 2 eggs, milk, and ginger paste; beat again until smooth. Add baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom, black pepper, molasses, maple syrup, and candied ginger. Beat again.

Stir in 4 C of flour. Gradually add remaining flour, using a wooden spoon. Once the dough starts to become stiff, quickly knead in the rest of the flour. It should come together into a ball.

Split dough into two balls. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.

When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350° F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Roll the dough out between two pieces of parchment paper to approximately ¼" thickness. Use a cookie cutter to cut out your gingerbread men.

Place on prepared baking sheet. Re-roll dough and repeat until your dough is gone.

Beat the remaining egg, then brush a thin coat over the dough before you put it into the oven.

Place in preheated oven and bake for approximately 15 minutes - until cookies just start to turn golden around the edges and are slightly raised.

Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Once they are cooled, you can decorate them with royal icing. 

Royal Icing

Beat egg whites in a large clean mixing bowl until foamy. Gradually add powdered sugar and lemon extract. Beat at high speed until thickened. The mixture should hold light peaks.

To Decorate

Use a piping bag, decorating tube, or a ziploc bag with a tiny hole cut out of the corner. Decorate your cookies as you wish. when the royal icing dries it will lose its glossy sheen. Once it's hard, the decoration will not smudge or move.

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