Make Polish gingerbread cookies

This time last year we had just sent our trial subscribers the beautifully written and illustrated The Fish in the Bathtub by Eoin Colfer. It's a story set in Poland at Christmas and we included a recipe for delicious Polish gingerbread, or pierniczki (pronounced pier-nitch-key), in the activity pack that accompanied the book. Why not have a go at making some yourself this year?

Polish gingerbread cookies

Makes 15-20 cookies

You will need:

• 1 egg
• 175g light soft brown sugar
• 350g plain flour, plus extra for rolling out
• 125g unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp ground cloves
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 4 tablespoons golden syrup
• White icing (in a tube is easiest)

1. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light in colour.

2. Sift the flour, spices and bicarbonate of soda into the bowl, add the egg and golden syrup, then mix everything together until the mixture forms a clump.

3. Shape the dough into a ball, wrap it in cling film and leave to chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.

4. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4 and then line two baking trays with greaseproof paper.

5. Roll out the dough to a 0.5cm/¼in thickness on a lightly floured surface. Use cookie cutters to cut the dough into shapes of your choice. Place on the baking trays, leaving space between each one.

6. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until lightly golden-brown. Leave on the tray for 10 minutes and then move to a wire rack to finish cooling.

7. When cooled decorate with white icing.

Each month our book club subscribers receive an exciting parcel through the post containing a fantastic chapter book to keep and an activity pack crammed full of ideas and actvities just like this one, that encourage them to engage a bit more deeply with what they've read. Find out more about our subscriptions here.