In the sixteenth century, Queen Elizabeth of England wanted cakes spiced with ginger to be baked in the shapes of her friends. Since then, gingerbread men have been a popular holiday treat for households and as gifts to those we care about.

Early December, we have an annual Christmas tradition of baking gingerbread men – but we make them GIANT! They are about the size of a dinner plate and are so fun to decorate that every year we invite friends over for a party.

Each guest receives their own freshly-baked giant gingerbread man on parchment paper. They are instructed to cover the soft gingerbread with vanilla icing as a base. In the center of the table we provide a plethora of candies to decorate the iced gingerbread men.  We listen to Christmas music, turn on the Christmas lights and make it a festive and memorable time for all.

Our favorite decorative toppings are:

• Chocolate chips
• Licorice/Twizzlers
• M&Ms (both with and without peanuts)
• Skittles
• Gummy worms
• Gum drops
• Sour Patch Kids
• Jelly beans
• Caramel bits
• Mini marshmallows
• Sprinkles

To make your own giant gingerbread men from scratch, use the recipe below. Once the dough is mixed, roll about a 1/4 inch thick on a floured surface.

Print this template. Cut out the shape, then place it over the rolled dough. Using a knife, carefully cut the dough around the template. Peel the paper template away (save it for the next gingerbread man), then use a spatula to move your gingerbread figure to a cookie sheet.

Once the gingerbread men are baked, remove them from the cookie sheet. Once cool, stack them between squares of parchment paper until you are ready to decorate them.

It’s always fun to see the final results – we’ve ended up with our gingerbread men looking like celebrities, zombies, fairy tale characters, the president and more. It’s so easy, and it’s a great reason to have lots of friends over to celebrate the Christmas season!