Gingerbread place cards for guests

Ingredients:

Gingerbread

• 57 g butter, room temperature
• 6 tbsp. l. brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons molasses or dark treacle
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 150 g + 2 tbsp. premium flour
• 3/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Royal icing

• 1.5 tbsp dry egg white
• 260 g of powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons of warm water

Preparation:

1. Beat the butter with the brown sugar and molasses until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat well after adding.
2. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, ginger, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and allspice. Add this dry mixture to the butter mixture and stir until combined. Form the dough into 2 discs. Wrap them in plastic wrap and freeze for about an hour or up to 2 days (the dough will remain soft even after freezing).
3. Preheat oven to 180°C and line 2-3 baking sheets with parchment paper.
4. Roll out the first disk of dough on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of just over 0.3 cm. Using a knife or pastry cutter, cut out rectangles the size of a standard business card (8 by 5 cm) and smaller strips (about 5 cm long and 1 cm wide).
   
   Carefully lift and transfer them to the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 1 cm between each piece. Any trimmed dough can be frozen and then re-rolled until used.
5. Bake the gingerbread cookies for 15-18 minutes, until they're lightly browned around the edges. Let them cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before removing them to cool completely.
6. To prepare the glaze: Using an electric mixer, beat the dry egg white, powdered sugar and warm water until peaks form (10-12 minutes).
7. To collect cookiesFill a piping bag fitted with a small round tip with royal icing. Pipe names and designs onto large rectangular gingerbread cookies. To make sure the place cards are facing your guests, attach narrow baked strips to the back using royal icing. Let the cookies dry for 2 hours. Gingerbread cookies can be stored for up to a week in an airtight container..