Gingerbread cookies with cocoa for the New Year holidays

These cookies are great to cook with children. Let this be one of the very first New Year's activities for you.

Ingredients

• 450 g flour
• 140 g honey
• 150 g butter
• 2 eggs
• 140 g sugar
• 30 g cocoa
• finely grated zest of 1 orange
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon, cardamom, star anise, ginger and cloves
• 0.5 tsp soda slaked with lemon juice
• for glaze:
• 2 squirrels
• 300-350 g icing sugar
• 1 tbsp. l. corn starch
• 1 tbsp. l. lemon juice
• food colors of different colors

Directions

1. For the dough, combine all the spices, zest, honey and butter, cut into pieces. Heat the mixture in a water bath, stirring occasionally. The butter should completely melt. Cool slightly.
2. Beat eggs with sugar until smooth and fluffy. Mix with honey mixture.
3. Sift the cocoa flour. Add baking soda. Add the egg-honey mass to the dry mixture, mix gently until smooth. Divide the dough into several pieces. Place in plastic food containers, close and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. if possible for 2-4 days.
4. Roll out the dough pieces into a 4-5 mm thick layer. Cut out the cookies. Bake at 180 ° C for 10 minutes. Cool completely.
5. Prepare the frosting just before decorating the cookies. Otherwise, it may freeze. To prepare it, whisk the whites quickly, only until smooth. Continuing to beat, add in portions (about 1-2 tablespoons each) powdered sugar, sifted with cornstarch. Add lemon juice. Bring the icing to the desired consistency. Divide into bowls and touch each part with a separate dye. Spread the icing over the pastry bags and decorate the finished cookies.