Perfect little gingerbread bears for you and your kids to bake! #Paddington2

Instructions

1. Make sure you have enough space to place two baking trays (or one large tray if that's what you're using) in your oven and if you are unsure or need help ask an adult- that's what they're there for. preheat the oven to 200°C/ 400°F /Gas mark 6.
2. Lightly grease (using butter or margarine) the baking trays.
3. Sift (being careful and trying not to make it go everywhere) the flour, salt- don't eat it!-, ginger, and cinnamon through a sieve into your mixing bowl.
4. If you have not already done so, measure out the butter and slice -with the round-bladed knife- into tiny pieces (if you need to; get an adult help) and add to the mixture. When you have added the butter, rub it together in between your fingertips to make a breadcrumb-like consistency.
5. Add the soft brown sugar, mix with the wooden spoon.
6. To make the dough, measure out the milk and mix it into the flour until it becomes stiffer. When you can; to pick it up and form a ball of dough - TIP if your dough is too stiff then add a bit more flour combining the ingredients together with your hands until you get a firm but the mildly squishy dough and it shouldn't be sticky or gooey.
7. Sprinkle a fair amount of flour on a clean work surface, and place your ball of dough onto the worktop.
8. Roll out the dough (with a floured rolling pin) until fairly thin, as they will rise in the oven and if they are too thick they will not cook all way through.
9. Cut out your beautiful bears with your cookie/ biscuit cutter.
10. Gather together all the trimmings, and repeat steps 7-10 but you may need more flour on the surface.
11. Place your freshly cut bears on one of your greased baking trays.
12. You now need to decorate your bears BEFORE putting them in the oven.

For the decoration

1. Push three (or more, possibly more three is the suggested number) gold or silver balls or currants into the yummy bears as buttons.
2. Bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes. They should be hard or maybe slightly squishy but if they are really squishy then put them back in for another couple of minutes to harden.
3. Leave them on the wire cooling rack for at least 10 minutes to cool before icing them.
4. Mix icing sugar with water to make white icing and put in the icing bag or syringe.
5. You may ice your biscuits any way with any colour icing -like I did- but you can ice on eyes and a nose and mouth if you like too.
6. If they are for others you can trim some luggage labels and write names on them and say "for Judy" and tie around the bears neck.