Heat milk until it is lukewarm. If you touch it with your hand, it should feel WARM, but not hot.

To the milk add Yeast, 2 teaspoons of Sugar, 2 teaspoons of flour. Stir to combine... set in a draft free, warm place for 10 minutes (I set it in my oven... with no heat)

In a stand mixer combine the rest of the flour, the rest of the sugar, lemon zest, butter, vanilla, egg, (Cardamom if wanted) pinch of salt... turn machine on to mix these ingredients up a bit.

When the milk/yeast is bubbly, add it to the flour.

Use a paddle to combine the ingredients. It will look like a sticky dough.

Knead for 10 minutes. (I use the dough hook on the mixer... but you can do it by hand.)

Let the dough rise in an oiled bowl for 1 hour... it will double in size. (I cover mine with plastic wrap, and put it back in the oven ... no heat... )

When the dough has risen, turn it out onto a floured surface.

Divide the dough into pieces... one for each little man. How many? I made 8 with my dough... you can make more (with smaller pieces) or less if you want BIGGER men.

Form each piece into a sort of rectangle.

Squeeze in a bit where the neck should be.

Cut a diagonal on each side or the torso for arms

Cut between the legs.

Sort of fix the shape to how you like it.

You can point the head for a hat... or stretch the legs to make them longer... or fold the arms on the chest.

Turn the dough onto the counter

With a rolling pin, roll the dough to 1 cm thickness

Cut with the cutter, and carefully transfer the men to a lined cookie sheet. (careful, the legs stretch!)

Let rise for 30 minutes.

Combine the Egg Yolk with Milk. Mix it up well! You don't want blobby bits. (I add a little sugar to spread the sweetness... it's a kid thing)

Paint the dough men with the egg wash using a pastry brush. Don't be sloppy about this part...the egg wash makes it shiny, and empty spots look funny.

Now comes the fun part... make eyes and a mouth using raisins or cranberries (or even chocolate chips). Some people (not me) are super talented, can can make lots of cute features like buttons or a beard.

I can add eyes and a mouth. My creativity is limited to cutting the cranberries down to size so they don't look over sized.

If you have one, tuck the pipe under his arm.

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

I put in 2 pans with 4 Men on each onto 2 racks... baked 12 minutes, then switched them around, and baked 12 minutes more.

If you make bigger ones, you will have to bake longer ... maybe 30 minutes total?

If you are just baking on one sheet or you have a convection oven, you may be able to go a little shorter.

Let sit on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes after baking, then move to a cooling rack.