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I LOVE making Gingerbread Cookies during the holidays! Use this simple, delicious recipe to create a tradition the whole family can enjoy.
Gingerbread Cookies
Yum! Just looking at an image of a gingerbread cookie takes me back to the warm, inviting spicy aroma of a kitchen at Christmas time. The cinnamon spice, ginger and cloves in this recipe make the whole house smell welcoming. Plus, this is one of the easiest and most delicious gingerbread cookie recipes ever! Make a batch or two around the holidays, grab some sprinkles and candies and enjoy an afternoon of cookie decorating with your children.
Table of Contents
Ingredients in Gingerbread Cookies
Just a few simple spices and pantry staples make up this fragrant, soft cookie recipe. Here’s what you need:
- Butter – I like to use softened, unsalted butter for this recipe, to control the amount of sodium and flavor of the cookie. But if you have salted butter on hand, you can use it too!
- Brown sugar – Dark brown sugar gives this cookie recipe a deeper color and flavor but you can use light brown sugar or a combination of both.
- Egg – Allow your eggs to sit at room temperature for a bit before adding to the cookie mixture.
- Molasses – Here’s where you get that dark color and sweet, slightly savory flavor that makes gingerbread cookies so unique.
- All purpose flour – Give your flour a quick sift before adding the flour mixture to the rest of the wet ingredients.
- Ginger – A must-have ingredient for gingerbread cookies! It has a slightly peppery yet sweet flavor.
- Baking soda – Always make sure your baking soda is fresh and not expired.
- Cinnamon – There’s something so comforting about the sweetness and spiciness of the aroma of cinnamon. It tastes pretty good, too!
- Cloves – The warm, slightly woodsy fragrance of cloves, just remind me of Christmas.
- Salt – balances out the sweetness and enhances the flavors of the cookie.
- Royal Icing – This is an easy recipe that can be used to decorate all kinds of cookies!
- Candy – optional for garnish
Tips for Mixing and Baking
- Make sure to use room temperature butter, and use the paddle attachment of your stand mixer on high speed to mix it until smooth. Then, add in your egg and molasses and mix together at low speed.
- Mix all your dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then add to the wet ingredients a little at a time until it’s mixed thoroughly.
- Divide the dough in half making two balls and wrap them individually in plastic wrap. Only half of the dough is rolled out at once, so separating into two balls while it’s at room temperature will make it easier to roll out half of the chilled dough.
- Chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least four hours. The colder the dough, the easier it will be to roll out and shape with the cookie cutter.
- Take one dough ball out of the refrigerator and roll out on a lightly floured surface. Roll it evenly so it’s about ¼ of an inch thick. I like to use a rolling pin with adjustable rings to help achieve a consistent thickness.
- Cut into shapes, then bake on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat. You can also use a cookie sheet greased well with cooking spray.
- Cool on a cooling rack, then decorate!
Decorating Gingerbread Cookies
To decorate these cookies, I used our Royal Icing and piped the frosting on using a really small tip so I could do all the details and outlining. I decorated with chocolate chips to go for a clean, simple look but you can use any icing and candies that you want!
- Try decorating with M&Ms, red hots or other colorful candies
- Why stop at gingerbread men? Using a variety of holiday cookie cutters and then decorating them, the possibilities are endless. Snowflakes, candy canes, angels, stockings, little trees or stars are all fun to bake and decorate.
- If buttercream frosting is what you prefer, try our easy vanilla buttercream frosting and cover the entire cookie with frosting and sprinkles.
- Make a gingerbread house! Read below for tips on how to make a sturdy house that’s fun to decorate and display for the holidays.
Frequently Asked Questions about Gingerbread Cookies
The Royal Icing is really easy to decorate with, just make sure that you keep it covered with a damp dish towel when you aren’t using it so it doesn’t dry out.
Gingersnaps bake for longer to get their crispiness. Gingerbread cookies are supposed to be a bit softer and chewier.
Use cookie cutters or a knife to cut shapes when the dough is raw. But if they come out misshapen after baking, trim the cookies into to their original shapes while the gingerbread is still warm.
More Holiday Cookies to Make with Your Family
If you’re anything like us, the holidays mean lots and lots of baking! We love to make all kinds of treats for our family and friends to enjoy! We hope these other holiday cookie recipes will fill your kitchen not only with amazing aromas, but with memorable moments as well!
- Chocolate Orange Cookies
- Dipped Ritz Cookies
- Andes Mint Cookies
- Elf Cookies
- Molasses Cookies
- The Best Christmas Sugar Cookies Ever – and How to Decorate Them
- 3-Ingredient Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Gingerbread Cookies
Video
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup butter softened
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 3/4 cup molasses
- 4 cups flour
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp salt
- Frosting I used Royal Icing colored white, red and green
Instructions
- In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until smooth. Add egg and molasses.
- In a different bowl, mix all dry ingredients. Slowly add to the wet ingredients while stirring. Mix until combined.
- Divide the dough in half and shape into two balls. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
- Remove one from fridge and bring to room temperature (let it sit out for 15 minutes, or microwave for about 10 seconds). Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- On a floured surface, roll dough out to about ¼ inch thickness. Cut rolled out dough with cookie cutters.
- Place cut-out dough on a baking sheet that is greased or lined with parchment paper or silicone mat.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes. Let the cookies rest for 5 min on the baking sheet before moving them to a cooling rack.
- Once the cookies are completely cooled, decorate with royal icing or any candies and enjoy!
Notes
- Make sure to use room temperature butter, and use the paddle attachment of your stand mixer on high speed to mix it until smooth. Then, add in your egg and molasses and mix together at low speed.
- Divide the dough in half making two balls and wrap them individually in plastic wrap. Only half of the dough is rolled out at once, so separating into two balls while it’s at room temperature will make it easier to roll out half of the chilled dough.
- Chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least four hours. The colder the dough, the easier it will be to roll out and shape with the cookie cutter.
Nutrition Information
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This was really informational!
A delish crispy cookie.