Gingerbread Cookies- A classic favorite that gets made only during the holiday season. This cookie is soft, chewy, and perfectly spiced. It is the perfect cookie for cookie decorating and eating.
The holidays are here, and what better way to celebrate the season than by baking a batch of soft, chewy gingerbread cookies? Not only are they perfect for decorating, but they also taste delicious!
I know I'm not the only one who's ever made cookies that are so beautiful, but they don't taste the same! Isn't it just so disappointing?
As you can tell I made these cookies with the inspiration of Gingy from Shrek! I just couldn't help but decorate my cookies to look like him or at least a version of him.
Why You'll love these Gingerbread cookies:
Festive Flavors Gingerbread cookies have a bursting of warm comforting flavors of ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice. Each bite is perfect for the holiday season, making them a must have for Christmas.
Soft and Chewy: Gingerbread cookies are usually hard and crisp. But this gingerbread cookie dough is made with lots of brown sugar and molasses giving you the perfect chewy and soft cookie.
Decorating: The fun part just isn't eating the cookies but decorating. It's a fun journey and activity altogether. These cookies give you the perfect flat cookie surface to decorate on.
Easy: It's an easy dough to mix. Don't let the decorating intimidate you, feel free to be as creative as you want to be.
Share the Love: There's something magical about sharing homemade treats during the holidays. Whether you're gifting them to neighbors or simply enjoying them with your loved ones, these gingerbread cookies are a great way to spread the love and warmth of the season.
Gingerbread Cookie Ingredients:
- All-purpose flour: No other flours were tested but all-purpose flour provides this cookie with all the right textures.
- Dark brown sugar: Light brown sugar can be substituted in this recipe. I would not recommend substituting with granulated sugar.
- Spices: This recipe uses plenty of cinnamon, ginger, cloves and allspice. Feel free to add less or more to your taste.
- Molasses: A must-have for gingerbread cookies, please do not use black strap molasses
- Egg: I always use large eggs, eggs help puff and combine the dough
- Butter: Unsalted Butter real butter for the best cookies
How to make Gingerbread Cookies:
Preheat your oven to 350°F and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the egg to the butter-sugar mixture, beating well after each addition. Then, mix in the molasses and vanilla extract until smooth.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients on low speed, mixing until a soft dough forms.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight if time permits.
Take the chilled dough out of the refrigerator and roll out the dough with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to ½ inch thickness. Use your favorite cookie cutters to cut out shapes desired.
Place the cut-out cookies on the prepared baking sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes.
Allow the cookies to cool for 5 to 7 minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring to a wire rack to allow the baked cookies to fully cool.
To make the Royal Icing:
Add the powdered sugar to your stand mixer. In a small bowl add corn syrup, meringue powder, water, and clear vanilla extract and mix. Slowly add the mixture to the powdered sugar and mix on low for 15 seconds and then medium to high speed for 5 minutes. Slowly adjust the consistency of the royal icing by slowly adding a teaspoon of water at a time. Divide the royal icing into medium-sized bowls and add gel food coloring. Place icing into a piping bag and then plastic wrap the remaining royal icing to prevent a skin from forming on the royal icing.
Decorating Gingerbread Cookies
Outline the gingerbread cookie first with the color desired.
Fill in the cookie with the royal icing using the tip to spread the icing as you go.
Add sprinkles and have fun!
Cookie Storage:
Allow the cookies to fully set and harden on a wire rack before storing or packaging. Store them in a single layer with sheets of parchment paper in between in an airtight container. Cookies will stay moist for up to 4 days at room temperature.
Gingerbread Cookies FAQS:
What can I freeze?
- Royal icing: just let it thaw out in the fridge the night before using. Rewhip in a stand mixer if needed.
- Iced Cookies: Bag the cookies individually and then place them in freezer bags. Just allow the cookies to thaw at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes before enjoying.
- Baked Cookies: Arrange baked cookies in a single layer in an airtight container with parchment paper in between each layer
- Frozen Dough: Wrap the sugar cookie dough tightly in plastic wrap. The dough can be 3 months in advance and frozen.
Freezing is a great way to get ahead if you are making a lot of these gingerbread cookies, especially during the busy holiday season.
Can I use this recipe for Gingerbread Houses?
No, unfortunately not. This gingerbread recipe is too soft and wouldn't be able to be firm enough for a house.
How can I prep this in advance?
You can make the dough 3 days before plastic wrap and leave in the refrigerator until needed. These gingerbread cookies are great baked ahead also, cookies can be baked 2 days in advanced and store in an airtight container until needed.
Simple Gingerbread Cookie Tips:
Measure ingredients properly- Some recipes really do better when it's measure with a scale. Using a scale provides the same results every time.
Know your oven- Every oven is different, adjust the baking time according to your oven and the size of what you are making. Your cookie cutters may be smaller than mine so you would have to bake the cookies with less time. If your dough is rolled thinner or just slightly thinner you would also have to adjust the bake time.
Here's a link similar to this large gingerbread cookie cutter.
Soft and chewy Gingerbread cookies
Equipment
- 1 Large Gingerbread Cutter
Ingredients
Gingerbread Dough
- 12 tablespoon Unsalted Butter softened
- ¾ cup Dark Brown Sugar
- 1 Large egg
- ¾ cup Molasses
- 3 ¼ cup All Purpose Flour
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ¾ teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 tablespoon Cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon Ground Ginger
- ½ teaspoon Cloves
- ¼ tsp Allspice
Royal Icing:
- 1 lb Powdered Sugar
- 3 tablespoon Meringue Powder
- 1 tablespoon Light Corn Syrup
- 1 teaspoon Clear Vanilla Extract
- 4 to 10 tablespoon Water
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg to the butter-sugar mixture, beating well after each addition. Then, mix in the molasses and vanilla extract until smooth.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients on low speed, mixing until a soft dough forms.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight if time permits.
- Take the chilled dough out of the refrigerator and roll out the dough with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to ½ inch thickness. Use your favorite cookie cutters to cut out shapes desired.
- Place the cut-out cookies on the prepared baking sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes.
- Allow the cookies to cool for 5 to 7 minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring to a wire rack to allow the baked cookies to fully cool.
Royal Icing:
- Add the powdered sugar to your stand mixer. In a small bowl add corn syrup, meringue powder, water, and clear vanilla extract and mix.
- Slowly add the mixture to the powdered sugar and mix on low for 15 seconds and then medium to high speed for 5 minutes. Slowly adjust the consistency of the royal icing by slowly adding a teaspoon of water at a time.
- Divide the royal icing into medium-sized bowls and add gel food coloring. Place the icing into a piping bag and then plastic wrap the remaining royal icing to prevent skin from forming on the royal icing.
- Decorate as desired with sprinkles and candies. Allow the cookies to fully dry before enjoying them!
If you loved this recipe, take a look at my other Christmas cookie recipes:
- Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies
- Chocolate Peppermint Sandwich Cookies
- Buttery Thumbprint Cookies
- Dark Chocolate Cherry Shortbread Cookies
- How to make Linzer Cookies
- The Best Sugar Cut Out Cookie Recipe Ever
Recent Recipes in my Kitchen:
Easy to follow and makes the best!