This is my favorite gingerbread cookies recipe and it’s also loved by millions. Soft in the centers, crisp on the edges, and perfectly spiced. I played around with the spices a lot and really loved the flavor of these cookies when using a full Tablespoon each of ground ginger and ground cinnamon. Make sure you chill the cookie dough discs for a minimum of 3 hours.
Key Ingredients in Gingerbread Cookies
The full written recipe is below, but let’s
review a few key ingredients here first. Gingerbread cookie recipes all start
the same and mine comes from my mom. To her recipe, I add a little more
molasses and increase the amount of spice flavors (cinnamon, ginger, cloves,
and allspice). Because of the added sticky sweetener (molasses), I add a little
more flour to help soak it all up. Flour so the cookies can
keep their shape.
1. Molasses + spices for flavor.
2. Egg so the gingerbread cookies have structure and richness.
3 Brown sugar instead of white granulated sugar. I always use brown sugar when its flavor fits.
How to Make Gingerbread Cookies
Let’s walk through the gingerbread cookie recipe so you feel
confident when you begin baking.
Chill the dough: The dough is
sticky once it’s all beaten together in your mixing bowl and therefore, it
absolutely MUST be chilled for at least 3 hours. Give yourself enough time in
the kitchen or make the cookie dough and chill it overnight. You want your
cookie dough firm so the cookies hold their shape and you want your cookie
dough manageable so you can work with it. You won’t have either unless you have
chilled cookie dough!
Wrap up the dough: It’s easiest
to wrap the dough in plastic wrap before chilling. Scoop out 1/2 of the
prepared cookie dough, plop it onto a long sheet of plastic wrap, wrap it
up, and flatten it out into a disc. Repeat with the other 1/2 of
dough. Then chill. See that photo above? That’s what you’re doing, but you’ll
have 2 discs. Why are you doing this? It’s easier to roll out the chilled
cookie dough when it is in a disc shape. Also, the cookie dough chills faster
when there is less volume. And it’s just easier to work with smaller portions
when rolling/shaping!
Roll it out: After
chilling, roll out the chilled cookie dough discs until about 1/4-inch thick.
Don’t be afraid to flour your hands, rolling pin, work surface, and everything
in the world. By that, I mean: the cookie dough can become sticky as you work.
So, don’t be scared to add more flour to the work surface. The flour spots on
top of your shaped cookie dough will bake off.
Place the cut-out cookies onto a lined baking sheet about 1 inch apart. The cookies won’t really spread, but you want to make sure they have enough room to breathe. They are gingerbread people, after all. 😉
How to Decorate Gingerbread Cookies
After they’ve baked and cooled, it’s time to
decorate the cookies. We’re talking smiles, eyes, bow-ties, buttons, squiggles,
whatever your gingerbread cookie loving heart desires. This is when it’s really
fun to have a friend or little baker in the kitchen with you. You can use
the easy cookie icing or my traditional royal icing recipe,
whichever you prefer.
Tint the icing with a couple drops of food coloring to spice things up, too.
It’s difficult not to love this recipe which is why they’re my
favorite gingerbread cookies!
·
The dough comes
together easily
·
The flavor is spot
on- lots of molasses, ginger, cinnamon, all-spice, and cloves
·
The edges are
slightly crisp
·
The centers are soft
and chewy
· They’re so easy to decorate.
Gingerbread Cookies
·
Prep Time: 4 hours
·
Cook Time: 10 minutes
·
Total Time: 4 hours, 30
minutes
· Yield: 24 four-inch cookies
Ingredients
·
10
Tablespoons (2/3 cup; 145g) unsalted butter, softened
to room temperature
·
3/4 cup (150g)
packed light or dark brown sugar
·
2/3 cup (160ml)
unsulphured molasses
·
1 large egg,
at room temperature
·
1 teaspoon pure
vanilla extract
·
3 and 1/2 cups
(438g) all-purpose flour
·
1 teaspoon baking
soda
·
1/2 teaspoon salt
·
1 Tablespoon ground
ginger (yes, 1 full Tablespoon!)
·
1 Tablespoon ground
cinnamon
·
1/2 teaspoon ground
allspice
· 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
Instructions
1.
In a large bowl
using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat
the butter for 1 minute on medium speed until completely smooth and creamy. Add
the brown sugar and molasses and beat on medium high speed until combined and
creamy-looking. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Next,
beat in egg and vanilla on high speed for 2 full minutes. Scrape down the
sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. The butter may separate; that’s ok.
2.
In a separate
bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, allspice,
and cloves together until combined. On low speed, slowly mix into the wet
ingredients until combined. The cookie dough will be quite thick and slightly
sticky. Divide dough in half and place each onto a large piece of
plastic wrap. Wrap each up tightly and pat down to create a disc shape. Please
see photo and description above in my post. Chill discs for at least 3 hours
and up to 3 days. Chilling is mandatory for this cookie dough. I always chill
mine overnight.
3.
Preheat oven to
350°F (177°C). Line 2-3 large baking sheets with parchment paper or
silicone baking mats cookies.) Set aside.
4.
Remove 1 disc of
chilled cookie dough from the refrigerator. Generously flour a work surface, as
well as your hands and the rolling pin. Roll out disc until 1/4-inch thick.
Tips for rolling– the dough may crack and be crumbly as you roll. What’s
helpful is picking it up and rotating it as you go. Additionally, you can use
your fingers to help meld the cracking edges back together. The first few rolls
are always the hardest since the dough is so stiff, but re-rolling the scraps
is much easier. Cut into shapes. Place shapes 1 inch apart on prepared baking
sheets. Re-roll dough scraps until all the dough is shaped. Repeat with
remaining disc of dough.
5.
Bake cookies for
about 9-10 minutes. If your cookie cutters are smaller than 4 inches, bake for
about 8 minutes. If your cookie cutters are larger than 4 inches, bake for
about 11 minutes. My oven has hot spots and yours may too- so be sure to rotate
the pan once during bake time. Keep in mind that the longer the cookies bake,
the harder and crunchier they’ll be. For soft gingerbread cookies, follow my
suggested bake times.
6.
Allow cookies to
cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet. Transfer to cooling rack to cool
completely. Once completely cool, decorate as desired.
7. Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Try and enjoy this amazing soft and easy Gingerbread cookies recipe the best of all for a magnificient Christmas.
Check “My favorite
Gingerbread cookies”.
Try this “Best
Christmas Recipe of the season”.
Have a wonderful Breakfast!
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