Gingerbread cookies are a must-make treat for the holidays. They're soft, perfectly spiced, and hold their shape when baked in the oven. This recipe is ready to roll and bake just after mixing (no chilling required!) and includes a simple vanilla frosting that's easy to pipe.
Heather's recipe summary
Flavor/texture: Soft cut-out cookies with firm edges (perfect for decorating!) that are filled with cozy fall flavors like molasses, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.
Yield: 32 cookies
Similar to: Cut Out Sugar Cookies
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Ingredients and substitutions
- Molasses - I recommend Grandma's Original Molasses (a common brand found in grocery stores). Molasses is a must when baking gingerbread and creates its distinctive flavor. Light or dark molasses will work in this recipe (dark molasses adds a stronger molasses flavor).
- Butter - Unsalted butter and ¼ teaspoon of salt can be substituted with salted butter if needed. Make sure your butter is room temperature, not melted or cold. Melted butter will cause your cookies to spread in the oven, and cold butter can cause the dough to mix unevenly.
How to make gingerbread cookies
- In a large bowl, cream together the wet ingredients.
- Add the whisked dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Divide dough in half and place one half on a floured surface.
- Dust all items with flour, including your rolling pin and cookie cutters.
- Roll dough out to ¼" thickness and cut out shapes.
- Place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 8-9 minutes.
- Cool completely, then decorate with icing.
Heather's Top Tip
For accurate results every time, use a kitchen scale to measure flour by weight. If you don't have a kitchen scale, use the spoon and level method. Stir the flour (especially if it's been packed down in a bag/container), then gently spoon into the measuring cup, leveling off the top with a knife. Scooping with a measuring cup compacts flour into the cup and adds up to 25% extra to the recipe, resulting in dry, bland baked goods.
Tips and tricks
Sticky dough - If your dough feels sticky while rolling out, dust the dough, countertop, and rolling pin with additional flour. If needed, refrigerate your dough for up to 15 minutes, then try rolling it out again. Resist the urge to knead flour into the dough. This will cause your cookies to turn out tough.
Decorating cookies - Use a ziptop bag with a small corner snipped to pipe icing onto cookies. Add a face, squiggles, buttons, bow ties, and more. Use food coloring to add red or green accents, or add sprinkles before the icing sets. Add an extra ½ tablespoon of milk for spreadable icing that can be applied with a knife.
Dry until set - Your icing may look set after a few minutes, but will take several hours to dry all the way through. Allow cookies to dry for several hours before stacking.
Frequently asked questions
No, this dough is soft when baked and is not sturdy enough to make a gingerbread house.
This recipe makes soft gingerbread cookies with firm edges.
You need a surprisingly small amount of milk to create icing with confectioners sugar! If your icing turns out too thin, add more confectioners sugar and stir until dissolved. If your icing is too thick, add a small amount of milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, until icing is thin enough to pipe or spread.
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📖 Recipe
Gingerbread Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup (115 g) molasses
- 1 large egg
- 2 ¾ cups (330 g) all-purpose flour, *measured properly
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
Icing
- 1 cup (113 g) confectioners sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoons (23 g) milk
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- gel food coloring, optional
Instructions
Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl with a hand mixer (or stand mixer), cream together butter and sugar. Add molasses and egg and beat until fluffy, about a minute.
- In a separate bowl, sift (or whisk) together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, salt, and cloves.
- Add dry ingredients to butter mixture and mix until just combined (do not overmix).
- Divide dough in half.
- Dust counter top, rolling pin, and top of dough with flour. Working with one half at a time, roll dough out to ¼" thickness, dusting with additional flour as needed to prevent sticking.
- Using cookie cutters, cut into various shapes and place onto prepared baking sheet about 1 inch apart.
- Bake cookies until cookies begin to lightly brown around edges and they no longer look wet on top, about 8 to 9 minutes.. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Icing
- In a bowl, combine confectioners sugar, milk, and vanilla extract, using a whisk if needed to remove clumps. Icing should be smooth and shiny.
- Optionally, divide icing between bowls and add gel food coloring to achieve desired colors.
- Spoon icing into a small ziptop bag, seal shut, then snip off a small corner. Pipe icing onto cookies in desired designs. Alternatively, use a knife to spread icing onto cookies (you may need an extra ½ tablespoon of milk to make icing more spreadable with a knife).
- Optionally, add sprinkles while icing is wet.
- Allow cookies to dry for several hours before stacking and/or storing.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- * How to measure flour properly: Use a kitchen scale to measure flour for accurate results every time. If you don't have a kitchen scale, use the spoon and level method. Stir the flour (especially if it's been packed down in a bag/container), then gently spoon into the measuring cup, leveling off the top with a knife. Scooping with a measuring cup compacts flour into the cup and adds up to 25% extra to the recipe, resulting in dry, bland cookies that don't spread properly.
- Storage: Gingerbread cookies will keep for 5 to 7 days in a tightly sealed container at room temperature. To help keep cookies fresh, place a slice of bread in the cookie container and replace when it dries out.
- Freezing: Cookies can be frozen for up to three months. To thaw, place on the countertop to bring to room temperature for 1 to 2 hours.
- Food coloring: Gel and liquid food coloring both work in this recipe.
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