Gingerbread Cookies
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy.
These festive gingerbread cookies are easy to make, and they taste as wonderful as they look.
I love to decorate holiday and Christmas cookies. Once I get started, I can get into the zone for hours, happily wielding colorful icing bags and sparkly candies to create everything from dapper gingerbread men to cut-out sugar cookies in the shape of adorable snowmen. The challenge with iced holiday cookies is that, usually, the prettier they are, the worse they taste—and gingerbread is often the worst offender! But that’s not the case with these adorable gingerbread cookies. Flavored with molasses, ginger, and warm spices, with a crisp-outside and soft-inside texture, they taste as wonderful as they look. If you love the flavor of these cookies but want a quicker turnaround, my old-fashioned molasses cookies will satisfy that craving.
“Literally flawless… They are amazing. Better than any gingerbread I have ever had.”
What You’ll Need To Make Gingerbread Cookies
- Flour: Forms the base of the dough, providing structure and stability to the cookies.
- Baking Soda: Helps the cookies rise.
- Ground Ginger, Cinnamon, Allspice, Cloves, Black Pepper: Infuse the cookies with warm, aromatic spices, giving them that classic gingerbread flavor.
- Butter: Adds richness and flavor to the cookies, ensuring they are tender yet crispy.
- Granulated and Dark Brown Sugar: Sweeten the dough and contribute to its moisture.
- Egg: Binds the ingredients together, adding structure and helping the cookies hold their shape.
- Molasses: Imparts hints of caramel and toffee flavors and adds moisture to the cookies.
- Royal Icing or Store-bought Icing: Used for decorating.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-By-Step Instructions
To begin, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and black pepper in a medium bowl.
Whisk to combine.
Combine the butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer.
Beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Beat in the egg and molasses.
Add the flour mixture and mix until combined.
The dough will be quite sticky.
Divide the dough into two discs, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least one hour or up to a few days.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place on a lightly floured work surface. Dust more flour over the dough. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to about 1/8-inch thick, turning and adding more flour under and over the dough as necessary.
Cut out shapes with a cookie cutter and transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets.
Bake the cookies, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back midway through, for 8 to 10 minutes or until they feel firm. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for several minutes, or until set, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Use royal icing or store-bought icing to decorate the cookies.
Make-Ahead, Freezing & Storage Instructions
The cookies will keep nicely stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 to 4 days. The cookie dough can be frozen for up to 3 months. Shape the dough into 2 discs, wrap each securely in plastic wrap, and place them in a sealable bag. When ready to bake, remove the disks from the freezer, thaw the dough until pliable, and then proceed with recipe. To freeze the cookies after baking, let them cool completely and store in an airtight container separating layers with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Before serving, remove the cookies from the container and let them come to room temperature.
You May Also Like
Gingerbread Cookies
These festive gingerbread cookies are easy to make, and they taste as wonderful as they look.
Ingredients
- 2¾ cups all purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- Heaping ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1½ sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 6 tablespoons unsulphured molasses, such as Grandma's Original
- Royal icing or store-bought icing, for decorating
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and black pepper.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or beaters, beat the butter and sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg and molasses.
- Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until combined. Divide the dough in half and shape into two discs. Wrap the discs in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator until firm, at least 1 hour or up to three days.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F ; set two racks near the middle of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator. (If the dough has been in the fridge for longer than an hour, you'll need to let it sit out at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes and knead it briefly until it is supple enough to roll.) Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Dust more flour over the dough. Roll, turning and adding more flour under and over the dough as necessary, to about ⅛-inch thick (or for softer cookies, roll to ¼-inch thick). Cut out shapes with a cookie cutter and transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheets, using a spatula if necessary. Gather the dough scraps and knead into a ball, then roll out and cut again, adding more flour as necessary. Repeat until scraps are used up.
- Bake the cookies, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back midway through, for 8 to 10 minutes or until they feel firm. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for several minutes until set, then transfer to a rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- When the cookies are completely cool, decorate with icing. Let the icing set completely, a few hours, then store in an airtight container.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The Cookie Dough can be Frozen for up to 3 Months: Shape the dough into 2 discs, wrap each securely in plastic wrap, and place them in a sealable bag. When ready to bake, remove the disks from the freezer, thaw the dough until pliable, and then proceed with recipe. To Freeze After Baking: Let the cookies cool completely and store in an airtight container separating layers with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Before serving, remove the cookies from the container and let them come to room temperature.
Nutrition Information
Powered by 
- Serving size: 1 cookie without icing
- Calories: 78
- Fat: 3 g
- Saturated fat: 2 g
- Carbohydrates: 11 g
- Sugar: 6 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Sodium: 73 mg
- Cholesterol: 12 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
See more recipes:
Comments
Add a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
The flavour is wonderful! This will be my go-to recipe, but I’d really like some advice on how to solve the two problems I had. I rolled them 1/4″ inch and they melted and looked a bit blobby. Not the lovely tight shape I see in your photo. Also, the surface cracked rather than being smooth. I used an oven thermometer to make sure my oven was the correct temperature. Do you have any idea why the cracks on the surface and the loss of shape? I am at 7,400 feet.
Hi Lynne, I have a feeling the issues have to do with your elevation. I don’t have any experience baking at high altitudes but you might want to check this high-altitude baking guide from King Arthur. Hope that helps!
Hi Jenn
Every one of your recipes is amazing,! Went to make these now but only have light brown sugar will that work?
Thanks so much
Melissa
Light brown sugar is fine, Melissa. Enjoy!
This has become my new Favourite Gingerbread recipe. I really like a good ginger flavour, so I increased the ginger to 3 tsp.and the cinnamon to 1 1/2 tsp. It is a softer gingerbread than my old tried and true, so although I like flavour better and will use this for my future gingerbread men, I would not use it in the construction of my gingerbread house as I prefer a sturdier gingerbread for that. It says a lot, however that this recipe will be replacing the one I have used for over 40 years!
Can I use just one type of sugar for these cookies? I only have granulated on hand. Thanks!
Hi Maggie, For best results, I recommend sticking with both sugars — sorry!
My family has a tradition of baking gingerbread cookies every year. This year we tried your recipe and it is amazing!! No more Betty Crocker for this crew! Its the only gingerbread recipe I’ve tried that actually tastes GREAT! Can’t wait to bake them again next year.
I did find that the refrigerated dough was a little sticky, even with added flour. I didn’t want to over-flour, so I decided to try rolling a few sheets between parchment paper to the ~1/8 to 1/4 thickness, and then stuck them in the freezer until I was ready to cut them out. The frozen dough was much easier to work than the refrigerated dough!
I love the look of this recipe and cant wait to try it! Quick question, how long will they keep and can the dough be frozen? Thanks Nikki
Hi Nikki, The cookies will keep nicely for 3 – 4 days and both the dough and the baked cookies can be frozen. For freezing the dough, shape it into 2 discs, wrap each securely in plastic wrap, and place them in a sealable bag. When ready to bake, remove the disks from the freezer, thaw the dough until pliable, and then proceed with recipe. To freeze them after baking: Let the cookies cool completely and store in an airtight container separating layers with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Before serving, remove the cookies from the container and let them come to room temperature.
Does the size of the gingerbread men determine length of baking time? My cutters are large – 51/2” x 4 1/2”.
Hi Doreen, They may take a minute or so longer at that size but I’d still start checking at the suggested baking time. Hope you enjoy!
WOW.
I thought I didn’t like gingerbread cookies…
until this.
My family loves them, baking, decorating and eating, so I have made it every year for as long as I can remember. Only I didn’t use to eat them.
This recipe is so easy and the dough comes together beautifully and it is just the right consistency for cookie cutting. I ice them with royal icing and decorations and it is still not overly sweet.
Amazing. Grateful!
I followed the instructions exactly. The cookies came out flat and some looked like a big blob and not a ginger bread man shape. The whole batch was a waste. I will try a different recipe this time.
So sorry you had trouble! These cookies always hold their shape for me.
What temperature do you bake them?
Hi Molly, these get baked at 350°F. Enjoy!