The BEST Gingerbread Cookies
I have fond childhood memories of making cut-out Christmas cookies with my mom and grandma. While other people may love Cut-out Sugar Cookies, my favorites are cut-out gingerbread cookies! These gingerbread men cookies are soft and chewy rather than hard or crunchy. The edges are a bit firmer but overall they are soft gingerbread cookies. There’s plenty of ginger, molasses, and warming spices like cinnamon and allspice to really give these gingerbread cookies a classic flavor profile. I decorated the cookies with a basic royal icing that is soft and sweet but sets up enough so you can stack or pack your gingerbread men cookies as gifts or use them for cookie exchanges.
Cinnamon hearts and red and green sanding sugar complete the look of your classic gingerbread cookies. This will become a family-favorite Christmas cookie recipe for years to come! For anyone wanting a no-roll gingerbread cookie, you’ve got to try my Soft and Chewy Molasses Gingerdoodles or these Soft Molasses Coconut Oil Crinkle Cookies. Reader favorites every single year! Tip: This is a long and detailed post with lots of info and photos so you can make the best gingerbread cookies of your life. If you’re a cookie pro, keep scrolling down until you see the recipe card area with ingredient amounts listed and bypass my tips.
Ingredients in Gingerbread Cookies
To make the soft and chewy gingerbread cookie dough, you’ll need the following common fridge and pantry ingredients:
Salted butter Light brown sugar Granulated sugar Molasses Egg yolks Vanilla extract All-purpose flour Ground ginger Cinnamon Salt Baking powder Baking soda Allspice Nutmeg
For the royal icing used for decorating, you’ll need the following basic ingredients:
Confectioners’ sugar Salt Light corn syrup, optional but highly recommended Vanilla extract Milk (2% or whole recommended) Red and green food coloring, gel recommended Red cinnamon candies, optional Red and green sanding sugar or sprinkles, optional
How to Make Gingerbread Cookie Dough
To make your Christmas gingerbread cookie dough, follow these simple steps.
How to Roll Out Gingerbread Cookies
After you’ve refrigerated the dough for your classic gingerbread cookies, you’re ready to roll it out by doing the following:
How to Make Gingerbread Cookie Icing
To make traditional cut out gingerbread men, you’ll need the classic icing choice — royal icing! Royal icing is very easy to make, and I’ve outlined the process below. Tip: The consistency of the frosting should be that of toothpaste. It should be thick enough to have to use some pressure to push it out of a piping bag and should not be thin enough to spill out. Remember when adding the food coloring to the royal icing, if you are using a liquid and not a gel coloring, it will thin down the icing so avoid adding too much. This is why I recommend gel food coloring, apart from the better and more vibrant color results. Be sure to mix well after each addition of coloring.
Decorating Gingerbread Cookies with Royal Icing
Snip a hole in the tip of your piping bag or plastic bag, and hold the piping bag at a slightly tilted angle about ⅛” away from the cookie. Gently squeeze the piping bag to pipe the frosting in whatever design you so desire. Keep in mind that the larger the hole you snip into the bag, the more icing will come out. When the hole is large and the icing comes out very thick, it makes it harder to be precise. I like to pipe a white border around the edges and from there you can get creative! Tip: Start with a small snip before cutting it larger.
6 Gingerbread Cookie Decorating Ideas
Not sure what gingerbread decorations you should try? For ideas and creative variations how to decorate your classic gingerbread cookies, here are 6 ideas with photos for reference. Gingerbread Man Decoration #1 (photo below)
Gingerbread Man Decoration #2 (photo above)
Gingerbread Man Decoration #3 (photo above) Gingerbread Man Decoration #4 (photo below)
Gingerbread Man Decoration #5 (photo above)
Gingerbread Man Decoration #6 (photo above)
Cut Out Gingerbread Cookies Bake Time
I use a 3.75-inch gingerbread cookie cutter and bake the chewy gingerbread cookies for 8 to 9 minutes, on the center rack of the oven, rotating once midway through. I recommend also only baking one sheet of cookies at a time for optimal results. If you bake the cookies longer than the recommended baking time, you’ll wind up with crunchy, crispy, or downright hard cookies. If you use a smaller or larger cookie cutter, baking times will vary. Keep an eye on your cookies to make sure they’re neither under nor overdone.
Can I Halve the Recipe?
Yes, you can. The Christmas gingerbread recipe makes about 30 cookies as written, but this depends on exactly how many gingerbread men you can cut out of the dough, the size of your cutter, and so forth. Since you are going to the work of making cut-out Christmas cookies I say just make the recipe as written since the cookies keep extremely well, but do what you think is best.
What’s the Best Molasses for Gingerbread?
I recommend a middle of the road unsulphered molasses like Grandma’s. Some of the darker molasses varieties are incredibly strong and pungent tasting. Molasses already leans in this direction and you don’t want to select a brand that’s even more so in that direction because it could give the cookies a more bitter flavor.
Do I Have to Use Corn Syrup in the Royal Icing?
No you do not, although I strongly recommend it. If you omit it, there will be less of a pretty sheen to the final cookies. Additionally, the texture of the icing will be slightly different and crunchier (not my thing) as corn syrup makes it smoother.
Can Gingerbread Cookies Be Frozen?
I don’t freeze the cookies because they do keep so well at room temp, I’ve never felt the need to freeze them, or the unbaked dough, although both are possible.
How to Store Gingerbread Cookies
Classic gingerbread cookies keep amazing well airtight at room temp for up to one month. Yes, 1 month. This is because both the brown sugar and molasses in the dough are hydroponic (attract water or moisture) so they don’t dry out. If you’ve ever had a cake or cookies or some type of baked good that actually gets softer over time, this can happen with these cookies. It’s a stretch, but if you don’t seal them in an airtight container or ziptop bag, they could actually become too soft to the point of getting soggy. Just seal them well and you will be fine.
Tips for the Best Gingerbread Cookies
Don’t add extra flour: When making the dough, do not add any extra flour even if the dough seems too soft. Adding more flour will cause them to be hard and crunchy cookies. The dough should be soft and will firm up when in the fridge. If the cookie dough seems to be extremely difficult to roll out (stiff and hard): Simply let the dough rest and warm up for a few minutes. This makes it more pliable. Do not let the dough get too warm: When you cut the cookies, they can get stuck to the cookie cutter and lose their shape easier.
If the dough is sticking to the rolling pin: When rolling the cookies out, if they are sticking to the rolling pin, the dough may be too warm. Leave it on the cutting board and pop it back into the fridge for 10 minutes to chill. If they still seem to stick, you can very lightly sprinkle the top with some flour. If your royal icing is too thin: Add in powdered sugar a tablespoon at a time ensuring that you whisk really well each time. You do not want such a thick icing that it cannot be piped. If your royal icing is too thick: Add in a ½-1 tsp of milk and whisk well each time so as not to thin it down too much.
More Easy Christmas Cookies:
25 Holiday Cookie Favorites – The tried-and-true favorites are all here! If you need a holiday cookie recipe, this collection has you covered!! Tried this recipe? Leave a review! Consider leaving a 5 star rating if you’ve made and loved one of my recipes!
Soft & Chewy Molasses Gingerdoodles — These soft molasses cookies taste like a cross between chewy gingerbread cookies and crinkly snickerdoodles. An unbeatable holiday cookie recipe!
Soft Molasses Coconut Oil Crinkle Cookies — No butter, no problem. One of my favorite molasses cookie recipes!
Snowflake Linzer Cookies – Linzer cookies are the ultimate sandwich cookies! A layer of raspberry jam is tucked in between two buttery, nutty cookies and dusted with powdered sugar! Great Christmas cookies that are perfect to serve at your holiday parties or to include in cookie exchanges!
Classic Jam Thumbprint Cookies — These easy thumbprint cookies are tender, buttery, and the 3 different types of jam turns into chewy little jewels that make these nostalgic family favorite cookies! Great for holiday entertaining, cookie exchanges, showers, or just because! No one can resist the allure of these classic thumbprint cookies!
Christmas Cut Out Cookies — These traditional cut out sugar cookies are just like Grandma used to make!! They’re thin but still soft, topped with a simple 2-ingredient royal icing, and loaded with sprinkles! So festive and perfect for cookie exchanges or hostess gifts!!
Soft and Chewy M&M’s Chocolate Chip Cookies – If you’re looking for a new M&M cookie recipe, this is THE ONE! Soft, buttery, and irresistible!!
Santa’s Kitchen Sink Cookies — Santa and everyone else won’t be able to resist these AMAZING cookies loaded with everything but the kitchen sink!! EASY, festive, salty-sweet treats with a FUN ingredients list!!
Soft Frosted Holiday Sprinkles Cookies – Tender, buttery cookies topped with cream cheese frosting and loaded with sprinkles! Easy, no-roll holiday cookies that everyone goes crazy for!
Hot Chocolate Cookies — These gooey hot chocolate cookies are complete with big gooey marshmallows and chunks of melted dark chocolate. This is the perfect holiday cookie recipe!
