Gingerbread Cookies
The perfect gingerbread cookies
Gingerbread is practically synonymous with Christmastime, so it’s only right that I include a gingerbread cookie recipe in my 12 Days of Cookies series!
To me, it’s so much fun to spend the day baking the cookies and decorating them.
This is the ideal recipe to use for doing that, because it makes a ton of cookies so you can easily make baking and decorating the gingerbread a family event, and there will be plenty for everyone to get creative with!
Also, I don’t know about you, but usually when I have a gingerbread cookie it’s super pretty, but the taste doesn’t measure up to the look. A lot of gingerbread cookies I’ve had are just dry and don’t have much flavor.
These are different. They stay soft and chewy for such a long time, and they are full of that warm spicy flavor!
While it’s pretty much a basic gingerbread cookie recipe, this is a gingerbread cookie you’ll actually want to eat, instead of just decorate and look at!
Long story short, it’s the best gingerbread cookie recipe I’ve tried.
What's in gingerbread cookies?
Here’s everything you’ll ned to make gingerbread cookies:
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Baking powder
- Butter
- Dark brown sugar
- Cinnamon, ground
- Ginger, ground
- Cloves, ground
- Pepper, ground
- Salt
- Eggs
- Molasses
How to make gingerbread cookies
Making gingerbread cookies is super straightforward, and the dough will come together in a snap! Here’s everything you need to know.
ONE: make the dough
First, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and set it aside.
next, cream together the butter and brown sugar until it’s light and fluffy. Mix in the spices and salt, then add in the eggs and molasses and blend well. Lastly, Gradually add in the flour mixture until combined.
TWO: chill the dough
Why do we have to chill the dough? I’m super impatient so I hate chilling dough, but it truly is necessary. In this case, it’s important to chill the dough because it helps keep the cookies from spreading too much while baking, meaning they’ll keep their cute little shapes better!
A colder dough will also make it easier to handle and cut your shapes with cookie cutters, because it won’t be as sticky.
Once you have your dough made, divide it in half and wrap each piece in plastic. Dividing the dough in half will make it easier to roll out when it’s time to cut the shapes.
Chill the gingerbread cookie dough for at least one hour.
THREE: roll, cut, and bake
Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough out to 1/8 inch thick and cut your gingerbread shapes. Form the scraps of dough into a ball and roll out into another 1/8 inch sheet of dough to continue cutting gingerbread shapes.
Transfer the gingerbread cutouts to the prepared baking sheet. Bake the gingerbread cookies for about 20 minutes.
Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool.
Decorating
Have fun and get creative with this part! Use royal icing to pipe designs on the gingerbread cookies.
You can make your own royal icing by combining milk and powdered sugar until it’s a thick consistency.
To pipe it onto the cookies, if you don’t have a piping bag, transfer the royal icing to a plastic bag. The easiest way to do this is to open up the bag and place it in a cup, rolling the edges over the sides of the cup to keep it open while you pour in the icing.
Seal up the bag and snip off a small part of the corner. Start decorating!
Tip: if you make your own icing, you can make different batches and add different colors to each to have a variety of colors!
Alternatively, you can purchase a bag of icing at the store in the baking aisle.
I hope you enjoy this holiday classic! If you made this recipe or any other 12 Days of Cookies recipe, tag me on Instagram or leave a comment here!
Click here to see the whole 12 Days of Cookies Collection!
Gingerbread Cookies
It’s not the hoildays without gingerbread cookies! Cut them into gingerbread men, snowflakes, ornaments, or whatever shape you want and have fun decorating them! Plus, this gingerbread cookie recipe results in soft, chewy, flavorful cookies that will be just as fun to eat as they are to decorate!
- 6 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 1 cup dark brown sugar (packed)
- 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 4 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon pepper (finely ground)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup molasses
- Icing (for decorating)
- In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the spices and salt. Add the eggs and molasses and combine. Gradually add the flour mixture, and mix until a dough forms. Divide the dough in half and wrap each piece in plastic. Chill for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/8 inch thick and cut shapes out using cookie cutters. Transfer the gingerbread shapes to the prepared baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes.
- When the gingerbread cookies are done baking, transfer them to a wire rack to cool. Allow the cookies to cool completely before decorating with the icing.