Holiday baking is one of my favorite ways to celebrate the Christmas season! Some of our other favorites are making English Toffee, Chocolate Crinkle Cookies, or Toffee Pecan Shortbread! Just the aroma of the molasses and cloves and ginger and cinnamon is enough to transport you to Santa’s workshop and make you feel like one of his baker elves. Soft & Chewy Gingerbread Men Cookies are part of my personal Christmas cookie trifecta. The other two cookies are these perfect peanut butter blossoms and classic sugar cookies decorated with frosting and sprinkles or M&Ms. With some simple ingredients you likely already have in your pantry, you can have fresh gingerbread cookies that are perfect for gifting or serving at your next Christmas party. Plus, this recipe is so easy that even beginners can make them successfully. The royal icing is super simple to make with just a little corn syrup for shine and no messing around with meringue powder, unlike classic royal icing. The best way to spread Christmas cheer might be singing out loud for all to hear, but this soft gingerbread cookies recipe comes in a close second! It’s easy to follow, produces perfectly soft and chewy cookies, and will be sure to please everyone at your Christmas cookie exchange. Plus, the gingerbread men are so cute! Be sure to try it out next time you’re in the mood for some ginger molasses goodness! If you also love all things gingerbread, be sure to check out my gingerbread cupcakes, gingerbread baked oatmeal, or gingerbread cinnamon rolls. This post was originally published in December, 2016. The photos and content were updated in December, 2022.
Salted butter Brown sugar Molasses – You want unsulphered, not blackstrap, molasses. My favorite brand is Grandma’s original molasses. Egg All-purpose flour Salt Baking soda Spices – A combination of ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice gives the best gingerbread flavor.
Royal Icing
Powdered sugar Vanilla extract or essence Light corn syrup Pinch of salt
Add the molasses (it really does help to spray your measuring cup with cooking spray before measuring the molasses (It will pour out more easily afterward) and egg. Mix again to combine, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Cook. Add the flour, salt, baking soda, and spices, then mix until everything is completely combined. Scrape the gingerbread cookie dough out of the bowl onto a large piece of plastic wrap, then wrap it up into a disc and put it in the refrigerator to chill for 3 hours or even overnight. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. On a floured surface, roll the dough out to ¼” thickness. I always find I need to be generous with the flour so the cookies don’t stick to the counter or the rolling pin (affiliate link), but you don’t need to worry about having cookies that look dusted by flour because it will be absorbed into the dough as the cookies get rolled out. Assemble. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters. Carefully transfer the cookies to the baking sheets, leaving a little space between each cookie. They don’t spread much, but you don’t want them touching while they are baking. Bake for about 10 minutes until they just start to look set but do not overbake, or they won’t stay soft. Let cool for 5-10 minutes on the pan. Remove from cookie sheets to cool completely on a wire rack. Frost or decorate when cool with royal icing. Finish. Whisk together the powdered sugar, vanilla, corn syrup, and 2 tablespoons of water. The royal icing should be thick, but if it is TOO thick, whisk in another ½ tablespoon of water at a time, checking consistency after each half tablespoon. If you go too far and it gets too runny, whisk in two additional tablespoons of powdered sugar at a time. You want the royal icing to drizzle off your whisk into the bowl and hold its shape for a second or two before melting back into the rest of the icing. If desired, you can separate your icing into different small bowls at this point and add food coloring (affiliate link), then transfer to piping bags with small decorating tips.
Room temperature ingredients. Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature before you start baking. This definitely makes a difference with this dough. Don’t overbake them. The cookies should still be slightly soft when you take them out of the oven. Most regular-sized gingerbread cookies will take 9-10 minutes, but you might need a little more or less time depending on whether your cookie cutters are small or extra large. Large cookies will take more like 11-12 minutes to bake. Tiny cookie cutters take more like 8 minutes in the oven. Cool completely before decorating. It’s tempting to dig right in, but if you plan to decorate you should let the cookies cool on wire racks before adding royal icing and decorations. Use a piping bag with a decorative tip to easily decorate your cookies with royal icing. Or just fill a freezer safe ziploc bag with your royal icing and then snip off one small corner with scissors. Be sure to measure the flour carefully so as not to add too much, which could result in the dough being crumbly and dry. If you have a kitchen scale, use it. Otherwise I have a great post on how to measure flour and other baking ingredients. Make ice cream sandwiches. While these gingerbread men are perfect for eating all by themselves, they also make AMAZING ice cream sandwiches if you want to put a little vanilla, strawberry, or peach ice cream, or peppermint ice cream between two of them. Seriously, gingerbread ice cream sandwiches are my favorite!
If you plan to freeze your gingerbread cookies, I recommend freezing them in a single layer on a baking sheet first for 2-3 hours, then transferring them to an airtight container where you can stack them for longer term storage, up to 3 months. Let them thaw on the counter for 2 hours before serving.
Mexican Wedding Cookies (Russian Tea Cakes)
Polar Bear Paw Cookies
Peppermint Chocolate Chip Cookies
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