The holidays would not be complete without this Classic Gingerbread Cookie Recipe.
Pair it with my favorite Oatmeal Cranberry Chocolate Chip cookies or quirky Double Chocolate Bacon cookies for a delicious cookie platter.
Whether you cut them into gingerbread man cookies or other shapes these gingerbread cookies are a must make holiday staple right along side homemade ornaments in my book.
My favorite Christmas cookie making tip is to start making cookies early and then freeze some of the dough. I love doing that with this gingerbread dough and make adorable Skeleton Cookies for Halloween and then all I have to do is thaw and cook the cookies for Christmas.
This is great for when you want a great variety of cookies but don’t have time to whip up dozens and dozens or get to a cookie exchange.
What We Love About Gingerbread Cookies
There are a lot of things to love about this recipe.
- If you bake them on the lower side of the time scale they are delicious and soft or you can bake them extra long if you want more of a crisp cookie.
- The dough freezes great so they can be prepped ahead of time.
- They make the whole house smell delicious and festive.
- They are fun to decorate and make for a great holiday tradition with the kids.
- With my cheater gingerbread decorating trick you can get gorgeous cookies but not have to be to fussy or worry about a steady hand.
The BEST Gingerbread Cookies Recipe
This is an adaptation of a Martha Stewart recipe that came with a brass cookie cutter I bought ages ago. I have made it for years and years.
Gingerbread Cookie Ingredients
For the base gingerbread cookie recipe you will need:
- Eggs – 2 large
- Butter – 1 C (2 sticks), I always use salted butter but if you have unsalted just add 1/4 tsp salt to the recipe
- Brown Sugar – 1 C I used light brown sugar since that’s what I had on hand but dark works too
- Ginger – 4 tsp ground
- Cinnamon – 4 tsp ground
- Cloves – 1 1/2 tsp ground
- Black Pepper – 3/4 tsp ground
- Salt – 1 tsp
- Flour – 6 C All Purpose Flour
- Baking Powder – 1/2 tsp
- Molasses – 1 C, tip if you spray the measuring cup with spray oil it will come out better
- Royal Icing – recipe for this below
What You Need to Make Gingerbread Cookies
I always bake with half sheet pans with a lip, some people call them jelly roll pans. They are my favorite and I love using precut parchment paper sheets with them. I feel like those are a total game changer when it comes to making cookies!
- cookie cutters
- rolling pin
- baking sheets
- parchment paper
- cooling rack
- piping tool (optional)
My favorite piping tool is the pampered chef chocolate drizzler tool but I’ve used this icing set as well as a simple zipper bag with a hole cute or poked in one of the corners.
Royal Icing Recipe
Royal icing starts of soft and then hardens as it dries. So you want to work quickly. If you aren’t making a full batch of cookies you can divide the recipe no problem.
- 5 TBS meringue powder
- 1/2 C water
- 1 lbs powdered sugar
- gel food coloring (optional)
Mix the meringue powder, water, and powdered sugar with an electric mixer. You want the mixture to be stiff and hold it’s shape but relax a little. Too runny and it will be a pain to use. To make it more stiff mix for longer.
To make it thinner and water drop by drop. Seriously the a little water goes a long way. If you find your icing is too thin and you’ve tried mixing it for five minutes longer you can add a little extra sugar.
If you want to dye it you can put a tiny bit of gel food coloring in.
This recipe makes about 2 1/2 C of icing. It is plenty to give you some to practice with as you get the hang of cookie decorating.
How to Make Gingerbread Cookies
I like things quick and I hate dishes so I kind of do this a cheater way. If it stresses you out go ahead do do things the “right way” by sifting and mixing dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately and then mix them together.
- Cream butter and sugar. I use my kitchen aide mixer.
- Add the spices. Next add in ginger, cinnamon, cloves, pepper, salt, and eggs and molasses.
- Add the dry ingredients. Next add the flour, baking soda, and baking powder to the top of the mixing bowl. Stir to combine the dry ingredients and then mix into the other ingredients.
- Chill the dough. Divide the dough into 3 balls. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour. The dough can be frozen at this step and saved for later.
- Bake the cookies. Pre-heat oven to 350 F. Roll the dough out to 1/8 inch thickness. They will puff up in the oven. Use the cookie cutter and cut out your desired shapes. Place on parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes.
- Allow to cool. I like to use a wired rack before decorating. Make sure the cookies are fully cooled before you start icing them.
- Decorate. Top the gingerbread cookies with royal icing. You could add Christmas sprinkles too if you want. My favorite way to decorate them is to just drizzle the icing all over the cookie in lots of squiggles. It’s absolutely festive but super easy.
Gingerbread Cookie Decorating Ideas
- I love the squiggle style it’s quick and easy and hard to overthink things.
- Do an all over decoration. Start by piping a thicker consistency of royal icing around the borders. Then add a few drops of water to the icing to thin out the icing and then flood the inside of the cookie.
- Decorate with outlines. You can draw the faces, borders, buttons and stripes.
- If you want to add sprinkles or festive candy pieces do it while the icing is wet.
- The icing will dry hard. Make sure to let the cookies dry fully before storing.
Tips for Storing Gingerbread Cookies
These cookings can absolutely be made ahead of time. I have done it in a variety of different ways.
Make the dough up early and refrigerate for up to a week or freeze for a few months. If frozen thaw in the fridge and then let warm up on the counter for a 30 minutes (or when you can easily roll the dough out).
I have also baked the cookies, allowed them to cool and then stacked them in a plastic box with a layer of parchment paper between them. I just left them on the counter and then decorated them a few days later. This was so nice since it didn’t feel like I was rushing or using up crazy amounts of dishes all in one day. Also the yummy gingerbread smell lingered extra long.
Once the cookies are iced and the icing has hardened you can stack the cookies in a plastic box. But I have stacked them both with and without parchment paper. If you are more particular with how they look for sure use parchment layers. But if you’re not worried about perfection as long as the icing has hardened all the way I have had success stacking them without a paper layer.
More Cookie Recipes You’ll Love
So once you’re done with the gingerbread cookies you should for sure add these others to the list. Theses are some of my favorites.
- Chocolate Thumb Print Cookies – shortbread like base with a delicious chocolate center.
- Zebra Cookies – my spin on classic peanut butter blossoms. But I like these even better!
- My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies – they also happen to be dairy free and has instructions for making them vegan if you’re looking for a good option for anyone with sensitivities or allergies.
Gingerbread Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- 1 C 2 sticks salted butter
- 1 C brown sugar
- 4 tsp ground ginger
- 4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 3/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- 6 C all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 C molasses
Instructions
- Cream butter and sugar. I use my kitchen aide mixer.
- Add the spices. Add in ginger, cinnamon, cloves, pepper, salt, and eggs and molasses.
- Add the dry ingredients. Add the flour, baking soda, and baking powder to the top of the mixing bowl. Stir to combine the dry ingredients and then mix into the other ingredients.
- Chill the dough. Divide the dough into 3 balls. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour. The dough can be frozen at this step and saved for later.
- Bake the cookies. Pre-heat oven to 350 F. Roll the dough out to 1/8 inch thickness. They will puff up in the oven. Use the cookie cutter and cut out your desired shapes. Place on parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes.
- Allow to cool. I like to use a wired rack before decorating. Make sure the cookies are fully cooled before you start icing them.
- Decorate. Top the gingerbread cookies with royal icing. You could add Christmas sprinkles too if you want. My favorite way to decorate them is to just drizzle the icing all over the cookie in lots of squiggles. It’s absolutely festive but super easy.
Video
Notes
Royal icing starts of soft and then hardens as it dries. You want to work quickly. If you aren’t making a full batch of cookies you can divide the recipe no problem. 5 TBS meringue powder
1/2 C water
1 lbs powdered sugar
gel food coloring (optional)
Mix the meringue powder, water, and powdered sugar with an electric mixer. You want the mixture to be stiff and hold it’s shape but relax a little. Too runny and it will be a pain to use. To make it more stiff mix for longer. To make it thinner and water drop by drop. Seriously the a little water goes a long way. If you find your icing is too thin and you’ve tried mixing it for five minutes longer you can add a little extra sugar. If you want to dye it you can put a tiny bit of gel food coloring in. This recipe makes about 2 1/2 C of icing. It is plenty to give you some to practice with as you get the hang of cookie decorating.
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