Molasses, real butter, and pantry ingredients are flavored with warm spices like ginger and cinnamon. They bake up well and keep in the freezer for cookie decorating (along with some easy sugar cookies)!
The Perfect Holiday Cookie
We have fond memories of gathering around the kitchen table with all sorts of colored icings, sprinkles, dragees, and whatever else was on hand to decorate our own gingerbread man cookies?!
Soft and delicious yet sturdy enough to decorate. The dough is easy to make and can be made ahead of time. These cookies hold their shape well. A deliciously nostalgic flavor with warm spices.
Ingredients for Gingerbread Cookies
Unsalted butter adds flavor while shortening helps these hold their shape and the combination of the two gives the best texture. Salted butter will work in place of unsalted (skip the salt in the recipe), but the shortening is needed for the right texture on these cookies. Use dark molasses for a deep, dark brown color and the flavor expected in a soft gingerbread cookie.
How to Make Gingerbread Cookies
A really good gingerbread man recipe starts with quality ingredients.
Chilling the Cookie Dough
Chilling the dough in the refrigerator for gingerbread is required in this recipe. It makes the dough easier to roll and cut but most importantly, it keeps the cookies from spreading too much as they bake in the oven. Divide the dough into two before refrigerating to make it easier to roll. Roll about ¼-inch thick and be sure to dust your surface with a sprinkle of flour so they don’t stick.
Tips for Gingerbread Cookies
Half butter and half shortening create a soft, chewy cookie that holds its shape and holds up to decorating. Ensure egg and butter are at room temperature. Add just enough flour to hold everything together and make the dough pliable and use just enough on your rolling surface to keep the dough from sticking. Lightly grease the pan or line with parchment paper. Additional spices can be added including a pinch of black pepper, allspice, or ground cloves.
How to Decorate Gingerbread Cookies
Along with the ever-popular sugar cookie, these are the best cookies to decorate and it is a fun tradition! Find cookie cutters in any Christmas shapes you’d like. They can be found in nearly every store! Gingerbread man cookies love to be decorated with both white icing as well as our favorite sugar cookie icing and small dragees or sprinkles. If you’re having a decorating party, squeeze bottles make for great decorating. Rimmed baking sheets for each person can help contain the sprinkles. Gingerbread House Icing is not ideal for spreading over cookies. It is more of a “glue” and should be used for holding things together and to adhere decorations to cookies.
More Christmas Cookie Recipes
Easy Buckeye Recipe – no bake Easy 4 Ingredient Rum Balls Snowball Cookies Spritz Cookies Chocolate Crinkle Cookies – classic for Christmas!
Did you make these gingerbread cookies?! Leave a comment and review below!
More Great Christmas Cookies
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