Gingerbread Cookies

5 from 11 votes

Gingerbread cookies that are soft and chewy and taste amazing thanks to molasses, butter, and spices. Great for decorating with royal icing and bringing to your next holiday party, or to give as gifts.

Prep Time10

Cook Time12

Chilling Time1

Total Time1 22

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: cookies

Calories: 132kcal

Author: Liz Marek

Equipment

1 Stand mixer with the paddle attachment or an electric mixer
Piping Bags
1 #2 Round piping tip

Ingredients

20 ounces all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon powdered ginger
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon salt
7 ounces unsalted butter
5 ounces brown sugar
8 ounces molasses
1 large egg

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Before you begin: Preheat your oven to 350º F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a bowl. Set aside.
Melt the butter and add it to the bowl of a stand mixer. On low speed, mix in the brown sugar, molasses, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves until combined. Let cool for a few minutes.
Once the mixture has cooled to about room temperature, add the egg and whisk until combined.
Switch to the paddle attachment and add the flour mixture. Mix until the dough just starts to come together, it will still be slightly sticky.
Divide the dough in half, shape each half into a rectangle, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, up to overnight.
Once chilled, roll the dough out on a floured surface to ⅛ to ¼ inch thick. Flour both sides of the dough as needed if it starts to stick. The thinner you roll your dough, the crisper the cookies will be. If your dough gets sticky, you may need to reflour your dough (both sides) as you go.
Flour your cookie cutters and cut out your shapes, rerolling the scraps as needed.
Place the cut cookies in the freezer for 15 minutes.
Bake on a parchment-lined cookie sheet for 8 to 12 minutes, until the edges are just barely golden.
Let the cookies cool completely for several minutes before removing them from the cookie sheet and placing them on a cooling rack to completely set. This will prevent them from cracking.
Once the cookies are completely cool, thin down a batch of royal icing to outlining consistency, or all the way to a 15-second flooding consistency if you'd rather skip switching between two batches.
Load white icing into a piping bag fitted with a #2 tip (a #1 works too if you want a finer line) and pipe a simple outline all the way around the cookie.
Give the arms and legs a classic squiggle, then pipe on a small smile and two dots for the eyes.
Switch to a colored icing and outline a scarf around the neck, then fill it in with the same tip. Pipe a few dots down the front for buttons, then let the icing set completely before stacking or wrapping.

Video

Notes

Ingredient notes: This dough is easiest to work with when you weigh your ingredients, especially the flour, molasses, and butter.

Pan options: No special pan needed here, just a standard cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

Make-ahead and storage: Dough can be made ahead and refrigerated for up to 24 hours, or frozen tightly wrapped for up to 3 months, thaw in the fridge before rolling. Baked, undecorated cookies keep at room temperature in an airtight container for about a week, or freeze for up to 3 months.

Substitutions: No molasses on hand? Dark corn syrup works as a swap in the same amount, though your cookies will come out a little lighter in color. Honey, maple syrup, and light corn syrup all work too, in equal amounts, but expect a lighter color and possibly a slightly softer dough, you may need to add a bit more flour if it feels too sticky to roll.

Critical do-nots: Don't skip the chill time, the dough needs it to hold its shape in the oven. Don't move or decorate the cookies until they're completely cool, or they can crack. Don't add the egg while the butter mixture is still hot, let it cool first or it will scramble.

Nutrition