Gingerbread cookies are the best Christmas Cookies of the season. They are so easy to make and looks adorable with a cute sugar icing on top! Gingerbread Man and Gingerbread Women cookies are a traditional Christmas Cookies and without these Christmas is truly incomplete. Learn how to easily bake the perfect Gingerbread Cookies.
Gingerbread cookies are an instant way to light up anyone’s face with a smile! And with Christmas just around the corner, it is perfect timing to get your baking mittens and cookie cutters out and make some adorable & delicious Gingerbread cookies which are definitely the best and most loved Christmas desserts.
With my perfect recipe for The best Gingerbread cookies, you can never go wrong. Its moist and buttery with a perfect frosting!
The best part about Gingerbread cookies is of course the adorable icing on top.
Gingerbread Cookies are known for their brittle texture and a little chewy taste to them. Its because of the Molasses that these cookies have a chewy taste to them.
Also, Gingerbread Cookies are super easy to make and is one of our favoruite Chirstmas Cookies ever!
Also try my
Moist Homemade Gingerbread Loaf
Quick Gingerbread Truffles (just 3-ingredients)
No-Bake Gingerbread Cheesecake
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What do you need to make gingerbread cookies?
People often think that you need a long list of ingredients to make gingerbread cookies. And while gingerbread cookies are a little more complex than your average cookies, that does not mean you will be spending hours in a grocery store trying to hunt down all the ingredients. It will just take you about thirty minutes in any of your local grocery stores to find all the ingredients given below for making the best gingerbread cookies!
1. Unsalted butter
2. Brown sugar
3. Molasses
4. Eggs
5. Vanilla extract
6. All-purpose flour
7. Baking soda
8. Kosher salt
9. Ground Ginger
10. Ground Cinnamon
11. Ground Allspice
12. Ground Cloves
13. Icing for your cookies
How to make Gingerbread cookies?
Gingerbread cookies are probably one of the most fun cookies to make at home. In fact, you can even go ahead and make it a fun family bonding time! From making the dough to cutting out the creative shapes, there is not one step where you’ll feel it is tiring to make these gingerbread cookies! As for needing kitchen equipment like a stand mixer, while they will make the recipe much easier, it’s not compulsory for you to have them.
STEP 1: CREAM THE WET INGREDIENTS
- The first step is to get your stand mixer ready.
- Add softened butter in the mixing bowl and beat it on medium speed until it becomes smooth and creamy in consistency. Then you can go ahead and add the Molasses and Brown sugar and mix that into the butter.
- Lastly, add a cracked Egg and the Vanilla extract into the mix and beat it at high speed for about two minutes until everything comes together smoothly.
STEP 2: MIX THE DRY INGREDIENTS
- Now take a separate large bowl and sift the All-purpose flour into it.
- To this flour add baking soda, ground ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and kosher salt.
- Whisk everything together for a few minutes so that all the dry ingredients gets well integrated together.
STEP 3: COMBINE WET & DRY MIXTURE
- Slowly start combining the dry ingredient mixture with the wet mix.
- Keep the speed of the stand mixer low during this process.
- The dough that you get by the end of this process should be sticky to touch and stiff in texture.
- Take out the dough from the bowl and divide it into two halves. Then wrap each half in plastic wrap and roll it in a disc with a rolling pin.
- Place these plastic-wrapped discs into the refrigerator to chill for about 3-4 hours. Leaving them overnight would be the best.
STEP 4: BAKE THE GINGERBREAD COOKIES
- Time to get to the baking part. First of all, preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Then take a baking sheet and line it with parchment paper. You can also alternatively use silicone baking mats as they are best for baking cookies.
- Now take out your chilled discs of cookie dough and place them on the kitchen surface.
- Spread plenty of flour underneath so that the dough does not stick to the surface.
- Then take a rolling pin and roll out the dough into a flat sheet of about ¼ of an inch thickness.
- Once you have rolled out the dough into a flat sheet you can start cutting shapes into it.
- Use a cookie cutter for making fun shape with your family. This is the most fun part of making gingerbread cookies!
- Once you have cut all the shapes you can place them on the baking sheet.
- Make sure each shape is spaced evenly and has space to breathe and expand.
- Now all you need to do is slide the baking sheet into the oven and let the cookies bake for 10 minutes.
- Once the baking time is over take the cookies out of the oven and let them rest for about five minutes on the countertop. This way the cookies can cool down. When they are sufficiently cooled down you can decorate them with any icing of your choice. Learn how to make sugar icing here.
Your gingerbread cookies are now ready! Serve them to your family or hang them on your Christmas tree!
How to store Gingerbread cookies
Gingerbread cookies have a pretty long shelf life, provided that you store them with proper precautions. Store them properly and you can easily expect your gingerbread cookies to last a month fresh as new. To achieve this all you need to do is keep your gingerbread cookies in an airtight container/jar at a cool and dry place. Don’t store your cookies in a too hot or cold place otherwise, they will spoil faster. Don’t let them get in contact with moisture as well. Just keep these tips in mind and you will be able to enjoy your gingerbread cookies for a long time!
Tips to make your gingerbread cookies even better!
1. If you want to make a gingerbread house with cookies then make sure the cookies baked are sturdy and not too soft.
2. You’d need the following kitchen tools to make gingerbread cookies easily:
(1) Cookie Cutters;
(2) Rolling Pin;
(3) Baking Mats and;
(4) Stand mixer or a Handheld mixer
3. Make sure you chill the dough at least for 3 hours before you bake the cookies. The best way to chill the gingerbread cookie dough is to just leave it in the fridge overnight. This will save you time.Refrigerating the cookie dough will get rid of the moisture and stickiness from the cookie dough making them a little dry. You might find it difficult to roll in the beginning but just keep rolling and rolling and as it starts to thin out, you will be able to roll out the dough Perfectly
4. The dough will be a little stiff to roll with a rolling pin. Don’t exert too much pressure on it. Instead, give it easy and steady rolls the first few times to gradually ease the process.
More Christmas Cookies recipes
- Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Christmas Cookies
- Chocolate Covered Ritz Cracker Cookies with Peanut butter
- Buttery Holiday Shortbread Christmas Tree Cookies with Nonpareils Sprinkles
- Chocolate Shortbread Christmas Tree Cookies
- Buttery Santa Kiss Cookies
- Buttery Walnut Snowball Cookies
- Snowball Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies
- White Chocolate Peppermint Shortbread Cookies
- Candy Cane Crinkle Cookies
Best Gingerbread cookies Recipe
INGREDIENTS
- 2 sticks Unsalted Butter softened
- 1 cup Light Brown Sugar packed
- ⅔ cup Molasses
- 1 large Egg at room temp
- 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
- 4 cups AP Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1 tablespoon Ground Ginger
- 1 tablespoon Ground Cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon Ground Cloves
- ½ teaspoon Allspice
- Royal Icing for decoration
INSTRUCTIONS
- Take a large bowl and beat the butter for about 1 -2 minutes using a stand mixer or a handheld mixer. Beat the butter until it gets smooth and creamy. Add the Brown Sugar, Molasses, Vanilla Extract, and Eggs. Beat on high speed for about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides and beat until smooth and creamy.
- In a separate mixing bowl whisk the dry ingredients - Flour, Baking powder, Baking Soda, Ground Cinnamon, Ground Cloves, Ground Ginger, Kosher Salt, and Allspice.
- Combine the wet mixture with the dry mixture to make a dough. The Gingerbread cookie dough will be slightly sticky to touch. Pat it down to make a disc shape. Divide the cookie dough into two halves. Wrap each with plastic foil and refrigerate for at least 3-4 hours or for about 3 days.
- First of all, preheat your oven to about 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Then take a baking sheet and line it up with parchment paper. You can also alternatively use silicone baking mats as they are best for baking cookies. Now take out your chilled discs of cookie dough and place them on the kitchen surface. Spread plenty of flour underneath so that the dough does not stick to the surface. Then take a large rolling pin and roll out the dough into a flat sheet of about ¼ of an inch thickness. Once you have rolled out the dough into a flat sheet you can start cutting shapes into it. Use a cookie cutter for making fun shape with your family. This is the most fun part of making gingerbread cookies!
- Once you have cut all the shapes you can place them on the baking sheet. Make sure each shape is spaced evenly and has space to breathe and expand. Now all you need to do is slide the baking sheet into the oven and let the cookies bake for about ten minutes. Once the baking time is over take the cookies out of the oven and let them rest for about five minutes on the countertop. This way the cookies can cool down. When they are sufficiently cooled down you can decorate them with any icing of your choice.
- Your gingerbread cookies are now ready! Serve them to your family or hang them on your Christmas tree!
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