These gingerbread cookies are the perfect holiday treat and making them is a favorite tradition for our family. Add frosting, sprinkles, and/ or candy decorations or they are delicious just plain as well. 
Ingredients For Gingerbread Cookies
From the pantry, you will need flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, dark brown sugar and vanilla. The spices in this recipe include ground ginger, cinnamon, ground cloves, and ground nutmeg. In addition, you will need unsalted butter, one egg, and molasses.
Additional items would include any cookie decorating items, such as pre-made cookie icing and sprinkles. We like to make a simple sugar glaze frosting and add sprinkles. For that recipe, you would need powdered sugar, milk and vanilla.
Making these Gingerbread Cookies
For the gingerbread cookie dough
First, combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg) with a wire whisk.
Then, in a separate bowl, beat softened butter with the sugar and egg until blended. Next, add molasses and vanilla and blend with a spatula until combined.
Add dry ingredients into butter/ sugar mixture 1 cup at a time, and then stir until all of the flour mixture is incorporated and the dough is blended and smooth.
Let the gingerbread cookie dough rest
With your hands lightly floured, form a ball with the dough. Wrap the dough in plastic and leave out at room temperature for about 2-3 hours. You can also refrigerate the dough overnight if you’d like to make the cookies the next day. Prior to rolling the dough, leave at room temperature for several hours.
Rolling and cutting cookie dough out
Preheat the oven to 375°.
Divide the dough into two parts. Flour a large cutting board or surface for rolling out the dough. Roll one part of the dough out to 1/4″ thick.
Use your favorite holiday cookie cutters to cut out cookies.
Then place the cookies about 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with silicone baking sheets or parchment paper. Use scraps to repeat rolling out and making more cookies and then do the same with the remaining dough. You will need to add bits of flour along the way to prevent sticking.
Bake the cookies 6-8 minutes. Softer cookies will result from shorter baking time. Cool the cookies on a wire rack.
Once the cookies are cooled, decorate as desired!
For gingerbread cookie sugar glaze frosting
Pour 1 cup of powdered sugar into a small mixing bowl, add 3 T of milk and 1 tsp vanilla. Mix with a whisk until all lumps are dissolved. Adjust amount of milk and sugar for desired consistency. Apply a thin layer of frosting to cooled cookies and add sprinkles.
Gingerbread Cookie Notes and Suggestions
- Bake one test cookie, monitoring the time, to determine your preferred cookie softness/ crispiness, as all ovens are different.
- This recipe is the most fun with your kids. Depending on their ages, let them do as much as they can! For sure let them take over on the decoration phase- So much joy!
- Try one of our holiday favorites, the super-sized cinnamon roll.
- Print
Gingerbread Cookies
- Total Time: 26 minutes
- Yield: 2 dozen medium sized cookies 1x
Description
These gingerbread cookies are the perfect holiday treat and making them is a favorite tradition for our family. Add frosting, sprinkles, and/ or candy decorations or they are delicious just plain as well.
Ingredients
ScaleFor the cookies:
- 3 cups flour, with some extra for rolling out cookies
- 1 1/2 tspbaking powder
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 T ground ginger
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 6 T butter
- 3/4 C dark brown sugar
- 1 egg (left at room temperature for 30 min)
- 1/2 C molasses
- 2 tsp vanilla
For sugar glaze frosting:
- 1 C powdered sugar
- 3 T milk
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
For the cookies:
- Combine these dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg) with a wire whisk.
- In a separate bowl, beat softened butter with the sugar and egg until blended. Add molasses and vanilla and blend with a spatula until combined.
- Add dry ingredients into butter/ sugar mixture 1 cup at a time, and then stir until all of the flour mixture is incorporated and the dough is blended and smooth.
- With your hands lightly floured, form a ball with the dough.
- Wrap the dough in plastic and leave out at room temperature for about 2-3 hours. You can also refrigerate the dough overnight if you’d like to make the cookies the next day. Prior to rolling the dough, leave at room temperature for several hours.
- Preheat the oven to 375°.
- Divide the dough into two parts. Flour a large cutting board or surface for rolling out the dough. Roll one part of the dough out to 1/4″ thick.
- Use your favorite holiday cookie cutters to cut out cookies. Then place the cookies about 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with silicone baking sheets or parchment paper.
- Continue this process for the other half of the dough. Use scraps to repeat rolling out and making more cookies. You will need to add bits of flour along the way to prevent sticking.
- Bake the cookies 6-8 minutes. Softer cookies will result from shorter baking time. Cool the cookies on a wire rack.
- Once the cookies are cooled, decorate as desired!
For homemade sugar glaze frosting:
- Pour 1 cup of powdered sugar into a small mixing bowl, add 3 T of milk and 1 tsp vanilla.
- Mix with a whisk until all lumps are dissolved.
- Adjust amount of milk and sugar for desired consistency. Apply a thin layer of frosting to cooled cookies and add sprinkles.
Notes
- You can make this dough and refrigerate it overnight to make the cookies the next day. Leave the dough at room temperature for several hours before rolling it out.
- Prep Time: 20 min
- Cook Time: 6 minutes
- Category: Baked goods
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