This Gingerbread Cookie recipe comes out moist and soft (but still sturdy enough to decorate with the kids)!
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.
- Cream butter and shortening per the recipe below. Add sugar and spice.
- Mix in remaining ingredients except for flour. Once mixed, add flour a little bit at a time.
- Refrigerate at least 2 hours.
- Roll dough and cut with cookie cutters.
- Bake on a baking sheet until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack before decorating.
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!
Perfect Gingerbread Cookies
This gingerbread cookie recipe is made with real molasses, real butter and flavored with just the right touch of ginger is guaranteed to please any palate, young or old!
Prep Time 10 minutes minutes
Cook Time 7 minutes minutes
Chilling Time 2 hours hours
Total Time 2 hours hours 17 minutes minutes
Servings 36 cookies
Author Holly Nilsson
Equipment
Ingredients
- ¼ cup butter softened
- ¼ cup shortening
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup molasses
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 egg room temperature
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
Instructions
Cream butter and shortening with a hand mixer until fluffy. Add sugar, baking powder, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Continue to beat on medium until well combined.
Add molasses, vanilla, egg, and vinegar and beat until well mixed.
Add flour a little at a time until combined. Divide the two in two and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a cookie sheet.
Roll dough to ¼″ thick on a lightly floured surface. Cut with cookie cutters into desired shapes.
Bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.
Allow to cool 2 minutes on the pan. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely.
Video
Notes
- Half butter and half shortening create a soft, chewy cookie that hold 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.
Nutrition Information
Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 82 | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 7mg | Sodium: 30mg | Potassium: 90mg | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 45IU | Calcium: 17mg | Iron: 0.7mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Cookies, Dessert
Cuisine American
© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
More Great Christmas Cookies
- Red Velvet Cake Mix Cookies
- Candy Cane Cookies
- Easy Buckeye Recipe
- Easy Rocky Road
- Sugar Cookie Recipe
- Gingerbread Muffins
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Classic Thumbprint Cookies
- Candied Pecans
- Homemade Peppermint Bark
Recipe Slightly Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens
Categories:
Christmas, Cookies, Desserts, Holidays
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About the author
Holly Nilsson is the creator of Spend With Pennies, where she creates easy, comforting recipes made for real life. With a passion for nostalgic flavors and simplified techniques, Holly helps busy home cooks create delicious meals that always work. She is also the author of “Everyday Comfort,” which promises to inspire even more hearty, home-cooked meals.
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