Hey guys! I hope you are all holly and evergreens by now, I know I am! I’ve been baking gingerbread cookies my whole life, and I’ve finally perfected the recipe. These will hold their shape, stay soft, and can be frosted beautifully!
I feel like gingerbread cookies are fairly controversial. A lot of people don’t like them, but I am pushing that if you don’t like them, you just haven’t had good ones before. I’m not talking about those thin, crunchy things, which for the record I also love, but more like soft, chewy, spicy, molassesy goodness. What’s not to love?
What you Need to Bake Gingerbread Cookies
Let’s talk about the ingredients on this one:
- Flour
- Ground ginger
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground cloves
- Ground nutmeg
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Butter
- Brown sugar
- Egg
- Molasses
- Vanilla extract
Everyone plays a part in this one, but there are a couple of important ingredient notes here. First up, it seems like a lot of ginger and cinnamon, but trust me, these are meant to be super spiced up cookies. It’s a mood guys.
Another SUPER important thing to note is the molasses- you must use unsulphured here- NOT blackstrap. I’ve never used blackstrap for anything actually, but the common unsulphured stuff is definitely what you want for these bad boys.
How to Make Gingerbread Cookies
I’ve recently started making all my cutout cookies. I really didn’t enjoy making them before because it’s such a time consuming process with all the chilling and steps. Here’s a few tips I like to use now:
- Use cold butter- it’s a little harder to work in, but it creates a more firm final dough that is easier to work with, and that doesn’t require that you chill it before you roll it out.
- Roll out with parchment paper- If you roll out the dough between sheets of parchment paper, you don’t have to use flour, which changes the texture of your dough and, ya know, makes a big mess. Plus, it gives you an easy way to move the dough into the freezer.
- Freeze the dough- Instead of chilling it, place your rolled dough into the freezer for about 15 minutes before cutting. This gives you a really sturdy dough to cut through, and it’s quick and easy.
Basically this dough comes together like most cookie doughs. You first want to cream the butter and brown sugar, and then add egg, vanilla extract, and molasses. After that, you add in your dry ingredients, and mix until a dough forms.
A note on mixing– When it comes to cookie doughs, you do really want to make sure you get all of your dry ingredients completely mixed in. You don’t run quite the same risk of over-mixing cookies that you do with batters like cake, so you can mix the dough for a bit longer to make sure everything is fully incorporated.
Enjoy this one guys, it’s time!
Perfect Gingerbread Cutout Cookies
Ingredients
- 4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tbs. ground ginger
- 1 tbs. ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1 cup cold butter
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 2/3 cup molasses
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
Instructions
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In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, ginger, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda. Set aside.
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In a large bowl, beat together the butter and brown sugar until fluffy- this will take a little more work than normal since the butter is cold. Beat in the egg, molasses, and vanilla extract until combined- the mixture will be lumpy.
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Slowly add in the flour mixture until completely incorporated. Don't be afraid to over-mix- you want the flour to be fully incorporated into the dough throughout.
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Divide the dough roughly into thirds. Place each third between two pieces of parchment paper and roll it out until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Repeat with each third of dough. Stack the dough sheets, and place in the freezer for about 15-20 minutes.
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While the dough chills, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line to baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove one sheet of dough at a time. Use the cookie cutters of your choice, and place each cut cookie onto the prepared baking sheets. These cookies will not spread for you, so they can be pretty close together.
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Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the cookies look dry and lightly browned on the edges. Repeat with the remaining dough. You can knead the scraps together and re-roll several times if desired.
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Cool cookies completely, and frost as desired. You can use a simple royal icing by whisking together one egg white with 1 cup of powdered sugar (or more to reach your desired consistency). Enjoy!
Hello and welcome! My name is Nicole, and Dough-eyed is a food blog for people who want to bake for their family and friends in high-altitude areas. Think of me as a friendly voice there with you in the kitchen, here to give you confidence when you’re baking, and to help you with the struggles of baking at high-altitude. Come back every week for new recipes, tips, and advice on high-altitude baking!
We live near Denver in Littleton, CO so I was thrilled to find recipes that will work in our unique high altitude, dry climate! These gingerbread cookies ended up being my husband's favorite Christmas confection this year. They are delicious! I, too, dreaded the process of cut-out cookies-the sticking, the extra flour, etc. Your process made it FUN! Even with my 4 and 3 year old "helping!" Thank you!
So glad to hear it!! I'm also in the Denver area, so my recipes should work perfectly for you! LOVE these cookies!
Hi! I’m about to make these. How many cookies does this recipe make? Thanks!
Hi there- it depends on the size of your cookie cutters, but for about a 2-inch cutter, you can expect about 30 cookies.
Hi,
I live at 6300 feet altitude. This recipe was perfect for gingerbread men. I have some cookies away, and one of them asked for the recipe and told me, "This is the best gingerbread cookie I've ever eaten." I couldn't agree more.
Kathleen
I’ve made these every year for Christmas for the past several years and they’re always a hit!
I have acquired some wooden cookie molds. Will this recipe hold 3d shapes and details when cooked?
Hello, the recipe calls for 2/3 cups of brown sugar, is that packed or loose light or dark brown sugar?
Hey there- it's packed dark brown sugar!
I have to admit that I'm a Pillsbury gingerbread dough kind of gal, but couldn't find any in stores this year, so I went Google searching and came upon your recipe.
It is AMAZING! The flavor, texture, rise, just everything! Easy to roll out and cut out. Thank you so much!! This is definitely getting written up and put in with my Christmas cookie recipes.
Ahhh I'm so glad you liked these! One of my favorite recipes ever- so glad you enjoy them!
Hi! I just discovered this recipe this year and ADORE IT! I didn’t have any unsulphured molasses, just a bottle of organic blackstrap and wanted to jump on here to say I’ve made several batches now and it works out beautifully. It’s likely a much stronger flavor, but my family and friends are loving it. I’ve “aged” two batches now in the freezer, letting the dough ingredients “mellow” in there and it’s addictive, even better than baking after the initial 15 minute chill!!! I didn’t change anything else on the recipe but that and am really happy with the result. Thanks so much for this new holiday classic in my house!