These classic gingerbread cookies will leave your house smelling like the holidays! Warm molasses and festive spices come together in this traditional gingerbread recipe that’s perfect for use with your favorite holiday cookie cutters. Whip up a batch and gather the family for decorating!
Ingredients Needed
- Butter – This recipe is designed to use real butter. If you choose to substitute with something else, just know it may change the way the cookies hold their shape while baking as well as the finished texture and flavor.
- Granulated sugar
- Molasses – You will want to use regular molasses here, which is coincidentally what most grocery stores carry (like the Grandma’s Molasses pictured below). Do not use blackstrap molasses, which tends to have a more bitter flavor.
- Egg yolks
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Cinnamon
- Cloves
- Ginger
- Nutmeg
- Decorations – As desired. The Best Buttercream Frosting, or this Glace Icing would be good choices. If you’d like to keep things super simple, grab some various colors of icing tubes from the baking aisle of your grocery store. Nonpareils, festive sprinkles, small candies, red hots, and mini M&Ms are all good options for decorating!
How to Make Gingerbread Cookies
- Combine dry ingredients: Cream butter and sugar. Add molasses and egg yolk. In a medium bowl, combine remaining ingredients: flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg. Add flour mixture to butter mixture. Chill for at least an hour. It’s a fairly sticky dough so you might need to chill it a little longer.
- Place the dough on a sheet of wax paper or plastic wrap and then place another sheet on top. Roll dough to 1/4″ thick and chill for at least an hour. It’s a fairly sticky dough so a longer chill time might be necessary.
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and cut in desired shapes with cookie cutters.
- Place cookies 2″ apart on a baking sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes. If you bake them on the short end they will stay soft and chewy and if you bake them on the longer end they will be nice and crispy. They’re great either way!
- Allow to cool about 5 minutes on pan and then transfer to wire rack and cool completely. Once they’re cooled you can decorate your heart out!
Storing and Other Tips
- Store finished cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- In general, the longer the dough is refrigerated, the better it will hold its shape when baked. Feel free to make this dough a day or two ahead of time and keep the dough, tightly covered, in the refrigerator until ready to cut and bake.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make these ahead of time and freeze them?
Yes! Bake your cookies, cool completely, then transfer to an airtight container or zip top bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight and decorate as desired.
Can I use this recipe to make a gingerbread house?
While I haven’t done this personally, I don’t see why not! Make sure to thoroughly chill your dough before cutting your house pieces. You may need to adjust baking time to be sure your pieces are cooked thoroughly to be sure they will hold up to house construction! A good tip for gingerbread house pieces is to use a paper template to cut the pieces, then use that same template to carefully trim and straighten all of your edges when the cookies are still hot out of the oven. When they cool, they will fit together as intended!
Gingerbread Cookies
These classic Gingerbread cookies are simple to make and decorate!
Servings cookies (see notes)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup molasses
- 2 egg yolks
- 4 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon cloves
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
Instructions
- Cream butter and sugar. Add molasses and egg yolk. In a medium bowl, combine remaining ingredients: flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg. Add this mixture to butter mixture and mix until thoroughly combined.
- Roll dough out to ¼ inch thick between two sheets of waxed paper. Chill for at least an hour. It's a fairly sticky dough so you might need to chill it a little longer.
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Pull your dough out and cut with cookie cutters. Place cookies 2" apart on a baking sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes. If you bake them on the short end they will stay soft and chewy and if you bake them on the longer end they will be nice and crispy.
- Allow to cool about 5 minutes on pan, and then transfer to wire rack and cool completely. Once cooled, decorate.
Notes
- Nutritional and serving information: this recipe makes anywhere from 12 – 18 cookies. Sizes can vary widely depending on size of the cutter used, as well as thickness when rolled. The nutritional information for this recipe was calculated into 12 servings, so note that if you get closer to 18 cookies out of this recipe, the nutritional information will vary considerably.
- Store finished cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- In general, the longer the dough is refrigerated, the better it will hold its shape when baked. Feel free to make this dough a day or two ahead of time and keep the dough, tightly covered, in the refrigerator until ready to cut and bake.
- Make Ahead and Freeze: Bake your cookies, cool completely, then transfer to an airtight container or zip top bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight and decorate as desired.
Nutrition
Calories: 444kcal, Carbohydrates: 70g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 17g, Saturated Fat: 10g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 4g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 73mg, Sodium: 455mg, Potassium: 466mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 38g, Vitamin A: 517IU, Vitamin C: 0.02mg, Calcium: 95mg, Iron: 3mg
Calories: 444kcal
Cost: $5
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Questions & Reviews
Thank you, thank you!!! Thrifty NW Mom just posted this, and I instantly fell in love with all your ideas! I can't wait to try these. My 5 year old says it's not Christmas without "gingermen". Our last batch was so pasty and bland. After a not so fun week, that set me over the top, and sure put me in a funk of my own. I think I'll use the rest of that dough for ornaments 😉 I can tell by looking at your recipe, where ours went wrong, and that this is exactly what I'm looking for! I saw Crissie's comment that they were crispy on the outside and soft in the middle. YAY!!! Thanks for getting me back in the Christmas spirit! I hope things turned around for you, and that you're feeling a bit more cheery 🙂
When I was little my family used to go to Kitchen Kettle Village in Lancaster, PA. They had a gingerbread decorating station there for kids and my sister and I would get to decorate a gingerbread cookie. They were SO yummy – and these cookies taste JUST like that! Thank you for a fantastic recipe and a new tradition for my family!
I made gingerbread cookies a couple of years ago, and they turned out a awful. I vowed to just stick with sugar cookies from then on, but after seeing your recipe I thought I'd give it another try. They were perfect and SO yummy!! Baking them for 9 minutes made them crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Thanks for renewing my faith in gingerbread cookies. 🙂
aryanna–It's tough to say just because every cookie cutter is a different size and everyone rolls their dough to a different thickness. But this is a small recipe–I'd say, on average, I get about 12-18 cookies, so if you need more than that, I'd definitely double it.
I am going to try your gingerbread recipe…ooooh, can't wait for the smell! I already broke one BeaterBlade but I bought another one. I still like it…I think I was making a double batch of chocolate chip cookies.
these are perfect for my son's class christmas party .Only 1 Question how many cookies does this recipe make ?
These are seriously the yummiest gingerbread men i have ever tasted! YUMMMM 🙂
those look delish! what a great idea about rolling it out first and then chilling it after!
I just found the beater blade on ebay for $22.99 with free shipping (for my kitchenaid tilt-head.) I think I may give it a shot!
i asked for one of those beater blades for christmas! i think it's be best invention EVER
Alisha, I totally imagine that you could. Don't take my total word for it because each and every gingerbread house I've ever made has ended disastrously, but I also overbaked some of my cookies the other day and they were break-your-teeth hard, so I bet it would totally work! If you do it, you'd better send us some pictures!!! 🙂