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
I made these gingerbread cookies today. I have to say… 2 c flour is not enough. When rolling out, I found myself adding more and more flour because of how sticky it was. I left it in the fridge to chill overnight when I made them 2 weeks ago. I thought that maybe I left them in the fridge too long so this timeI only left it in for 1 hour like it says in the directions. Other gingerbread recipes call for a lot more flour. What do I do??
I was wondering… In the future, could you possibly make a tutorial for how to make and decorate gingerbread houses? I’d love to learn how 🙂
I made these last Christmas and this year twice already. My kids love this recipe!
Made these cookies for the first time using this recipe minus the nutmeg because I didn’t have any and they’re absolutely perfect! Thanks a bunch!
How many cookies (approx) does this recipe make??
I live in high altitude do you know how I would alter the recipe?
Thanks!
Delicious!!! We made these for our holiday plates this year and they were a hit. I love the butterscotch and gingerbread together. I will definitely be making these again!
Amelia–Yep, totally freezeable! I'd recommend either carefully rolling out the dough on a sheet of plastic wrap and then placing another sheet of plastic wrap on top of it. Freeze it that way and then let it stand on the counter for 30-45 minutes before cutting shapes OR chilling, cutting shapes, and then freezing the cut shapes and baking from frozen.
Hope that helps! 🙂
I have a question and I tried reading through all the comments in case someone else asked it already but didn't see anything so I apologize in advance if you have… Can you freeze this cookie dough and make them at a later date?
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 🙂