Gingerbread Cookies

Nothing says the holidays like gingerbread cookies! Easy to make and quick to bake, these classic gingerbread cookies are a staple for any cookie exchange.

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About Gingerbread Cookies

What’s the one traditional cookie that’s on every cookie exchange list?

Gingerbread cookies. An absolute classic.

Because whether you call them gingerbread men or simply gingerbread, they’ve managed to become a holiday staple with their spicy flavor and soft-to-crunchy texture.

Plus, they’re absolutely the best for decorating, whether you’re decorating the cookies or creating a gingerbread house.

What can you make with gingerbread?

This dough is perfect for making Christmas cookies, and if you bake this recipe as directed, you’ll be decorating gingerbread men or snowflakes in no time. I’ve tried many recipes over the years and this is the best recipe I’ve found!

If you want to make a gingerbread house, you would use the same recipe, but would bake it closer to the end of the recommended baking time. This will ensure that the cookies are extra dry and firm. You want to make sure that the house you make will keep its shape and the walls or roof won’t bend after it’s decorated, so a strong cookie is crucial.

And, finally, this gingerbread recipe can be adapted to make gingerbread ornaments. Check out this post for instructions!

How do you decorate gingerbread men cookies?

When it comes to giving your cookies a festive look, you can’t go wrong with royal icing. It’s the absolute go-to for cookies because it’s easy to use while wet, dries hard, and has a delicious taste. It makes for delicious cookies that are easy to stack and store.

You can adjust the consistency of your royal icing by adding more or less water to any recipe.

If you’re decorating classic cookies (like the ones pictured here) using royal icing with a firm to wet consistency is best. Use a firm consistency to define the edges and outline your designs, and then use watery royal icing to fill in large areas.

If you’re making a gingerbread house, make your royal with a firm consistency so that it will quickly bond the pieces of gingerbread together. Once you’ve got the framework of the gingerbread house and other accents, then you can follow up and fill large areas with watery royal icing.

If you have any other questions about to use or prepare royal icing, be sure to check out this post!

Do you need to chill the dough?

This particular recipe calls for chilling the cookie dough for two hours.

I know it can be frustrating to put your baking on hold, but when it comes to cookies, chilling the dough is totally worth the impact it has on your baking.

The short explanation for chilling has to do with the butter. The firmer the butter is at the time of baking, the slower it will melt, which makes cookies less likely to spread while baking. So, as a general rule of thumb, chilling the dough will lead to more dense, fluffy cookies while not chilling will lead to flatter, chewier cookies. This is not always the case, though. Whether you need to chill depends largely on the amount of butter used AND the composition of the other ingredients.

If you’d like a more indepth explanation of chilling dough (with examples!) then check out this article: To Chill or not to Chill.

How long do gingerbread cookies last?

Gingerbread cookies are fairly dry, and because of this, they have an exceptionally long shelf life for homemade cookies.

Once prepared, undecorated gingerbread cookies should last up to two to three weeks in a sealed container. They do not need to be refrigerated.

How long decorated cookies last will depend on what you decorate them with. Check the instructions of your chosen decorations for guidance.

Can you freeze gingerbread cookies?

Yes, you totally can!

However, for best results, the cookies should be frozen before decorating.

To freeze, store the baked gingerbread cookies in a single layer in a freezer bag or storage container. If you need to stack the cookies, separate each layer with a sheet of wax paper.

Cookies can be frozen for up to three months.

Can you make gingerbread houses with this recipe?

I personally have not make a gingerbread house with this recipe, but I can confirm that the recipes to make both treats are the same.

The only difference in preparing the two is how long the gingerbread is baked. For houses, gingerbread is baked a bit longer. This is because gingerbread pieces tend to be larger than standard cookies and you want to make sure the gingerbread is “sturdy” enough to keep the shape of the house.

So when setting the timer on your oven, make sure to lean toward the higher end of the recommended cook time. If needed, bake for one additional minute at a time, checking the gingerbread after each increase. The gingerbread should be very firm and not bend, but also not become too dark or burned. The gingerbread will also harden while it cools. And if in doubt, you can always leave the gingerbread out overnight to harden it further so that your gingerbread house pieces are extra sturdy.

Notes & tips for these gingerbread cookies

• If you’re doing a lot of holiday baking, I highly recommend having some silicone baking mats on hand. Baking cookies takes enough time without having to cut or measure parchment paper.
• Plus, some quality baking sheets are a must for a cookie baking extravaganza!
• For this recipe, I highly recommend using a stand mixer or a hand mixer. This recipe would be difficult to make by hand with a whisk.

More fun cookie recipes

How to make gingerbread men cookies

This next part is only a photo tutorial of the recipe steps. If you’re looking for the full recipe measurements and instructions, scroll down to Recipe Details.

Step 1 – Using a stand mixer (or hand mixer + large bowl), mix together the flour, brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, cloves, and salt.

Step 2 – Add softened butter to the bowl, mixing until the ingredients appear broken up and crumbly.

Step 3 – Next, pour in the molasses and milk, taking care to mix them in thoroughly. The dough should appear shiny and a little bit fluffy at this stage.

Step 4 – Lay out two pieces of parchment paper. Divide the dough in half and place each piece on its own sheet of parchment paper. Place another piece of parchment paper on top of the dough, then use your hands (or a rolling pin) to flatten the dough.

Step 5 – Transfer the dough to the refrigerator to chill for two hours.

Step 6 – Dust your work area with flour before bringing out the first half of the gingerbread dough (leave the other half in the fridge to chill while you work). Remove the parchment paper, flour up a rolling pin, and roll out the gingerbread until it’s about 1/4 inch thick. From there, flour your desired cookie cutters and cut out shapes in the gingerbread dough. Once cut, transfer the cookies to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or baking silicone mats. Continue flouring, rolling, and cutting the gingerbread dough until all of it has been used.

Step 7 – Bake!

Step 8 – Serve or decorate as you desire!