Frosted Ginger Cookies Recipes

FROSTED GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
• Add butter, both sugars, and vanilla to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; beat on medium-speed until light and fluffy; scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, about 2 minutes. Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, continuing to scrape the sides as needed. Add the molasses and beat until combined. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add dry ingredients, beating just until combined. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and transfer to the refrigerator to chill for at least two hours (or up to one day).
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
• Roll the dough into 2" balls and arrange on prepared sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Lightly press down on the center of each cookie. Bake, one sheet at a time, for 9-10 minutes, or until puffed and lightly golden.
• Remove pan from oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with all cookie dough. Once cool, frost with cream cheese frosting, top with sprinkles (if using), and serve.
• In the bowl of a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla on medium-high speed until completely smooth; about 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the sifted confectioners' sugar. Once all of the sugar has been added, increase speed to medium-high and beat for 1-2 minutes. Add in lemon juice and lemon zest and beat for an additional minute. Once the cookies have completely cooled, spread the frosting over the top of each cookie and decorate with sprinkles, if desired.

FROSTED GINGER COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in molasses and vanilla; mix well. Combine dry ingredients; gradually add to creamed mixture. , Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 325° for 12-15 minutes or until cookies spring back when touched lightly (do not overbake). Remove to wire racks. , For frosting, in a large saucepan, bring the brown sugar, milk and butter to a boil; cook and stir for 1 minute. Remove from the heat (mixture will look curdled at first). Cool for 3 minutes. Add confectioners' sugar, vanilla and salt; mix well. Frost warm cookies.

GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle, add the butter, sugar and orange zest and beat until smooth, 5 to 8 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, dry ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Whisk to blend. Set aside.
• In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, molasses and lemon juice.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• When the butter and sugar are integrated, lower the speed of the mixer and add the dry ingredients. Add the egg mixture and when blended, remove the bowl from the machine. Divide the cookie dough in half. Press the first half of the dough in between 2 sheets of waxed paper or plastic wrap and chill for 15 minutes. Repeat with the second half. This step will make it easier to finish rolling out the dough when it has chilled. It will also mean you only have half of the dough getting warm as you roll it.
• Lightly flour a flat surface. Use a floured rolling pin to gently roll the first half of the dough about 1/2-inch thick. Lightly flour the cookie cutter(s) and cut the shapes, making as few scraps as possible. Use a metal spatula to gently transfer them, cookie by cookie, (the cookies should be similar size) to a baking sheet. Repeat with the other half of the dough and transfer them to another baking sheet. A note about crowding the tray(s): these particular cookies can spread a little. Leave room between the cookies. Better to use 3 baking sheets with fewer cookies than to crowd them on 2 trays. Bake until brown around the edges, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Got scraps? Form the scraps into a ball, press it flat and chill in the refrigerator. These cookies may be a little more "tough" because the dough will have been worked a little more than the others. Why not have a little frosting on your gingerbread?
• In a medium bowl add all of the ingredients and whisk together to combine. If too thick in consistency, add a touch more orange juice or water to thin out.
• Use a pastry bag fitted with a star tip to pipe the frosting between 2 of the gingerbread cookies. Press the 2 cookies halves gently together.
• Variation: I love springerle, the German anise-flavored cookies, for the delicate molds (and carved rolling pins) used to make them. I have made this recipe with springerle molds with stunning results. The kind of cookies that make people marvel at how great they look before they eat a half a plate of them! Simply dust the decorative molds (or rolling pin) with flour, shaking lightly to remove any excess. Roll the dough very thin (between 1/2 and 1/4-inch thick). Press or roll the dough into the molds and trace the shapes with a sharp knife to extract the cookies. Arrange them on a greased baking sheet (with some space between them) and bake for 6 to 8 minutes. Not using molds? Scoop the batter in teaspoons and roll them into balls. Press the balls onto a greased baking sheet or press with the tines of a fork to make ridges. Bake until brown around the edges, about 10 to 12 minutes. These cookies are so beautiful, they can stand alone. Or...make gingerbread sandwiches using the above frosting as the filling...

FROSTED GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Line a 9-inch square baking pan with plastic wrap. In a saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add the sugar, corn syrup and milk, and whisk continuously until a candy thermometer registers 100 degrees F, which will happen rather quickly. Remove the saucepan from the heat.
• With an electric mixer on low speed, combine the bread flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, salt and cloves. Slowly pour the butter-sugar mixture in, and beat until thoroughly combined, 2 minutes. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan, cover with plastic wrap and press with your hands to spread the batter to the sides of the pan. Refrigerate overnight or up to 3 days.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat several baking sheets with cooking spray, or line them with parchment paper. Cut the chilled dough into 4 equal pieces. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out 1 piece of dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch; dust with more flour as needed. (Keep the other dough pieces refrigerated until you're ready to use them.) Using 2 different-sized biscuit or cookie cutters, cut out concentric circles of dough, leaving a 1/2-inch-wide ring. The cookies shown are about 2 inches across, but you can make them larger or smaller based on the size of your cookie cutters. Place the rings about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Repeat with the other pieces of dough.
• Bake the cookies until slightly browner on the edges and firm to the touch, 10 to 12 minutes for smaller cookies, 15 minutes for larger. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets on wire racks for a couple of minutes before using a metal spatula to transfer them to the racks to finish cooling.
• Squeeze icing onto each cookie, leaving a thin border around it. While the icing is still wet, press the jelly beans into it end to end. The icing will spread to cover the cookie. Store the baked cookies, decorated or not, in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks; if decorated, stack them between sheets of wax paper.

GINGERBREAD COOKIE FROSTING

Steps:

• Sift the confectioners' sugar into a small bowl. Stir in enough milk to make a smooth but not too runny consistency. You may need to adjust with some more sugar. Divide this mixture into small containers, depending on how many colors you want. Color each small container with colors appropriate for the season, using as much food coloring as needed to create desired hues.

LEMON-FROSTED GINGER COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375°F. In medium bowl, stir cookie mix, butter, honey, flour and egg until dough forms. Shape dough into 1 1/2-inch balls. On ungreased cookie sheets, place balls about 2 inches apart.
• Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until set. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely.
• In small bowl, mix cream cheese, powdered sugar and lemon peel. Frost cookies.

FROSTED GINGER COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, cream 1 cup granulated sugar with butter until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in egg and molasses and blend well.
• In medium bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Add butter to mixture and blend well.
• Fill a shallow bowl with granulated sugar. Break off walnut-size pieces of dough and roll into balls; roll balls in sugar. Arrange on greased cookie sheets and bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Transfer to cooling racks.
• Meanwhile, make glaze: Combine powdered sugar with 1 tbsp water and stir until smooth, then stir in lemon juice. Drizzle glaze over cookies and cool until glaze hardens.

FROSTED GINGER COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°.
• In a large bowl, cream 1 cup granulated sugar with butter until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
• Mix in egg and molasses.
• In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and spices.
• Add to butter mixture and blend well.
• Fill a shallow bowl with granulated sugar.
• Break off walnut-size pieces of dough and roll into balls; roll balls in sugar.
• Arrange on greased cookie sheets and bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes.
• Transfer to cooling racks.
• Meanwhile, make glaze: Combine powdered sugar with 1 tablespoons water and stir until smooth, then stir in lemon juice. Drizzle glaze over cookies.

FROSTED GINGER CREAMS

Steps:

• In a large bowl cream shortening and sugar. Beat in egg and molasses. Combine the flour, ginger, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and cloves; gradually add to creamed mixture alternately with water (dough will be soft). , Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls 2 in. apart onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 400° for 7-8 minutes or until tops are cracked. Remove to wire racks to cool., In a small bowl, beat cream cheese, butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla and enough lemon juice to achieve spreading consistency. Frost cookies. Store in the refrigerator.

FROSTED MOLASSES GINGER SANDWICH COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream together 1 cup margarine and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and molasses until well blended. Dissolve the baking soda in boiling water; stir into the molasses mixture. Gradually mix in the flour to make a smooth dough. Cover and chill dough for at least 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/8 inch in thickness. Cut into circles using a 3 inch round cutter. Cut a smaller 1 inch circle out of half of the cookies. It is easier to cut the center hole after the cookies have been placed onto the cookie sheets. Place cookies 1 inch apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.
• Bake for 7 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until edges begin to darken. Allow cookies to cool completely before sandwiching. Frost solid cookies and place a cookie with the center hole on top.
• To make the frosting: Beat 1 tablespoon of margarine and water together. Blend in the ginger and salt. Gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar until the desired consistency is reached. Sandwich between cooled cookies.