The Best Gingerbread Cookies Recipes

THE BEST SOFT GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• In a bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, allspice and cloves, whisking to completely combine.
• In a large bowl using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and the brown sugar for 3 minutes on medium high speed. Add the molasses and beat on medium high speed until combined and creamy-looking.
• Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
• Next, beat in egg and vanilla. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
• Add the dry ingredients to the bowl. On low speed, slowly mix into the wet ingredients until combined.
• Divide the cookie dough in half and place each onto a large piece of plastic wrap. Wrap each dough up tightly and pat down to create a flat disc shape.
• Chill the discs for at least 3 hours and up to 3 days in the refrigerator. Chilling is mandatory for gingerbread cookie dough.
• Preheat oven to 350°F
• Line 2-3 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. (We recommend these for cookies and never bake without them.)
• Remove 1 disc of chilled cookie dough from the refrigerator.
• Generously sprinkle a work surface, as well as your hands and the rolling pin with powdered sugar, not flour.
• Roll out disc until 1/4-1/2"-inch thick. Cut into shapes. Place shapes 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheets. Re-roll dough scraps until all the dough is shaped. Repeat with remaining disc of dough.
• Bake cookies for about 9-10 minutes.
• Allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet. Transfer to cooling rack to cool completely. Once completely cool, decorate with royal icing!

GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• First, mix together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, approximately 2-3 minutes with an electric mixer.
• Next, add egg and molasses and mix well.
• In a separate bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger, stirring to combine.
• Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until well combined.
• Form or scoop balls of dough that are slightly smaller than a golf ball. Place them on a baking sheet approximately 2" to 3" apart to allow room for cookies to spread.
• Finally, bake for 10-12 minutes, remove from oven and allow cookies to cool on baking for approximately ten minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

GINGERBREAD MEN COOKIES

Steps:

• Mix flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt in large bowl. Set aside. Beat butter and brown sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add molasses, egg and vanilla;mix well. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed. Press dough into a thick flat disk. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness on lightly floured work surface. Cut into gingerbread men shapes with 5-inch cookie cutter. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets.
• Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges of cookies are set and just begin to brown. Cool on baking sheets 1 to 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks; cool completely. Decorate cooled cookies as desired. Store cookies in airtight container up to5 days.

THE MOST WONDERFUL GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves until well blended.
• In a large bowl (KitchenAid's great for this) beat butter, brown sugar, and egg on medium speed until well blended.
• Add molasses, vanilla, and lemon zest and continue to mix until well blended.
• Gradually stir in dry ingredients until blended and smooth.
• Divide dough in half and wrap each half in plastic and let stand at room temperature for at least 2 hours or up to 8 hours.
• Preheat oven to 375 deg. Prepare baking sheets by lining with parchment paper.
• (Dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, but in this case it should be refrigerated. Return to room temp before using.) Preheat oven to 375°.
• Grease or line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• Place 1 portion of the dough on a lightly floured surface.
• Sprinkle flour over dough and rolling pin.
• Roll dough to a scant 1/4-inch thick.
• Use additional flour to avoid sticking.
• Cut out cookies with desired cutter-- the ginger bread man is our favorite of course.
• Space cookies 1 1/2-inches apart.
• Bake 1 sheet at a time for 7-10 minutes (the lower time will give you softer cookies-- very good!).
• Remove cookie sheet from oven and allow the cookies to stand until the cookies are firm enough to move to a wire rack.
• After cookies are cool you may decorate them any way you like.
• I usually brush them with a powdered sugar glaze when I am in a hurry, but they look wonderful decorated with Royal icing.

BIG SOFT GINGER COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and molasses. Combine the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture and mix well. , Roll into 1-1/2-in. balls, then roll in sugar. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° until puffy and lightly browned, 10-12 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool.

BEST-EVER CHEWY GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• In large bowl, beat butter and brown sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in egg and molasses. Stir in remaining ingredients except granulated sugar. Cover; refrigerate at least 2 hours.
• Heat oven to 350°F. Line cookie sheets with cooking parchment paper or silicone baking mat. In small bowl, place granulated sugar. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll in sugar. On cookie sheets, place balls 2 inches apart.
• Bake 8 to 10 minutes or just until set and soft in center. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Store tightly covered up to 1 week.

GINGERBREAD COOKIE RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350F.
• In a small bowl, combine all dry ingredients - flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar.
• Add egg, orange juice and molasses, stirring carefully until well combined.
• Slowly add flour mixture to butter mixture, thick dough will form.
• Drop dough by rounded teaspoon into sugar. Roll to cover, then place on cookie sheet. Set cookies about 2-inches apart.
• Bake at 350F for 8-10 minutes. The cookies will spread out and flatten a bit. Let cookies cool on cookie sheet for a couple of minutes before removing to wire rack.

THE BEST GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Bring molasses, brown sugar, and spices to a boil in a 4- to 5-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, and remove from heat. Stir in baking soda (mixture will foam up), then stir in butter 3 pieces at a time, letting each addition melt before adding next, until all butter is melted. Add egg and stir until combined, then stir in 3¾ cups flour and salt.
• Preheat oven to 325°F.
• Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead, dusting with as much of remaining ¼ cup flour as needed to prevent sticking, until soft and easy to handle, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Divide dough in half, then wrap one half in plastic wrap and keep at room temperature.
• Roll out remaining dough into a 14-inch round (⅛ inch thick) on a lightly floured surface. Cut out as many cookies as possible with cutters and carefully transfer with offset spatula to 2 buttered large baking sheets, arranging them about 1 inch apart.
• Bake cookies in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until edges are slightly darker, 10 to 12 minutes total (watch carefully toward end of baking; cookies can burn easily). Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely. Make more cookies with remaining dough and scraps (reroll once).
• Put icing in pastry bag (if using) and pipe or spread decoratively onto cookies.

THE BEST GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• For the cookies: Whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, allspice and cloves in a large bowl.
• Mix the butter, shortening, brown sugar and molasses in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat in the egg. Beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in two additions. Divide the dough in half, wrap in plastic and pat to 1/2-inch thick. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out one piece of dough to 1/4-inch thick, dusting with flour if needed. Cut into 3- to 5-inch cookies with a gingerbread man cutter or desired shape. Brush off the excess flour and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Repeat with the second piece of dough.
• Bake the cookies in batches until they are golden around the edges, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.
• For the royal icing: Whisk the confectioners' sugar with the meringue powder in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat in 6 tablespoons of water until well combined and you have stiff glossy peaks, adding 1 tablespoon more water at a time to reach a smooth pipeable consistency. Mix in food coloring as desired. Fill pastry bags fitted with tips. Decorate the gingerbread cookies with the icing.

GINGERBREAD COOKIES WITH TWO TYPES OF GINGERBREAD COOKIE FROSTING

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375 F. Put cookie stamps in the freezer to chill, if using. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. These cookies keep beautifully in an airtight container for several days.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer using a paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using a hand-held mixer, cream together the butter, sugar, and molasses on medium speed. Beat the egg yolk into the creamed mixture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure that that the dough is thoroughly mixed.
• Sift the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Beat on low speed until the dough comes together.
• Turn the gingerbread cookie dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead until all the floury bits are mixed in.
• Flatten the gingerbread dough into a disk. Use a rolling pin to roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness. You only need to chill this dough if it's very soft.
• Use a cookie cutter or cookie stamps to cut out the cookies. Transfer the cookies to the prepared cookie sheet.
• Bake 8-10 minutes until just set. Remove to wire racks to cool fully.
• In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, or in the bowl of a stand mixer with the whip attachment, beat 2 tbs meringue powder into 1/4 cup cold water on medium-high speed until peaks form.
• Beat confectioners' sugar into the meringue until desired consistency is reached. Add more sugar for stiffer icing, or a droplet of water to soften icing consistency.
• Use a disposable 16-inch piping bag with a small round tip and lots of Christmas sprinkles to decorate cookies.
• Whisk the glaze ingredients together until they become a smooth, thin glaze. Add water if too thick. The glaze should have the consistency of maple syrup.
• Brush the glaze on the cooled cookies. Let glaze set fully before serving.