Gingerbread Cookies (Gingerbread Family) – The Cookie Rookie®

Gingerbread cookies are the best Christmas cookie! They’re just so fun to make and eat. Learn how to make gingerbread man cookies at home for the best texture and flavor, then decorate as you please! This recipe is so much fun to make with the family, or to bring to a holiday party.

Best Gingerbread Cookies

Nothing says Christmas like gingerbread cookies! They’re festive, cute, and so tasty. These little gingerbread family cookies can be baked and decorated together for a fun family activity.

These are one of the best Christmas cookies! Make a batch for the kids to decorate, and set them out for Santa on Christmas Eve. Or make them for a holiday party!

Homemade gingerbread cookies are easy to make, and they taste a lot better than store-bought ones. So make this your next holiday baking recipe and enjoy!

Learn how to make gingerbread cookies with this easy recipe, then cut them into different sizes to create the cutest little gingerbread family! The kids will absolutely love making these, and eating them is fun too.

How to Make Gingerbread Cookies

You can jump to the recipe card for full ingredients & instructions!

1. Begin by adding ingredients into a stand mixer to combine, then add the egg and molasses.
2. Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then mix them into the wet ingredients.
3. Divide dough in half, roll it out, and then place it on parchment paper on a large sheet pan. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours.
4. Preheat oven, and cut dough into individual cookies. Place the gingerbread cookies on a parchment-lined pan.
5. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Then let them cool completely before decorating.

Recipe Notes

• Let your butter warm to room temperature before using it.
• Overmixing cookie dough will lead to tough, flat cookies. So mix just until ingredients are incorporated.
• The dough needs to chill for at least 2 hours before baking, so plan accordingly!
• Gingerbread cookies are done when the edges start to darken. They will still look a little soft and doughy, but they will harden as they cool.

Set up a decorating station with bowls of toppings, so kids can make their own gingerbread cookies however they like! This is a fun way to spend Christmas Eve, or something to do after opening presents.

What can I use instead of apple pie spice?

If you don’t have apple pie spice, use a mix of cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg instead.

What can I use to decorate gingerbread cookies?

Use any icing, frosting, candies, or toppings you like to decorate these gingerbread cookies. Generally, I like using powdered sugar-based icing for these, but buttercream frostings are great if you want to just cover the whole cooking instead of decorating.

I recommend grabbing some store-bought icing packages (those little ones that have a piping tip) in different colors, so they’re easy and ready to use. Or else you can make your own, of course, and use food coloring to dye.

You can also use Christmas-colored sprinkles, heart sprinkles, M&Ms, gum drops, crushed peppermint, and so much else!

What size cookie cutters should I use?

You can use any shape or size of cookie cutters you like, and you can use multiple cutters too. Get a gingerbread family cookie cutter kit to make different sizes, like I did here! Make jumbo cookies, mini cookies, and anything in between.

This is the best gingerbread cookie recipe, because they are easy to make and really tasty too. So have fun baking and decorating these for Christmas!

If you make this recipe be sure to upload a photo in the comment section below or leave a rating. Enjoy! You can also jump to recipe.

Recipe

Gingerbread Cookies Recipe

Author: Becky Hardin – The Cookie Rookie

Prep: 30 minutes

Cook: 10 minutes

Total: 2 hours 40 minutes

Gingerbread cookies are the best Christmas cookie! They’re just so fun to make and eat. Learn how to make gingerbread man cookies at home for the best texture and flavor, then decorate as you please! This recipe is so much fun to make with the family, or to bring to a holiday party.

Instructions

• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and salts together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

  1 cup unsalted butter, ½ cup dark brown sugar, ¼ cup granulated sugar, 1½ teaspoons kosher salt, ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt

• Add the egg and molasses and mix at medium speed until well combined, about 1 minute.

  1 large egg, 2 tablespoons unsulphured molasses

• In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, cinnamon, apple pie spice, ginger, and cloves together.

  2¼ cups all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon ground ginger, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon apple pie spice, ¾ teaspoon ground cloves

• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing on low speed until all of the flour has been incorporated. Do not overmix the cookie dough or the cookies will be tough.

• Scrape around the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula to ensure all flour has been incorporated.

• Divide the dough in half and place one half on a large piece of parchment paper. Roll the dough to ⅜-inch thick and transfer the dough with the parchment paper to a large sheet pan.

• Repeat with the second half of dough. Place the second half of rolled dough with the parchment over the first half of rolled dough on the sheet pan.

• Cover the dough on the sheet pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

• Once the dough has chilled, remove the dough from the refrigerator and preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

• Cut the dough into desired shapes and place onto prepared baking sheets.

• Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges and bottoms are just beginning to darken.

• Remove cookies from the oven and let cool for 1 minute on the baking sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack. Allow cookies to fully cool before decorating.

• Decorate as desired, serve, and enjoy!

  Icing and sprinkles

Becky’s tips

• Let your butter warm to room temperature before using it.
• Overmixing cookie dough will lead to tough, flat cookies. So mix just until ingredients are incorporated.
• The dough needs to chill for at least 2 hours before baking, so plan accordingly!
• If you want to get a head start on making these, you can make the dough ahead of time and freeze it.
• Spraying your cookie cutters with nonstick spray will help cut the dough cleanly.
• Making gingerbread man shaped cookies is fun, but you could also use this recipe with any cookie cutter shape you choose. Christmas tree cookies, snowflake shape, snowman? All fun to decorate and eat!
• Gingerbread cookies are done when the edges start to darken. They will still look a little soft and doughy, but they will harden as they cool.
• Let cookies cool completely before decorating, or else the icing will melt and get messy.
• If freezing baked cookies, place parchment paper between each layer of cookies.

Storage: Store gingerbread cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1cookie Calories: 193kcal (10%) Carbohydrates: 23g (8%) Protein: 2g (4%) Fat: 11g (17%) Saturated Fat: 7g (44%) Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g Monounsaturated Fat: 3g Trans Fat: 0.4g Cholesterol: 37mg (12%) Sodium: 267mg (12%) Potassium: 70mg (2%) Fiber: 1g (4%) Sugar: 10g (11%) Vitamin A: 331IU (7%) Vitamin C: 0.03mg Calcium: 19mg (2%) Iron: 1mg (6%)

Did You Make This?I want to see! Be sure to upload an image below & tag @thecookierookie on social media!