Description
This Gingerbread Man Cookies recipe delivers classic holiday treats with spiced, soft, and chewy cookies that are perfect for decorating and sharing. Made with warm spices like ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves, and sweetened with molasses and brown sugar, these cookies are baked to perfection and finished with a smooth, pipeable vanilla icing.
Ingredients
Scale
For the Gingerbread Man Cookies:
- 3 ½ cups all purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ cup (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup packed dark brown sugar
- ⅔ cup molasses
- 1 large egg
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
For the Icing:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 to 4 tablespoons milk, or water
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, salt, and baking soda to combine all the dry spices evenly.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: In a stand mixer, cream together the softened butter and packed dark brown sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy, ensuring a smooth texture and air incorporation.
- Add Wet Ingredients: Beat in the egg, vanilla extract, and molasses until fully incorporated into the creamed butter and sugar, creating a rich and flavorful dough base.
- Combine Wet and Dry: Gradually add the dry ingredient mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing well between additions until the dough is uniform and no flour pockets remain.
- Chill Dough: Divide the dough into two large balls, wrap each in plastic wrap, flatten into disks, and refrigerate for 2 hours to firm up for easier rolling and cutting.
- Prepare for Baking: Preheat the oven to 350°F and line 2-3 baking sheets with parchment paper to prevent sticking and ensure even baking.
- Roll and Cut Cookies: On a heavily floured surface, roll out chilled dough to a thickness between 1/8” and 1/4”. Use gingerbread man cookie cutters to cut out shapes, re-rolling scraps as needed.
- Arrange and Bake: Place the gingerbread men 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake standard-sized cookies for 10 to 12 minutes until edges are set; smaller cookies may require approximately 8 minutes.
- Cool Cookies: Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Prepare Icing: Whisk together powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons of milk, and vanilla extract until smooth. Adjust consistency by adding more milk one tablespoon at a time until the icing is thick yet pipeable.
- Decorate Cookies: Transfer the icing to a piping bag fitted with a small tip. Pipe faces, buttons, and decorative squiggly lines onto the cooled gingerbread men as desired.
Notes
- For best results, ensure the dough is well chilled before rolling to prevent sticking and maintain cookie shape.
- If dough becomes too soft while rolling, refrigerate again briefly.
- Adjust icing consistency carefully; too thin will not hold shape, too thick will be difficult to pipe.
- Store decorated cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.
- Molasses can be substituted with dark corn syrup or honey, but molasses gives the authentic flavor.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 110
- Sugar: 8g
- Sodium: 90mg
- Fat: 4g
- Saturated Fat: 2.5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 1.3g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 17g
- Fiber: 0.5g
- Protein: 1g
- Cholesterol: 15mg
