Gingerbread cookies are probably the most perfect food in this world! I’ve made many cookies over the years, and this is the recipe I use. And I love eating them. They are the perfect balance of sweetness and softness, with this lovely sweet-spicy flavor. It’s simultaneously chewy and soft. It is only made better with cream cheese frosting on top! If you have never had gingerbread cookies that sound like this, you are missing out!! Try the recipe below, and let me know how your cookies turn out.
This recipe is adapted from the gingerbread cookie recipe in the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook I received as a wedding present in 1999. The biggest change I made was for convenience: gingerbread cookie dough requires molasses, which is a pain to measure out. So, I modified the recipe so it would take a single 12-ounce jar of molasses. That way, I can pour in an entire jar of molasses, and not have to worry about dirtying a measuring cup! Because of that, this recipe makes a goodly amount of cookies.
In 2024, I’ll be giving out some gingerbread cookie decorating kits to my neighbors. It will be a more work-intensive neighbor gift project than I’ve done in a lot of years, but I’m excited to give my friends a gift box containing gingerbread men, sprinkles, and filled piping bags of white and colored icing! I hope they will enjoy cookie decorating and eating as much as I do.
Gingerbread House Making Tips
I’ve used this recipe to make gingerbread cookies and also gingerbread houses. I will say a few things about houses, and then I’ll go back to making gingerbread cookies. There are three big differences when I make gingerbread houses.
First, gingerbread house pieces need to be thicker, and made using the first roll-out of your dough. Any scraps from cutting out your pieces should be used to make gingerbread cookies later. Don’t use scraps for house pieces, or your pieces will be less structurally sound.
Second, gingerbread house pieces are baked about 4-5 times as long as gingerbread men cookies.
Third, gingerbread house pieces need to be re-cut as soon as they come out of the oven. Take your house piece template, and your knife or pizza cutter, and re-cut those pieces. As soon as the gingerbread house pieces cool, they will be hard as a rock and you’ll crack them when you try to change the house piece shape.
Getting Perfectly-Baked Gingerbread Cookies
Gingerbread cookies are pretty forgiving! I like to use the big Wilton cookie cutters. They make a good-sized cookie. I also like to use parchment paper. Rolls and pre-cut paper is just as good, but I’ve found pre-cut parchment paper to be a time-saving cooking aid. Putting a pre-cut piece of half-sheet parchment paper down on a half-sheet cookie sheet, then baking the cookies right on it, is a really nice way to transfer hot cookies back and forth from a pan and a cooling rack, table, or counter.
Overall, my biggest gingerbread cookie baking tip is this: Bake them just until the cookies’ “tummies” (the center of the cookie) start to puff up. That’s when they’re done! The time will be somewhere between 5 and 9 minutes, depending on your dough temperature and thickness and your oven’s temperature.
If you have cookies of different widths, they will come out more perfect if you bake similarly thick cookies together, so put thick cookies on one cookie sheet and thin cookies on another cookie sheet.
Mixing Gingerbread Cookie Dough
Gingerbread cookie dough is tough on mixers! The good news is that it’s just the last few cups of flour, and you can prevent burning out your mixer by being careful. If you have a mixer that isn’t very powerful (this includes both tilt-head stand mixers and hand-held mixers), only mix in about 5 cups of flour with the mixer. Sniff your mixer motor to see if it smells at all. If so, it’s burning out a little. Make a note, and mix less flour in with the mixer next time – instead, After that, get out a strong spoon and stir the last of the flour in by hand. Also, make sure your cookie batter is even all the way through. Your mixer may have put all the flour in the top part of your mixing bowl, and left the bottom of your mixing bowl less floury. So, check this and if the bottom is extra moist, just use a spoon or strong spatula to stir that moist cookie dough into the rest of the mix, to even out your dough.
Once you have a consistent batch of dough, pour it out onto your clean counter and mash it together a bit. Don’t work it too hard with your hands, or the dough will get tough. Make 3 or 4 separate piles, and shape each pile into a flat disc. You’re going to be rolling each disc out flat later, so do some of the work now and flatten it out, less than 2 inches thick. Wrap each disc securely in plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator. Each disc will keep for several days the fridge before you cook them, so you can spread out your baking over several days to have fresh cookies each day!
Rolling Out Gingerbread Cookie Dough
When it’s time to roll out your dough, use only enough flour to keep your rolling pin and dough from sticking. You can brush extra flour off top of the cookies before you bake them.
| Prep Time | 30 minutes |
| Cook Time | 25 minutes |
| Passive Time | 3 hours |
| Servings |
cookies
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- 1.5 cups shortening shortening sticks save measuring time
- 1.5 cups granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1.5 teaspoons baking soda
- 1.5 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1.5 teaspoons ground cloves
- 7.5 cups flour mix in first 5 cups with mixer, then continue by hand
Ingredients
Shortening, Sugar, Spices
Final Flour
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There is no Nutrition Label for this recipe yet.
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- Gather ingredients for your cookies.
- Beat in molasses, eggs, and vinegar. Mix 2 minutes, making sure all ingredients are mixed in.
- Be careful with your mixer when adding flour. Unless it is a heavy duty bowl lift stand mixer, you will risk burning out the motor if not careful. If your mixer starts to smell at any point, turn it off and continue with a wooden spoon or strong spatula.
- Beat in 5 cups flour with mixer. Mix until very well combined, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Mix in the last 2.5 cups flour - by hand is best, but if your mixer is strong, and the motor doesn't smell at this point, use your mixer.
- Pour out dough onto clean counter or dough board.
- Divide dough into 3 sections. Shape each section into a medium sized flat disc. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and place in the fridge.
- Refrigerate dough at least 2 hours. The dough discs will keep several days (or up to a week) before rolling them out and baking.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Roll dough 1/4" thick and cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Depending on how sticky your dough is, you may need to use some flour, but hopefully not much. I cut mine into large 4-inch gingerbread men.
- Line cookie sheets with parchment paper (paper is optional, but it keeps things clean and makes cookie transfer easy). Place cookies at least 1" apart on cookie sheets. The size of the cookie cutters and thickness of the dough will change how they cook, so try to place similar size/thickness of cookies on sheets together. I can usually get 6 large cookies on one cookie sheet.
- Bake 6 to 8 minutes, or until cookies are done. Cookies are done when cookie tummies are slightly puffy and edges are slightly browner than the center. There will be tiny cracks near the tummies. If you don't see cracks, keep them in 1-2 minutes longer.
- Allow cookies too cool flat in the cookie sheet - on a rack, on the stovetop, or on a hot pad on the counter - for a few minutes before removing the cookie sheet. Later, you can move them to a rack to cool. Treating your cookies well after they come out of the oven will help your cookies finish off beautiful!
