Here is my favorite gingerbread cookies recipe and one of the most popular Christmas cookie recipes on this website. Soft in the centers, crisp on the edges, perfectly spiced, molasses and brown sugar-sweetened holiday goodness.
Whenever I think of Christmas cookies, gingerbread cookies come to mind first. Well, after Christmas sugar cookies of course! Their spice, their molasses flavor, their SMILES, and their charm are obviously irresistible. Gingerbread cookies, you have my heart.
Key Ingredients in Gingerbread Cookies
The full written recipe is below, but let’s review a few key ingredients here first. Gingerbread cookie recipes all start the same and mine comes from my mom. To her recipe, I add a little more molasses and increase the amount of spice flavors (cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and allspice). Because of the added sticky sweetener (molasses), I add a little more flour to help soak it all up. Just like when we are making pinwheel cookies, a bit of extra flour helps the cookies can keep their shape.
- Molasses + spices for flavor
- Egg so the gingerbread cookies have structure and richness
- Brown sugar instead of white granulated sugar. I always use brown sugar when its flavor fits.
How to Make Gingerbread Cookies
Let’s walk through the gingerbread cookie recipe so you feel confident when you begin baking.
Chill the dough: The dough is sticky once it’s all beaten together in your mixing bowl and therefore, it absolutely MUST be chilled for at least 3 hours. Give yourself enough time in the kitchen or make the cookie dough and chill it overnight. You want your cookie dough firm so the cookies hold their shape and you want your cookie dough manageable so you can work with it. You won’t have either unless you have chilled cookie dough!
Wrap up the dough: It’s easiest to wrap the dough in plastic wrap before chilling. Scoop out 1/2 of the prepared cookie dough, plop it onto a long sheet of plastic wrap, wrap it up, and flatten it out into a disc. Repeat with the other 1/2 of dough. Then chill. See that photo above? That’s what you’re doing, but you’ll have 2 discs. Why are you doing this? It’s easier to roll out the chilled cookie dough when it is in a disc shape. Also, the cookie dough chills faster when there is less volume. And it’s just easier to work with smaller portions when rolling/shaping!
Roll it out: After chilling, roll out the chilled cookie dough discs until about 1/4-inch thick. Don’t be afraid to flour your hands, rolling pin, work surface, and everything in the world. By that, I mean: the cookie dough can become sticky as you work. So, don’t be scared to add more flour to the work surface. The flour spots on top of your shaped cookie dough will bake off.
Place the cut-out cookies onto a lined baking sheet about 1 inch apart. The cookies won’t really spread, but you want to make sure they have enough room to breathe. They are gingerbread people, after all. 😉
How to Decorate Gingerbread Cookies
After they’ve baked and cooled, it’s time to decorate the cookies. We’re talking smiles, eyes, bow-ties, buttons, squiggles, whatever your gingerbread cookie loving heart desires. This is when it’s really fun to have a friend or little baker in the kitchen with you. You can use the easy cookie icing or my traditional royal icing recipe, whichever you prefer. For something even easier, you can decorate the gingerbread cookies with cookie decorating buttercream, and feel free to add a little cinnamon to it for extra spice flavor.
Tint the icing with a couple drops of food coloring to spice things up, too.
Many of the tools I include in my list of favorite cookie decorating supplies will be helpful for decorating these cookies. For more inspiration, here is my full tutorial on how to decorate sugar cookies (video included!).
It’s difficult not to love this recipe which is why they’re my favorite gingerbread cookies!
- The dough comes together easily
- The flavor is spot on—lots of molasses, ginger, cinnamon, all-spice, and cloves
- The edges are slightly crisp
- The centers are soft and chewy
- They’re so easy to decorate.
Don’t forget the other Christmas classics: Peanut Butter Blossoms and Snowball Cookies. And if you can’t get enough gingerbread flavor, try these gingerbread blossoms, chocolate ginger cookies, gingerbread latte cookies, iced gingerbread oatmeal cookies, gingerbread cookie bars (no dough chilling!), gingerbread cake, gingerbread cinnamon rolls, and gingerbread waffles next!
Gingerbread Cookies
- Prep Time: 4 hours
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours, 30 minutes
- Yield: 24 four-inch cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: German
Description
This is my favorite gingerbread cookies recipe and it’s also loved by millions. Soft in the centers, crisp on the edges, and perfectly spiced. I played around with the spices a lot and really loved the flavor of these cookies when using a full Tablespoon each of ground ginger and ground cinnamon. Make sure you chill the cookie dough discs for a minimum of 3 hours.
Ingredients
- 3 and 1/2 cups (440g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon ground ginger (yes, 1 full Tablespoon!)
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 10 Tablespoons (142g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 2/3 cup (160ml; about 200g) unsulphured or dark molasses (do not use blackstrap; I prefer Grandma’s brand)
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- optional: easy cookie icing, royal icing, or cookie buttercream
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a handheld mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter for 1 minute on medium speed until completely smooth and creamy. Add the brown sugar and molasses and beat on medium high speed until combined and creamy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Next, beat in egg and vanilla on high speed for 2 full minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. The butter may separate; that’s ok.
- Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, and beat on low speed until combined. The cookie dough will be quite thick and slightly sticky. Divide dough in half and place each onto a large piece of plastic wrap. Wrap each up tightly and pat down to create a disc shape. Chill discs for at least 3 hours and up to 3 days. Chilling is mandatory for this cookie dough. I always chill mine overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line 2-3 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. (Always recommended for cookies.) Set aside.
- Remove 1 disc of chilled cookie dough from the refrigerator. Generously flour a work surface, as well as your hands and the rolling pin. Roll out disc until 1/4-inch thick. Tips for rolling—the dough may crack and be crumbly as you roll. What’s helpful is picking it up and rotating it as you go. Additionally, you can use your fingers to help meld the cracking edges back together. The first few rolls are always the hardest since the dough is so stiff, but re-rolling the scraps is much easier. 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. If your cookie cutters are smaller than 4 inches, bake for about 8 minutes. If your cookie cutters are larger than 4 inches, bake for about 11 minutes. My oven has hot spots and yours may too—so be sure to rotate the pan once during bake time. Keep in mind that the longer the cookies bake, the harder and crunchier they’ll be. For soft gingerbread cookies, follow my suggested bake times.
- Allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet. Transfer to cooling rack to cool completely. Once completely cool, decorate as desired.
- Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Baked and decorated (or not decorated) cookies freeze well – up to three months. Unbaked cookie dough discs (just the dough prepared through step 3) freeze well up to three months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator then continue with step 4.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Rolling Pin or Adjustable Rolling Pin | Gingerbread Cookie Cutter | Cooling Rack
- Gingerbread House: This cookie dough is not sturdy enough for gingerbread houses. Here is my gingerbread house recipe.
WHAT HAVE I DONE?
Reader Comments and Reviews
Amazing flavour and no problems rolling out
I’ve had trouble with shaped cookies in the past but this recipe works well, much less fussy than some many of the recipes I’ve tried where everything has to be just right, recipe still worked even when I added 50% more butter than called for by accident. Works well with King Arthur gluten free flour. I froze my test cookies before baking to help them hold their shape, and a 2.5 in diameter cookie only spread to 3 in during baking. Great flavor as well. I decorated with a stable buttercream which was very nice with the flavor of the cookie.
Turned out great!
resulting cookie is very dry. needs icing
i do agree with the tblp of ginger tho would be flavourless without it
sally, i love most of your recipes. not so much this one
I don’t have the ginger powder in my pantry so is it okay to use fresh ginger? If so, how much should I use the fresh ginger? Thanks
Hi Rachel, We haven’t tested it but you should be able to use fresh grated ginger. We are unsure of the exact amount but just remember that fresh ginger isn’t as strong as ground dried ginger so you will need to use more, and you should grate it as finely as possible.
Did not work fir me. I let the dough chill overnight. It was so sticky there was no way it would roll out or it out. Had to keep adding flour to roll out and they were VERY dry from all the extra flour.
I usually love recipes from this site and I love the taste of these cookies but the dough is just too crumbly to roll out. My kids were super excited but it turned into a bit of a disaster because the dough just crumbled and crumbled. Taste is good though.
Hi Elizabeth! Perhaps the flour wasn’t spooned and leveled (an easy fix for next time), but it’s nothing that can’t be fixed during the rolling process. Tips for rolling that we’ve always found useful if your dough is crumbly– try picking it up and rotating it as you go. Additionally, you can use your fingers to help meld the cracking edges back together. The first few rolls are always the hardest since the dough is so stiff, but re-rolling the scraps is much easier.
So far, I have completed the recipe to the dough stage and divided into 4 balls and wrapped in siren wrap to chill in the fridge for 3 hours. My dough tasted delicious! The only problem seems to be that the dough seemed rather crumbly and I am afraid that they won’t roll out easily. Any suggestions for the roll out stage? Thank you!
Hi Colleen! Perhaps the flour wasn’t spooned and leveled, but it’s nothing that can’t be fixed during the rolling process. Tips for rolling that we’ve always found useful if your dough is crumbly– try picking it up and rotating it as you go. Additionally, you can use your fingers to help meld the cracking edges back together. The first few rolls are always the hardest since the dough is so stiff, but re-rolling the scraps is much easier.
We made a family memory making these today. Thank you. We will keep this recipe in our cookbook.
I have a short amount of time to make these could instead of putting them in the fridge for 3 hours put the in the freezer for quicker
Hi Abigail! The fridge is really best because the dough won’t chill evenly in the freezer.
I just made these, I doubled the recipe which worked well apart from the strong molasses taste which I wish wasn’t so strong and I didn’t even use the whole double measure I only put 1 cup in total.
I had trouble another time making gingerbread and I’m about ready to give up on making it lol. Also I didn’t find the ginger taste very strong. Maybe it’s just a matter of changing a bit to suit. Don’t know what to do with a the dough in the fridge 🙂
Such a great base recipe. I added a bit of chili powder to the dough to make it spicier, and then instead of rolling it out, I formed balls around some soft caramels, baked for 10 minutes (I rotated the tray three times), and sprinkled with sea salt when done. DANGEROUSLY good.
Can I use pumpkin pie spice in lieu of the cloves and allspice?
Hi Amy! We suggest sticking with the separate spices so you have more control over exactly what quantities are going into your cookies.
Hi,
I heard that brown sugar is a good substitute for molasses, would it be fine if i used that to substitute for the molasses?
Hi Hanaa, Unfortunately there isn’t a comparable substitute for molasses that will give the cookies that signature gingerbread taste. Best to wait until you can find molasses to make these gingerbreads!
I am confused with the sugar. Brown sugar is light brown cane sugar? Will dark sugar taste nicer or it will be the same?
Hi Celine! Light or dark brown sugar will both work. Enjoy!
I want to make these in my cooking class. Is it possible to chill the dough for 2 days? I read elsewhere it is okay, but wanted to be sure it’s okay with this recipe.
Also, will work as well if the recipe is halved?
Hi Melinda! Dough can be chilled up to three days. You can definitely halve this recipe. For the egg, crack the egg, beat it together, then use half of the beaten egg. Happy baking!
Hi! I have a cookie stamp that I’d like to use. Do you think this recipe would keep the detail from the stamp, or would they puff up too much as they bake? Thanks!
Hi Brit, we fear these cookies would puff up too much with a cookie stamp. However, these cinnamon brown sugar stamped cookies would be a great alternative!
Hi!
Would it be possible to make these cookies gluten free? Is there a good flour substitute for them?
Hi Naomi, we haven’t tested a gluten-free version of these cookies, but let us know if you give anything a try.
There will be one in the supermarket I can’t remember the brand could be Edmonds. Look for one that says “bakes like regular flour”. Good Luck
I used to bake entirely gluten free for my wife (before we determined she didn’t have celiac), and the Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 flour substitute is far and away the best replacement I ever used. It’s almost a perfect replacement and people couldn’t tell that my baked goods were GF.
This was my first ever gingerbread cookie and I LOVED it! I paired it with a miso caramel and fresh apples. Heavenly
I need a recipe without eggs. Our class has egg allergies. Do you have any suggestions?
Hi Callie! We haven’t tested any egg substitutes in this recipe but let us know if you try any! A flax egg may work, or other readers have reported using pumpkin puree.
I can’t eat eggs and play around with all of Sally’s recipe using substitutes! I’m about to start making these with a high fat plain yoghurt subbed for the egg. I’ll let you know how it turns out! (I use different substitutes depending on the recipe. I use Bob’s Red Mill egg replacer for her scones, but don’t think I’d achieve the results I’d want with this recipe and then use flax eggs for others)
Hi Callie, I’ve veganized this recipe before and used slightly whipped aquafaba instead of eggs and it worked well! I add the aquafaba in the end so all of the air wouldn’t be knocked out.
Can this dough be rolled into balls to make regular shaped cookies instead of gingerbread men shaped? If so, do you know how long they’ll need to bake?
Hi Laura! This dough is best as a roll-out cookie. For a drop cookie, you can try our soft molasses cookies (my favorite!) or crisp molasses cookies instead.
I really want to try make these gingerbread cookies the only problem is I don’t have any molasses or unsulphured molasses in this recipe, could I use honey and brown sugar as a substitute? Would that affect the cookie?
Hi Alanna, honey is not an ideal replacement for molasses, especially when you need this much. If you don’t have/don’t like molasses, we recommend our regular sugar cookies recipe and you can certainly add these dry spices.
I don’t have a paddle attachment. Will regular beaters work?
Yes!
I have a gingerbread man cookie pan, it’s the size of a small cooking sheet. I want to make a gingerman cookie with my class. Can I use your gingerbread cookie recipe for this, or should I use the your gingerbread house recipe.
Hi Yvonne! I fear that this cookie dough would be too soft to make such a large cookie – the gingerbread house dough recipe would likely be a better bet!
LOVE LOVE LOVE These cookies! My son has requested them many times. Every single recipe I’ve made from your website has been amazing.
Found your recipe a few years ago and It’s the best one I’ve ever had. It’s now a tradition to make these every Christmas and I always make a double or even triple batch because I love them so much. I love sharing this tradition with my girls!
Can I roll out the dough before chilling it, like how you recommend in your sugar cookie recipe?
This dough is actually too soft to roll right after mixing, so chill it before rolling.
I’ve never made gingerbread before, but I’ll definitely do it again after making these. They came out super well. And I was really surprised how well they held their shape. I let the dough soften quite a bit before I attempted to roll it, and really rushed chilling them again before I baked them and they still held their shape perfectly.
May I use this recipe for 5 or 6 inch men/ladies…..want to personalize them….?
Hi Gary, absolutely, you can use this recipe for 5/6 inch cookie cutters. The yield will be a little less than 24 cookies.
Working on it now… the dough is SOOOO crumbly! Really hard to work with. Tips?
Give it a few minutes to soften and hold together. It eventually does– just keep working it with the rolling pin. You could even flick a few drops of cold water on the dough to help.
Mine was very crumbly.. I wet my hands a tiny bit to add a bit of moisture while I was getting dough ready to roll…worked great!