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
I like to add in a 1/2 teaspoon or less of nutmeg. Brings out the German flavor
Hi Sally and crew (again). I feel like I contact you alot lately. I was getting ready to make the dough for these gingerbread cookies and read at the bottom not good for gingerbread houses. I was going to make gingerbread houses but very miniature to sit on the edge of coffee cups. They really would not have much weight and would be for eating with coffee and hot chocolate. Would this recipe work or do I need to use the one for gingerbread houses?
Hi Lisa, these should be fine! Enjoy!
Can you make this recipe with gluten free flour?
Hi Becca, We haven’t tested a gluten-free version of this recipe, so we’re unsure of the results. We don’t recommend almond flour as it has very different baking properties and is not always a 1:1 swap. You might have success experimenting with a gluten-free all-purpose flour like Bob’s Red Mill or Cup4Cup. If you give anything a try, we’d love to know how it goes for you!
To answer your question about gluten free I used King Arthur flour . Works great not other substitutions. I have been making these for a few years now.
Hi Sally, any alternatives to using meringue powder for the royal icing? In Australia we don’t really have it.. I can’t find it anywhere!?
Hi Emma, meringue powder is a key ingredient in this royal icing recipe, but we’d recommend trying our easy cookie icing instead. Still great for decorating cookies but no eggs in the icing. Hope you enjoy it!
My daughter and I made these tonight. Only took out one stick of butter vs. 2 and a half to get to room temp so nuked the butter for 10 seconds right out of the fridge. Also added milk chocolate chips. Huge HIT with all the family.
I made these last year and notice the amount of butter is incorrect.
10 T (2/3cup;145g) are not equal.
10 T = 145g. But is not 2/3 cup.
I went w grams last year and the recipe was very good!
I want to make this recipe. I am having my ladies Sunday school class over and we are going to decorate
I love this recipe, I make it every year! But this year I don’t have all spice, could I replace the spices with pumpkin pie spice?
Hi Alyssa! The ratios aren’t quite the same, and we don’t include nutmeg in this recipe (which is in most pumpkin pie spice blends). You can leave out the allspice if needed this time.
Thank you!
Super yummy! My only warning is MAKE SURE YOU ROLL OUT THE DOUGH SUPER THIN! I didn’t want to use measuring tape so I just eyeballed it. The first batch didn’t retain the shape of the cookie cutters and the snowflakes looked like blobs. The second batch, rolled out much more thin, looked way better! And had a better texture. Everyone I gave the cookies to loved them. Def my go-to recipe!
Really good gingerbread. I added 1/2 tsp of fine black pepper as I know my Mom alwas put it in gingerbread – just “kicks it up a notch.”
I’d love to try this recipe but can’t find molasses in the UK. Would golden syrup work? I think black treacle is the equivalent of blackstrap which you say to avoid? Thanks so much.
Hi Fiona, unfortunately there isn’t a substitute for molasses that will still give you that signature gingerbread taste. Some readers use golden syrup, but the flavor profile will change.
Hi Fiona!!
I believe in the UK molasses is called Treacle. Hope that helps:)
Treacle might work, in the UK, for molasses
I’ve been making these for a few years now and they are the best! I get requests every Christmas. I double the ginger, but that is a personal preference.
I cant wait to bake this recipe! Is there any way I can do it with out using molasses?
Hi Gem, there isn’t a comparable substitute for molasses that will give the cookies that signature gingerbread taste. Some readers have used golden syrup, treacle, or agave, but the flavor profile will be different. You could try my pecan sugar cookies instead. Great flavor in those!
Can I make cookies after only chilling for one day? Sincerely the impatient baker
Hi Mel, yes, absolutely!
Sally, you made Thanksgiving even better this year with this gingerbread & royal icing recipe! I cannot thank you enough!
I have made several of Sally’s recipes over the years. She deserves WAY more credit for her proven recipes that are nothing less than remarkable! I
An exceptional baker, with outstanding understanding of taste combinations. Even Martha could not compete.
Every time I make this recipe everyone asks for it, but this year we will have a few gluten free party people. Is there anything special I should do or will a 1:1 GF flour work just fine?
Hi Shannon, we haven’t tested a gluten-free version of this recipe, so we’re unsure of the results. You might have been success experimenting with a gluten-free all-purpose flour like Bob’s Red Mill or Cup4Cup. If you give anything a try, we’d love to know how it goes for you!
I made this with GF flour several times last Christmas, and it always came out great.
Is there anything that can be done if the dough seems very dry? Or is that normal? I just put it in the fridge to chill but I’m worried it will break apart when I try to roll it out.
Hi Brittany, was your flour spooned and leveled? That’s an easy fix for next time, and 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 hope you enjoy the cookies!
My fiancé and I made these cookies this past weekend for a thanksgiving/Christmas themed potluck. They were a huge hit – we received many compliments! The spices are perfectly balanced and so soft. We baked them for 9 minutes and used flax meal/water to replace the egg due to allergies. We had no issues. We followed everything else to the T (including refrigerating the dough overnight and using a lot of flour when we rolled out the dough). We also used a weigh scale. I can understand why this recipe comes up when you Google search gingerbread cookies, it’s so good!
I’m going to makes these today. When I weigh the flour it’s much heavier than 440 grams. Is it better to go by the cup measurement
Hi Suzanne, I measure 1 cup spooned and leveled flour to be 125g each. That is how the recipe was tested. You can use cup measurements as indicated though.
Do I have to roll the dough? Can I make balls, etc.?
Hi Suzanne, this dough is really best for cut-out shapes, but these soft molasses cookies or crisp molasses cookies would be great alternatives!
This dough was PERFECT! I made gingerbread dough from a recipe that had worked for me in the past and HAD SO MUCH TROUBLE WITH ROLLING OUT! So I tried this recipe, refrigerated 24 hours, and guess what? It was wonderful! I weigh my ingredients, I did let it sit in the fridge a whole 24 hours… everything turned out beautifully and the spices in this are really spot on! My cookies are so cute!
Just made these and they are delicious and quick to make. (I did chill the dough overnight) I followed the recipe except for using Karo dark syrup in place of the molasses. I made 4 inch Christmas tree cut outs and baked for 8:30, left them on the baking sheet for 5 when they came out. They stayed puffy, soft and smell amazing! Great recipe!!
I’m going to buy Ann Clark’s cookie cutter for these. What size did you use?
Hi Dawn, I usually use 3 or 4-inch cookie cutters.
Which icing recipe did you use to decorate your gingerbread cookies in the photos?
Hi Michelle, we used royal icing in these photos, but either will work here!
If I use the Royal Icing recipe for my gingerbread cookies. Will candy (smarties) bond to the cookie? If not, what recipe would you recommend?
Royal icing will help those candies stick, once the icing dries.
Delicious cookies and your directions are perfect and easy to follow. Thanks for the baking time differences they really helped with different size cutters. Will be saving this one for all future gingerbread cookies!
Super nostalgic and the flavours are great! I hate when gingerbread doesn’t have enough ginger in it, these are delightful. I used my cat shaped cookie-cutters and I couldn’t be happier! Thank you 😀
I wrote down the recipe. I plan on making these cookies. They sound so good I’ll probably make them in different shapes throughout the year.
Question! So I make my own brown sugar is it ok to still use for this recipe since my brown suagr requires the molasses or can I switch it out for regular sugar
Hi Sarah, we haven’t tested the recipe with homemade brown sugar, so are unsure of the result. If you try it, please let us know how it goes!
Once frozen/thawed, is this a soft cookie or a crisp cookie?
Hi Heather, this is a soft cookie with slightly crisp edges. Hope you enjoy them!