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
Could I use a cookie stamp for these? Or, do you have other thoughts on baking without rolling and cutting out?
Some readers have had success doing so, but the patterns may not hold well. These cinnamon brown sugar cookies may be a better option!
Hi will this be a problem if I can only find blackstrap molasses? Looking forward to rolling my sleeves up (nervous but feeling creative!) also looking forward to seeing how genuinely spiced these will be !!!
Hi Shania, blackstrap is very bitter/potent and often not preferred in baked goods. If you know that you like it, you can certainly use it. But we recommend waiting until you can find unsulphured or dark molasses instead. Let us know how you like the cookies!
I just made these using a 4 inch (or so) tree cookie cutter and everything worked out perfectly. The shapes remained nice and sharp and the thickness is perfect for a slightly soft cookie at 9 minutes. I added a bit of nutmeg and cardamom because why not! The dough was very easy to work with. 10/10 my go-to gingerbread recipe.
This is just what I was hoping for! We like lots of spices and were prepared to double the spice amounts, but we didn’t have to. Our only addition was 1/4 tsp of ground pepper. These taste great, with a slightly crispy outside and soft inside. Thanks to Sally’s great tips, they came out just right on the first try and were easy to make. We used 3″ and 4″ cutters and made about 3 dozen cookies. We’re looking forward to sharing them with all our friends and family, and this recipe will remain a regular on our Christmas list!! Thanks so much, Sally.
These cookies are wonderful! Easy to make and just as described. Kids loved them, I loved them, and I’m sure the people I gift them to will love them.
You should not make this recipe……… because you’ll be addicted! This was the best gingerbread I have ever had, 10x better than those gingerbread kits. My friend who doesn’t like gingerbread, loved them! So, gingerbread lovers and haters, please try this recipe! You won’t be disappointed! Thank you for sharing.
Hi Sally, I made these twice before a few years ago and they were great. It’s hard to find molasses here in Ireland so I must have used treacle instead. I’m going to try making them again (with treacle) this week and I’ll let you know how it went.
Hi Sally. We made these at home last year and they were a hit!! The dough was easy to make and work with and the cookies turned out fluffy but solid enough to decorate once they cooled down. I wonder what you recommend for a butter substitute since I have family members with dairy allergies. Thank you!!!
Hi Vivian, we’re so glad you enjoyed these cookies! We haven’t tested these with any butter substitutes, but you might try a plant-based butter as a starting point. Let us know if you do any experimenting!
This recipe is a keeper! What kind of cutting board did you use for rolling/cutting out your cookies in the video? I would love to try this as I don’t typically like rolling dough onto my countertop.
Hi Kristen, That is a marble board but we also love rolling out the dough and using cookie cutters right on silicone baking mats, which makes it so easy to move around and clean up after.
This has been our go to recipe for years. Absolutely the best-thank you for being part of our Xmas tradition!
A really delicious gingerbread recipe. I paired it with Sandra Lee’s recipe for royal icing. 10/10 would bake again
How long can you refrigerated this dough for before making cookies?
Hi Barbara! Up to three days.
Bonjour Sally, en France nous ne trouvons pas de mélasse, puis je la remplacer par du miel et si oui quelle quantité. Merci . J’ai déjà fait plusieurs de vos recettes tout le monde les adore. Bonne fêtes de fin d’année
Salut! J’utilise un traducteur, donc je suis désolé si quelque chose ici n’a pas de sens. Je ne recommande pas le miel. Avez-vous de la mélasse noire ? Vous pouvez l’utiliser à la place de la mélasse.
I chilled this for a couple days, but the dough was hard and cracked badly when I tried to roll it out. I placed all of the dough back in the mixer and added one egg. After mixing, it became quite pliable and very easy to manage. My kids really liked this recipe for decorating cookies.
Hi Sally,
I made this recipe last year for Christmas and it was wonderful!
Im going to make it again this year (was going to make today and freeze to save time come Christmas), and realized I don’t have any molasses! Would golden syrup or homemade brown sugar molasses be an okay substitute?
Thank you
Hi Tayla, molasses is key to that signature gingerbread taste, but some readers have swapped treacle in its place. The flavor profile will be a bit different. Let us know if you try it!
This dough was outstanding to work with. First time making gingerbread cookies, they turned out excellent. Will make again.
Can I make these with gluten free flour?
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’ve made this recipe two years in a row using gluten free flour (I use Krusteaz cup for cup GF flour). And I also half the leavening since I live at 9200 feet in elevation in Colorado. Baking anything at this elevation is a struggle, and making it gluten free just adds to the misery – but these cookies are perfect everyone! Beautiful and delicious!
Just made these for the first time. They are outstanding!!! Everything turned out perfect, great recipe. Thanks
How many days in advance can you make the dough and store in the refrigerator?
We would make the dough up to three days ahead of time.
Why do you suggest we only refrigerate the dough for up to three days? Is it for baking reasons or health reasons?
For health reasons – the egg in the mixture, mostly.
I enjoyed making these..maybe I overcooked mine. Mine are not soft at all. Very crunchy
What’s the best alternative to the dark molasses? Black treacle or golden syrup? I’m in the UK and only dark molasses I can find says pure blackstrap on it.
Hi Justine, several readers in the UK have tried and loved these with black treacle, a 1:1 substitution for the molasses.
the dough was dry and crumbly… difficult to work with.
Hi Jessi! This should be a soft dough. How did you measure the flour? Make sure to spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much flour into your measuring cups – or use a kitchen scale. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post.
Hi Sally! This is the BEST gingerbread recipe I have found! Finally some flavor to the cookies!
I’m wondering, is it possible to cut and freeze them for later baking? Have suggestions? Thank you and Merry Christmas!
Hi Carol! We haven’t tested that, but it should work! We would stack the cookies between layers of parchment to freeze. See recipe Notes for other freezing instructions!
Loved these, I was very nervous going into this, first time making any sort of cutouts. These turned out perfect. I used a 00 flour, and the dough was just a little dry so I added a little milk. They look perfect. I did refrigerate overnight.
Amazing Recipe just used it for our christmas party
Hello, I have made this recipe before and loved it last Christmas. I can only get hold of blackstrap molasses and I recall using that with another ingredient as a substitute. Is it possible to substitute the dark molasses with a combination of blackstrap molasses plus another ingredient? If so, would love some guidance on this as I cannot purchase dark or light molasses in my county.
Hi Melissa, if all you have is blackstrap molasses, you can try using 1/2 cup of that. I wouldn’t add any other sweetener to yield 2/3 cup, though. If the dough seems crumbly when you’re mixing it together and before chilling it, you can add a splash of water to help bring it together.
I’ve made this recipe for a few years now- and this was the only year that I finally realized you’re NOT supposed to use blackstrap molasses. I’ve made them all other years with blackstrap molasses and I feel like the main difference is that they have a more gingery flavor. I might actually prefer them with blackstrap molasses. Either way, the recipe is delicious!
I measured the ingredients perfectly with a scale and got crumbly dough. It was a shame because I love your other recipes, but this one however was a bust.
Hi Re K, was the dough crumbly after chilling? Because that’s normal. It takes a few rolls to get it to soften up and roll out smoothly. If it’s crumbly in the mixing bowl, before chilling, a splash of water will help bring it together. Thanks for trying the recipe.
It was crumbly in the mixing bowl before the chill. I decided to keep it and try chilling it and just took it out of the fridge today and added water like you said.. much better, thanks! Excited to try them after they bake!
I love this recipe. I do have a question though. When using molasses, I see grandmas original and robust at the store. Which should I be using?
We usually use Grandma’s original!
I have made this every Christmas the past three years and they’re always perfect! This year we need more though. Can this recipe be doubled?
Hi Heather! Glad you love this recipe. We recommend making two separate batches. It’s easier to work with less volume of dough at a time.