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
So yummy!!! I make this gingerbread every year for my family and they love it! Thank you Sally for the great recipe!! Merry Christmas!!
Followed recipe and it was perfect! This is now our favorite gingerbread cookie recipe – thank you for sharing it!
Recipe is very tasty. However when mixing wet and dry ingredients they were dry and crumbly- so it was initially frustrating. The recipe needs more butter- which I had to add to create a ball that would stick together. I tried this recipe twice and saw this happen back to back. Probably a full cup of butter required.
Nicholas is completely right — Sally, this recipe is way too dry! The ratio of flour to wet ingredients is totally off. Thank the lord, my wife had the smart idea to add milk and saved the day. Please adjust to reflect correct dry / wet ratio . Otherwise good
My first time making gingerbread it worked great!
Came out really nice! Struggled a lot with the sticky dough at the beginning, which couldn’t be removed around the cut shapes, even after a whole day in the fridge and with generous flour under. Eventually flattened small balls, one per cookie, removed the dough around while the cutter was still on and it worked much better. 9 minutes cooking at 175 degrees was perfect. One batch did 34 cookies of 9 cm long.
Dry as dust Snap cookies. Not chewy at all. Disappointed. If you use this recipe I would leave them really thick and cook for bare minimum. Total bummer.
This is absolutely wonderful. My 10 year old daughter wanted to make gingerbread cookies as a Christmas gift for her grandparents, and she chose this recipe. She was able to do all of this by herself while I sat nearby. They turned out beautifully! Great balance to the spices and not too sweet. Thanks, Sally!
This was the best cookie recipe ever! ✨ although all the butter I had to use was crazy!!
The cookies turned out exactly as described: crisp edges with soft chewy center! Delicious!! Thank you!
Kids gobbled up these cookies in no time! Picky eaters included. They were such a hit that I made them again a few days later. This recipe will definitely be used over and over again in my home.
I have made this twice this season and it’ll become a holiday staple. The hardest part is waiting over night! Easy to follow instructions and excellent results both times
I always thought gingerbread was difficult. This recipe was wonderful and much better thann the mixes ive
Been making.
Cookies are soft and tasty, as advertised. Dough is super sticky and warms up fast so use lots of extra flour while rolling to make it easier to work with. I’d also recommend flouring your cookie cutters — my first few gingerbread men got their legs stuck and came out as amputees. The cookies spread quite a bit in the oven as well, so I did 4 batches instead of 2.
Hi Brian, thank you for giving these a try! We’re glad you enjoyed them. If you had troubles with the cookies spreading and the dough being a bit too soft, it sounds like your butter may have been a bit too warm. Here’s more about what room temperature butter really means, as well as our best tips to prevent cookies from spreading. Hope this is helpful!
I had this in my baking book for Christmas, so I’ve made it before… Doubled the cloves and allspice… added a dash of cayenne pepper… Refrigerated the dough, overnight, was very hard to work with, but so worth the rewards of working with it!… The cookies came out so good this year.. I was worried with the dough.. Soft in the middle crunchy on the outside..Perfect and spicy!
This recipe was pretty great! The spices weren’t overwhelming (I was worried since the dough tasted too spicy), and the cookies came out soft and fluffy on the inside. I could’ve left them longer than the recommended time for a bit of a crunchy outside. The article says that the cookies don’t rise, but the photos show cookies that do rise, which is why I picked it, and I’m glad that it did rise and become fluffy on the inside. I used a cookie cutter that was about 3.5 inches long, and a single batch yielded a little over 32 cookies. I used an air fryer, so maybe I set the racks up wrong? But some cookies didn’t cook all the way, even though the other set that was in just as long, came out perfectly. These cookies aren’t sweet.
I loved this recipe!! Makes cookies that are perfectly spiced and textured. Adding icing brings the sweetness level up!
These cookies were a hit during the holidays. When I initially made it, the batter was very crumbly and Iad to Google why. After I added some milk to get it to the right consistency, it was smooth sailing! The royal icing was also very easy to make and it was fun to pipe. Will definitely make it again next year.
Great recipe! I used it to make Ninja bread cookies…Lol, I used honey instead of molasses and it still turned out great!! Thanks so much!!
Best gingerbread recipe! Whole family loved it. Some even asked for the recipe, so I have shared your page with them
Made this for the first time this year. Turned out PERFECTLY. Couldn’t be happier with the recipe. The easy frosting also worked well!
Made these for holiday party and everyone loved them.
I just found a frozen disc of dough in my freezer from LAST Christmas and baked some last minute Christmas cookies. Still delicious!
Sally wow! These are fantastic! Thank you for an amazing recipe that I made with my 5 and 7 year old and they loved them! It really made my house smell like Christmas!
Very dry.
Awesome!
Can you use fresh ginger instead of powdered?
Hi Barb, 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.
Can I use treacle instead of molasses?
Hi Sol, 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!
Can I do this without a mixer?
Hi Veronica, you can—it will just take some arm muscle!
This was a fantastic recipe – thanks!
I don’t know what went wrong…we used the recommended amount of molasses and it was WAAAYYYYY too much. The whole cookie taste like Molasses cookie instead of ginger cookies. Is the amount in the recipe correct? 160ml
Hi Hopal, yes, the amount is correct. Thank you for the feedback!
My daughter made these for friends and the consistency was good and no cracking but they said there was a weird after taste and were gross. So strange because we made your gingerbread house and that dough was delicious. Any idea what difference could be.
Hi Maria, we wonder if your baking soda could be going bad, that can leave a bad afertaste.
This is the first recipe that I seem to have done something wrong! I don’t have a hand mixer/stand mixer but it’s never hindered me before. However, the dough became bricks sitting in my fridge until ready to use, then when I did go to roll it out it crumbled I either did something wrong or the recipe may be a little off. My daughter enjoyed playing with the dough after I decided to give up on it lol
Hi Baker Meg, the dough is going to be crumbly when you pull it out of the refrigerator and begin rolling it. Keep working at it, and the butter in the dough will begin to soften and you’ll be able to roll it out nicely. Thanks for trying the recipe.