Gingerbread Cookies are my favorite Christmas treat to decorate with my kids. They are soft and chewy and perfect for preschool or kindergarten Christmas parties. Everyone loves this classic recipe and they taste delicious!
Gingerbread Cookies
Often times during the Christmas season when I was young we decorated our Christmas tree with gingerbread cookies. We had so much fun making and frosting the cookies into little gingerbread men and I remember that the gingerbread made the house smell amazing all season long. This year I had so much fun decorating these gingerbread cookies with my kids. Each of them got to decorate a gingerbread man with frosting and candy and you can bet they enjoyed eating them afterwards!
What I really love about this specific recipe is how soft and chewy the cookies are. I think gingerbread cookies have a reputation for being hard and crispy, but this recipe is not either of those things!
If you are looking for a preschool of kindergarten activity, decorating Christmas gingerbread man cookies would be a huge hit! You can make the cookies and frosting ahead of time so that the kids can just enjoy decorating.
What ingredients are in gingerbread cookies?
Gingerbread is made with the following simple ingredients: brown sugar, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt, butter, milk, and molasses!
How to make Gingerbread cookies:
To make homemade gingerbread, first mix flour, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Then add the chunks of butter and incorporate them with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Mix in the molasses and milk until combined. Cover the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 2 hours or overnight.
When ready to bake, roll our the dough to 1/2 inch thickness, use cookie cutters to cut gingerbread men, and place them on your cookie sheet. Bake them for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees.
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Gingerbread Man Cookies are my favorite Christmas treat to decorate with my kids. These soft gingerbread cookies are perfect for preschool or kindergarten Christmas parties, and they taste delicious!
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar , packed
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 Tablespoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 12 Tablespoons butter , room temperature, cut into 12 pieces
- 3/4 cup molasses (dark molasses)
- 2 Tablespoons milk
Add flour, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt to a mixing bowl and mix.
Add the butter pieces and use a pastry blender to cut the butter in until the mixture resembles fine meal.
With a mixer running on low speed gradually add the molasses and milk and mix until combined, about 30 seconds.
Divide the dough in half, forming each into a ball. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight, or place in the freezer for about 20 minutes, until firm, if you’re in a hurry.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Remove one dough sheet from the fridge/freezer and place on the counter. Roll out the dough (use a little flour on your rolling pin if needed), until it’s about ½ inch thick. Cut gingerbread men and place them on prepared baking sheets.
Refrigerate the gingerbread men for 5 minutes (meanwhile you can roll out the other dough ball).
Bake the cookies until set in the centers and the dough barely retains and imprint when touched very gently with fingertip, 8 to 11 minutes (depending on the size of your cookie cutter). Do not overbake!!
Remove the cookies to a wire rack. Allow to cool to room temperature before frosting.
Store gingerbread cookies in an airtight container with parchment paper between the layers. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Adapted from The New Best Recipe Cookbook by ATK
Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
Jenni says
December 13, 2018 at 9:41 pmOkay I want to make this recipe but I want the frosting recipe you used to decorate them too!! I don’t see it here? I HATE hard gingerbread cookies. I only ever see them hard! I have a recipe I love for soft ones but I’m going to try this one this year!!
Lauren Allen says
December 13, 2018 at 9:53 pmMe too– only soft! Same goes for sugar cookies! 🙂 I don’t use a recipe–I just make a regular buttercream frosting with butter, powdered sugar, a splash of milk and vanilla and make it the right consistency I want by adding a little more powdered sugar or a little more milk. Here’s a recipe you could use: https://www.twosisterscrafting.com/buttercream-frosting/ Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!
Monica says
January 2, 2019 at 11:00 pmI made this gingerbread recipe for the first time to make Christmas cookies and it is perfect! It’s my new favorite! The gingerbread was soft just as promised. That was the most important requirement. I don’t like hard gingerbread so choosing a recipe that would deliver as promised was key.
Lauren Allen says
January 3, 2019 at 11:11 amI’m so happy you liked it! Thanks for coming back to comment.