Soft Gingerbread Cookies Recipe

5 from 3 votes

Soft Gingerbread Cookies Recipe

The cutest soft gingerbread cookie cutouts are made with common ingredients and gingerbread spices. Pipe on as simple icing and serve for Christmas!

Prep 4

Cook 7

Total 4 7

Fat 9

Carbs 54

Protein 2

Yield

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour scooped and leveled
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger

Wet Ingredients

10 tablespoons butter cold and cut into 1/2 tablespoon pats
1 cup light brown sugar packed
1 large egg
1/4 cup molasses

Icing

2 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon unsalted butter softened
2-3 tablespoons 2% milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

First, add all of the dry ingredients to a medium bowl and whisk until combined. Set aside for later.
Next, use a stand mixer* butter and brown sugar together at medium speed. This will take around 3-4 minutes. Add molasses to the sugar and butter and cream the molasses into the mixture (~1 minute). Crack the egg into the creamed mixture mix on medium until combined.
Finally, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients with a 1/2 cup scoop at a time and mix on medium. Repeat until all dry ingredients are gone and the dough is combined. The dough should be a little thicker than normal cookie dough, but still be very easy to form a ball.
Wrap the cookie dough ball in plastic wrap and place it into the refrigerator for at least 4 hours (the longer the better).
When you're ready to make your cookies, preheat the oven to 350ºF and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Remove the dough from the fridge and sprinkle flour onto a hard, cool surface as well as a rolling pin. Then, cut the dough in half. Place half the dough on the floured surface and place the rest in the cookie dough back in the refrigerator to stay cool until it's time to roll it out.
Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough so that it’s around 1/4-inch thick. Feel free to generously use flour if your dough sticks to the rolling pin.
Use small/medium cookie cutters to create ginger man cookie cut-outs. Then, transfer the shapes onto your parchment-lined baking sheet. The cookies will expand a little bit, so make sure to leave a bit of room between the shapes. Freeze the cookie cutouts for 10 minutes. This will prevent them from expanding too much.
Bake at 350ºF for around 7-9 minutes or until cookies begin to brown. They cook fast, so be careful! While these cookies are baking, prepare the next batch.
Immediately remove from hot pan and place on cooling rack. Let cool for at least 30 minutes before frosting.
For the frosting, add all the powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla into a large bowl. Add milk by the teaspoon and mix over low/medium speed until the frosting is thick, creamy, and smooth. Continue to add the milk to the frosting until it reaches the desired thickness. If you're planning to pipe frosting onto the cookies like we did, you'll want to make sure that when you spoon the frosting and let it drip, it holds shape for a few seconds before melting back into the frosting.
Frost the cookies with the icing and then decorate with sprinkles and edible glitter. We recommend a Wilton 2 Round Tip if you plan to pipe lines on your cookies like we did.
Store the cookies in a cool, dark place for up to 5-7 days.

Tips & Notes

This recipe was updated on December 6, 2023, to remove white whole wheat flour. If you'd like to use part whole wheat flour, we recommend 1.5 cups all-purpose flour and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour.
Refrigeration + Freezing: Make sure not to skip chilling the dough for 4 hours before rolling out OR freezing the cut outs before baking. This will prevent the dough from spread during baking.

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Nutrition Facts