Gingerbread Cookies

These classic gingerbread cookies will leave your house smelling like the holidays! Warm molasses and festive spices come together in this traditional gingerbread recipe that’s perfect for use with your favorite holiday cookie cutters. Whip up a batch and gather the family for decorating!

Ingredients Needed

Butter – This recipe is designed to use real butter. If you choose to substitute with something else, just know it may change the way the cookies hold their shape while baking as well as the finished texture and flavor.
Granulated sugar
Molasses – You will want to use regular molasses here, which is coincidentally what most grocery stores carry (like the Grandma’s Molasses pictured below). Do not use blackstrap molasses, which tends to have a more bitter flavor.
Egg yolks
All-purpose flour
Salt
Baking powder
Baking soda
Cinnamon
Cloves
Ginger
Nutmeg
Decorations – As desired. The Best Buttercream Frosting, or this Glace Icing would be good choices. If you’d like to keep things super simple, grab some various colors of icing tubes from the baking aisle of your grocery store. Nonpareils, festive sprinkles, small candies, red hots, and mini M&Ms are all good options for decorating!

How to Make Gingerbread Cookies

Combine dry ingredients: Cream butter and sugar. Add molasses and egg yolk. In a medium bowl, combine remaining ingredients: flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg. Add flour mixture to butter mixture. Chill for at least an hour. It’s a fairly sticky dough so you might need to chill it a little longer.
Place the dough on a sheet of wax paper or plastic wrap and then place another sheet on top. Roll dough to 1/4″ thick and chill for at least an hour. It’s a fairly sticky dough so a longer chill time might be necessary.
Preheat oven to 350℉. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and cut in desired shapes with cookie cutters.
Place cookies 2″ apart on a baking sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes. If you bake them on the short end they will stay soft and chewy and if you bake them on the longer end they will be nice and crispy. They’re great either way!
Allow to cool about 5 minutes on pan and then transfer to wire rack and cool completely. Once they’re cooled you can decorate your heart out!

Storing and Other Tips

Store finished cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
In general, the longer the dough is refrigerated, the better it will hold its shape when baked. Feel free to make this dough a day or two ahead of time and keep the dough, tightly covered, in the refrigerator until ready to cut and bake.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make these ahead of time and freeze them?

Yes! Bake your cookies, cool completely, then transfer to an airtight container or zip top bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight and decorate as desired.

Can I use this recipe to make a gingerbread house?

While I haven’t done this personally, I don’t see why not! Make sure to thoroughly chill your dough before cutting your house pieces. You may need to adjust baking time to be sure your pieces are cooked thoroughly to be sure they will hold up to house construction! A good tip for gingerbread house pieces is to use a paper template to cut the pieces, then use that same template to carefully trim and straighten all of your edges when the cookies are still hot out of the oven. When they cool, they will fit together as intended!