Looking for a delicious and fun holiday treat? Try our soft and chewy iced gingerbread cookies! Filled with warm spices and topped with sweet icing, they’re perfect for Christmas.
Each cookie has a pretty stamped design, making your holiday baking extra special. These homemade gingerbread cookies look great on cookie trays during the holiday season.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Soft Texture: These soft gingerbread cookies stay soft for days, making them a delightful holiday treat and a delicious soft cookie.
- Spice Blend: The recipe blends ginger, cinnamon, cocoa powder, and cloves for a warm flavor that captures the holidays.
- Simple Decoration: Using cookie stamps creates intricate patterns easily. You don't need advanced skills to make beautifully decorated baked goods.
- Glazed Finish: These Christmas cookies are iced with a sweet vanilla glaze that highlights the nooks and crannies of the cookies.
Ingredients in Iced Gingerbread Cookies
- salted butter
- dark brown sugar
- molasses, not blackstrap molasses
- egg yolk
- ground ginger
- ground cinnamon
- ground cloves
- black pepper
- salt
- all purpose flour
- unsweetened cocoa powder
- baking soda
For the vanilla icing recipe:
This is a simple icing recipe.
- powdered sugar
- vanilla extract
- milk
See the recipe card for the full ingredient list and directions.
How to Make Gingerbread Cookies with Icing
It's easy to make this gingerbread cookies recipe by following these easy instructions.
- Preheat oven to 375ºF and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Using a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar, molasses, and egg yolk until well combined. Scrape down the bowl to ensure everything is evenly incorporated.
- Sift the dry ingredients into a separate bowl and then slowly add to the wet ingredients, mixing just until a soft dough forms with the mixer on low.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it until it is smooth and all ingredients are well combined. Divide the dough in half, shape each half into a disc, and wrap them in plastic wrap. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
- Rolling out one disc at a time, roll out to ¼ inch thickness with a rolling pin.
- Dust the dough with granulated sugar to prevent the sticking of cookie stamps and cutters.
- Using your favorite cookie cutters or stamps, press the stamp into the dough. If you're using a plunger-style stamp, stamp the cookie first and then use the cutter to create a clean cut.
- Transfer the cutout cookies to the parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Repeat process with the remaining dough scraps, chilling if necessary.
- Chill the cookies for 10 minutes.
- Bake one cookie sheet at a time for 8 minutes for soft, chewy cookies and 9-10 minutes for firm cookies.
- Allow the cookies to rest for 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely before glazing.
- To make the glaze, combine the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and milk until smooth in a medium bowl. The icing should be thick.
- Use a pastry brush to coat the tops of the cooled cookies with icing. Allow the icing to dry completely before stacking or storing them in an airtight container.
Tips For Stamping Gingerbread Cookies
Chill the Dough: Chill your cookie dough thoroughly before rolling it out. This will help the cookies maintain shape, prevent spreading, and preserve the indented designs. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least two hours or overnight for best results.
Dust the Gingerbread Dough with Sugar: Lightly sprinkle the rolled dough with sugar to prevent the cookie stamp cutters from sticking.
Roll to the Right Thickness: Make sure the cookie dough is thick enough for the design to press clearly. I roll my dough out to ¼" thick. The cookies won't hold the stamp details if it's too thin.
Press Evenly: Apply even pressure on the stamp to avoid cracking the dough and ensure a clear impression.
Chill Before Baking: After cutting and stamping the cookies, chill them in the fridge for 10 minutes to help them retain their shape and stamp.
Storing Iced Gingerbread Cookies
Cool Completely: Make sure your cookies are entirely cool before icing and storing them. This helps prevent any condensation from changing the cookie texture and the icing from melting and running off the cookies.
Airtight Containers: Place the cookies in an airtight container. Line the bottom with parchment or wax paper to protect the icing from sticking, and arrange the layers of cookies between pieces of parchment paper.
Freezing Option: You can freeze iced gingerbread cookies for up to three months! Layer your cookies with parchment paper, place them in a freezer bag, and then put that bag in a freezer-safe container for added protection.
More Christmas Cookies to Enjoy
If you loved our soft, chewy, and easy gingerbread cookies, check out these other festive treats to add to your holiday baking list:
- Classic Sugar Cookies: Perfect for decorating with colorful icing and sprinkles and is a classic recipe.
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies: Rich and fudgy with a crackled powdered sugar coating.
- Buttery Stamped Shortbread: Melt-in-your-mouth goodness with a hint of vanilla.
- Snickerdoodles: Soft and chewy with a cinnamon-sugar coating.
- Ginger Molasses Cookies: Old-fashioned molasses cookies with warm flavors and rich molasses flavor.
- Gingerbread Men Cookies: These adorable cookies are made using a classic gingerbread cookie recipe
📖 Recipe
Iced Gingerbread Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
Gingerbread Cookies
- 5 tablespoons salted butter*
- ⅓ cup dark brown sugar
- ⅓ cup unsulphered molasses
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
Vanilla Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375ºF and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Using a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar, molasses, cocoa powder, and egg yolk until well combined. Scrape down the bowl to ensure everything is evenly incorporated.
- Sift the dry ingredients into a separate bowl. Slowly add them to the wet ingredients, mixing just until a soft dough forms with the mixer on low.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it until it is smooth and all ingredients are well combined. Divide the dough in half, shape each half into a disc, and wrap them in plastic wrap. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
- Lightly flour a workspace and roll out one disc at a time to ¼ inch thickness with a rolling pin.
- Dust the dough with granulated sugar to prevent the sticking of cookie stamps and cutters.
- Press the stamp into the dough using your favorite cookie cutters or stamps. If you're using a plunger-style stamp, stamp the cookie first and then use the cutter to create a clean cut.
- Transfer the cutout cookies to the parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Chill the cut-out cookies for 10 minutes.
- Repeat the process with the remaining dough scraps, chilling the dough if it is sticky.
- Bake one cookie sheet at a time for 8 minutes for soft, chewy cookies and 9-10 minutes for firm cookies.
- Allow the cookies to rest for 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely before glazing.
- To make the glaze, combine the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and a little milk at a time in a medium bowl until smooth. The icing should be thick.
- Use a pastry brush to coat the tops of the cooled cookies with icing. Allow the icing to dry completely before stacking or storing them in an airtight container.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate based on third-party calculations. Actual values may vary due to ingredients, measurements, and serving sizes.
© Mama Needs Cake
Dana is an experienced recipe creator who crafts easy and delicious recipes for all levels of home cooks.
Her recipes range from classic comfort foods to healthy and nutritious meals, and she is always on the lookout for new and exciting ways to bring flavor and variety to the table.
Cathy says
Earlier in the post, cocoa powder was listed, but I don’t see it in the recipe.
Dana says
The cocoa powder is listed in the ingredients list now 🙂