Classic chewy and soft gingerbread man cookies are perfect during the Christmas season.
These cookies are iced without royal icing keeping it quick and simple for the holiday season.
Gingerbread Man Cookies are a Christmas classic for a reason. They're festive, delicious, and they have all the classic Christmas flavors such as ginger and cinnamon.
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Easy Cut Out Cookies
These soft gingerbread man cookies are simple to make kids have a lot of fun decorating them. After combining all of the ingredients together, it's important to chill the dough for 20 minutes before rolling the dough out.
Before placing the dough in the refrigerator, divide the dough into 2 equal parts and pat it out into a disk before chilling. It will make this dough easier to roll out using a rolling pin since it has been chilled.
This prevents the cookies from spreading which means your gingerbread men will be perfectly shaped and not spread out in every direction.
Once the dough is rolled out, cut the dough using gingerbread man cookie cutters and repeat the process of rolling out the dough and using the cookie cutters.
Place the gingerbread men on an ungreased cookie sheet or a cookie sheet lined with silicone baking mats. Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes before removing them from the oven to cool.
Allow the cookies to cool completely before icing.
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Ingredients in Soft Gingerbread Man Cookies
- unsalted butter, softened
- dark brown sugar, packed
- molasses, unsulphured
- water
- vanilla extract
- egg
- all-purpose flour
- baking soda
- salt
- ground ginger
- ground cinnamon
- ground nutmeg
- allspice
Ingredients in Gingerbread Icing
- vanilla extract
- light corn syrup
- milk
- powdered sugar, sifted
Soft Gingerbread Men Cookies Icing
Traditionally, gingerbread men are iced with royal icing. For this recipe, I make sweet vanilla icing without any egg whites. It is a combination of powdered sugar, corn syrup, vanilla extract, and milk.
To make this icing, combine the first 3 ingredients together before adding the milk. By adding just a tablespoon at a time you can control the consistency of the icing. The goal is to have it be thick enough to pipe but not too thick so that it's hard to pipe.
If the icing comes out too runny, simply add a little powdered sugar at a time. Alternatively, if the icing is too thick, add a small amount of milk at a time to make it thinner.
To make piping gingerbread men cookies easier, I use a piping bottle. They're easy to fill and they're great for decorating cookies and cakes. They're reusable as well and come in handy quite a bit!
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📖 Recipe
Gingerbread Man Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter - softened
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar - packed
- ⅓ cup molasses
- 2 tablepoons water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg - room temperature
- 2 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon allspice
Gingerbread Icing
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
- 2-4 tablespoons milk
- 3 cups powdered sugar - sifted
Instructions
- Beat the softened butter together with the dark brown sugar.
- Beat in the molasses and the vanilla extract.
- Beat in the room temperature egg.
- Add in the water, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice.
- Slowly beat in the flour and mix until dough forms.
- Divide the dough in half and pat each into a disk shape.
- Wrap in parchment paper and chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F
- Remove the dough from the fridge and roll out the dough using a rolling pin to a ¼" thickness.
- Lightly flour a work surface and cut the dough using gingerbread cookie cutters and place on an ungreased cookie sheet or a silicone mat.
- Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes. The edges should be lightly browned.
- Repeat with remaining dough.
- Allow the cookies to cool completely before frosting.
Gingerbread Icing
- In a medium-sized bowl, beat the powdered sugar, corn syrup, and vanilla extract together.
- Slowly add the milk until a piping consistency is reached. It should be thick but easy to work with.
- Add the icing to a piping bottle and decorate the cookies
- Store in an airtight container.
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
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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.
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