These gingerbread cut-out cookies are easy to mix, cut, bake and decorate. This is a classic reliable gingerbread cookie recipe that never fails. Use this simple icing recipe to decorate them! This is a kid-friendly recipe that includes tips for baking with kids.
This reliable recipe for traditional gingerbread cut-out cookies is one I've used for many years. It makes sturdy cut-out cookies that are fun to decorate. Gather your kids in the kitchen and make some memories using this classic gingerbread cookie recipe!
Christmas traditions are fun to create
Our Christmas is steeped in tradition, but with an expanding family, we're flexible enough to let go of the customs that no longer work. We love to embrace new ones that do. Our Christmas Day routines vary each year depending on which members of our extended family can join us.
We've hung on to many traditions: baking Nana's Butter Tarts, watching the youngest child placing the angel at the top of the tree, finding an orange in the toe of our stockings, and pulling and popping Christmas crackers when we all sit down to dinner.
Now that our kids have families of their own, I cherish seeing them maintain some of the traditions they grew up with and, at the same time, I love seeing the new ones they've developed, too.
One tradition that has stood the test of time has been our annual gingerbread cookie-making day. Some of us can eat them, some of us can't due to dietary restrictions, but we still make them anyway, just because it's fun.
❤️Why you'll love this recipe
- You don't have to be a child to enjoy decorating little gingerbread men and women!
- This recipe for reliable gingerbread cut-out cookies has been tweaked over the years until it is the way we like it. It has just the right amount of ginger (not too spicy) and just the right amount of molasses (not too strong). It's simply the best gingerbread cookie recipe for decorating.
- These cookies are sweet, but not too sweet. They're sturdy enough to hold their shape, but tender, soft and chewy when you bite them. In short, they're perfect!
- We pipe decorations on them with a simple mixture of powdered sugar mixed with a tiny bit of lemon juice.
🛒 Ingredients
Check to make sure you have everything you'll need!
- butter: at room temperature
- brown sugar: gives the cookies a rich flavour and a nice crunch
- fancy molasses: adds a classic gingerbread flavour without being overpowering
- egg: just one
- all-purpose flour
- baking soda
- spices: ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves
- salt
- confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar) for decorating
- lemon juice
🥄 Step-by-step instructions
- Make sure your butter is softened before beginning so that it will combine properly with the sugar.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Beat the softened butter and sugar together until very fluffy. Next, add the molasses and an egg. Beat for 2 minutes on medium speed until very well combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, spices and salt.
- Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients by hand, or use an electric mixer on low speed. Do not overbeat.
- Press the dough into two or three balls, flatten slightly, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for 30-60 minutes before rolling.
- On a pastry mat or a surface lightly dusted with flour, roll the dough out to ⅛ inch thick. Cut with cookie cutters and transfer to the baking sheets using a spatula or lifter. You can re-roll the dough scraps 2 or 3 times.
- Bake at 350°F. for 8 - 10 minutes, then cool for 2 - 3 minutes before removing from the cookie sheets.
Tips for making gingerbread with kids
- Use a light molasses, like "fancy molasses." In my experience, kids find regular molasses too strong, so I use the lighter fancy molasses.
- Make the dough ahead of time if you're planning to bake with kids, as it has to chill for at least 30 minutes. Rolling, cutting and baking is often the most fun with young children who don't like to wait! You can make this gingerbread dough 3 days in advance.
- If you don't have a piping bag, fill a ziplock bag with icing and snip off a tiny corner with scissors. It's a little more difficult to handle, but it does work. This ziplock bag option is the answer if you have several children decorating cookies at the same time!
👩🏼🍳 How to decorate gingerbread cut-out cookies
This really is the best recipe for decorated gingerbread cut-out cookies! That claim may sound presumptuous, but I've used this recipe successfully for years, with my own children, with kids in my classrooms, and with my grandchildren.
To make the icing for adding decorations, combine one cup of confectioner's sugar (also called icing sugar or powdered sugar) with one tablespoon lemon juice, adding just a few drops at a time until you achieve a firm consistency.
Fill a piping bag fitted with a #10 decorating tip, then draw faces, wavy lines, buttons, dots, or whatever you like. Use other cookie cutters and decorate stars or Christmas trees!
Add sprinkles or coloured sugar if you like, or go wild with chocolate chips, raisins or nuts.
❓Reader's questions
Here are three ways to prevent spreading! We all want no-spread gingerbread cookies! To prevent them from "growing" in the oven, make sure you don't overbeat the dough.
Line your baking sheet with parchment paper to prevent sticking. Cookies spread when there is too much fat. Using oil or butter to grease the sheet adds more fat, causing the cookies to spread.
Cut out the cookies, arrange them on a baking sheet, then chill the sheet for a few minutes while you preheat the oven and mix up the frosting.
Yes, these cookies freeze beautifully, even when they have been decorated. Even without freezing, they stay fresh for a week or more.
Lay them flat in an airtight container and put sheets of parchment paper or paper towel in between the layers.
I hope baking gingerbread cut-out cookies becomes one of your family's holiday traditions, too! When you make this recipe, please leave a comment and a rating below. Subscribe to my weekly newsletter and get new recipes delivered straight to your inbox.
🗒 More recipes for cookies and bars
You'll find more ideas in 12 Gluten-Free Holiday Cookies and Bars. These Zebra Cookies are fun for kids to make, too.
Traditional and Reliable Gingerbread Cut-Out Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 ½ cups brown sugar firmly packed
- ⅓ cup fancy molasses
- 1 egg
- 3 ¼ cups unbleached flour
- 2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Make sure your butter is softened before beginning so that it will combine properly with the sugar.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Beat softened butter and sugar until very fluffy, then add molasses and egg. Beat 2 minutes on medium speed or until well combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, spices and salt.
- Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients by hand until well blended, or use an electric mixer on low speed. Don't overbeat.
- Press dough into 2 or 3 balls, flatten slightly, wrap tightly and chill for 30 to 60 minutes before rolling.
- On a pastry mat or a surface lightly dusted with flour, roll the dough out to ⅛ inch thick. Cut with cookie cutters and transfer to the baking sheets using a spatula or lifter. If the dough feels warm or has been overworked, put the baking sheets with the cookies in the fridge for a few minutes to prevent them from spreading while they're baking.
- Bake at 350° F. for 8 - 10 minutes.
- Cool 2-3 minutes before removing from cookie sheets.
Decorator's Icing
- To make the decorating icing, combine 1 cup powdered (confectioner's) sugar with one tablespoon lemon juice, adding a few drops at a time until you've reached a stiff consistency that is still able to be piped. Use a piping bag to decorate once the cookies are completely cool. Add extra decorations if you like!
Notes
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published in 2015. I have updated it with new tips and nutritional information.
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