Gingerbread Cookies
Dark with molasses and warm with ginger, these are the sturdy, snappy kind of gingerbread cookie that holds its shape for decorating. The dough is forgiving, the kitchen will smell wonderful, and a tin of them keeps for weeks.
The whole recipe in 60 seconds
Gingerbread Cookies, in 5 ideas
- Molasses is the backbone. Dark, unsulfured molasses gives the deep color and the gentle bitterness that keeps the sweetness honest.
- Chill twice if you can. Once for the dough and once for the cut shapes. Sharp gingerbread men with clean edges are made by cold dough, full stop.
- The spices should be loud. A full tablespoon of ginger is not a typo. Gingerbread that whispers is just a brown sugar cookie in costume.
- Pull them a minute early. They crisp as they cool on the tray, so a cookie baked hard in the oven will be a brick by tomorrow.
- They are better on day three. The spices settle in and the texture turns properly snappy, so bake ahead without a moment of worry.
What you need
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp fine salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
How to make it
Method
Whisk the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and salt together in a bowl.
Beat the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg, then the molasses and vanilla, scraping the bowl down once.
Add the dry ingredients in two additions, mixing on low just until a soft, dark dough forms and no flour shows.
Divide the dough in half, flatten each half into a disk, wrap well, and chill for at least 1 hour, or overnight. Cold dough is what rolls cleanly.
Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Roll one disk on a lightly floured surface to 1/4 inch thick, turning and flouring lightly as you go.
Cut out your shapes and set them 1 inch apart on parchment lined baking sheets. Gather the scraps, reroll once, and cut the rest. If the kitchen is warm, chill the cut shapes for 10 minutes before baking.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the edges are set and the centers look just dry. Cool on the sheet for 5 minutes, then move to a rack. Decorate with royal icing once they are completely cool.
Freeze the cut, unbaked shapes on their tray, then bake from frozen, adding 1 minute: fresh gingerbread on demand, all season long.