Yield: 32 cookies
Gingerbread Man Cookies
These traditional Gingerbread Man Cookies are flavored with lots of molasses, holiday spices, and brown sugar. This classic gingerbread cookie recipe is easy to make, perfectly spiced, and holds its shape beautifully! Perfect for frosting and decorating!
Ingredients
For the Gingerbread Man Cookies
- 3 ½ cups all purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ cup (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup packed dark brown sugar
- ⅔ cup molasses
- 1 large egg
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
For the Icing
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 to 4 tablespoons milk, or water
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
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Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, salt and baking soda.
- In a stand mixer, cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add in egg, vanilla and molasses and continue mixing until incorporated.
- Slowly add in the dry ingredients, mixing well between additions, until fully incorporated. Divide the dough into 2 large balls. Wrap each in plastic wrap, flatten into a disk and refrigerate for 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line 2-3 baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- On a heavily floured surface, roll out the gingerbread dough to about 1/8” to 1/4” inch thick. Use gingerbread man cookie cutters to cut out the dough. Re-roll any extra dough and cut out more cookies.
- Place gingerbread men 1” apart on prepared baking sheets. For a standard-sized gingerbread man cookie cutter, bake for 10 to 12 minutes, just until the edges are set. (If your cookie cutter is smaller, watch closely, your bake time will likely be closer to 8 minutes.)
- Then remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring cookies to a cooling rack. Let cookies cool completely before frosting.
- To make frosting, whisk together powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons of milk and vanilla until smooth. Adding more milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until you reach a good consistency. The icing should be thick so it holds it's shape, but still just thin enough to pipe.
- Transfer icing to a piping bag with a small tip. Pipe faces, buttons and squiggly lines on gingerbread men, as desired.
Video
Notes
- Store cookies at room temperature for up to a week.
- Freeze baked and decorated (or undecorated) cookies for up to 3 months.
- Freeze the unbaked cookie dough discs for up to 3 months, thawing the dough overnight in the fridge before baking.
- Do not overbake these cookies, as they will become very dry and extra crisp. It’s better to underbake a little than overbake.
- It’s very important to allow the dough to chill completely before rolling it out and baking your gingerbread men.
- If your oven has hot spots, I recommend rotating the pan halfway through baking to try to ensure even cooking.
- If you frost your cookies while still warm, the icing will run.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 cookie, Calories: 163kcal, Carbohydrates: 29g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 5g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 18mg, Sodium: 78mg, Potassium: 132mg, Fiber: 0.5g, Sugar: 18g, Vitamin A: 149IU, Vitamin C: 0.01mg, Calcium: 26mg, Iron: 1mg