Iced Gingerbread Cookies Recipe

overhead view of iced gingerbread cookies on a round wire cooling rack.

Course: cookie, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 1 15

Cook Time: 10

Chill Time: 1

Total Time: 2 25

Servings: cookies

Calories: 73kcal

Author: Becky Hardin

These iced gingerbread cookies are a holiday classic! Made with warm spices, molasses, and butter, they bake slightly chewy inside with crisp edges. These are the perfect no spread gingerbread cut out cookies for decorating with royal icing or building a gingerbread house!

Print Recipe

US Customary - Metric

Equipment

Kitchen Scale (optional)
Stand Mixer
2 Baking Sheet(s)
Rolling Pin
Assorted Cookie Cutters

Ingredients

2⅔ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves optional
10 tablespoons salted butter room temperature (1¼ sticks)
¾ cup brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
⅔ cup unsulphured molasses *
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract optional

For the Royal Icing (Optional)

1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk
1½ teaspoons corn syrup **

Instructions

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking powder, nutmeg, and cloves together. Set aside.
2⅔ cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons ground ginger, 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and sugar on medium-high speed until smooth and lighter in color, about 2 minutes.
10 tablespoons salted butter, ¾ cup brown sugar, ¼ cup granulated sugar
Add in the molasses, eggs, and vanilla and beat for another minute, until fully incorporated and smooth.
⅔ cup unsulphured molasses, 1 large egg, 1 large egg yolk, 1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Add the flour mixture to the bowl and mix just until combined, about 45 seconds.
Once mixed, remove from the mixing bowl and wrap in plastic wrap. Place into the fridge to chill for at least 1 hour or up to overnight.
Once the cookie dough has chilled, remove it from the fridge. Preheat oven to 350°F and line several baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
Unwrap the cookie dough and place it onto a well-floured surface. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out into a very rough rectangle about ¼-inch thick. Use a variety of cookie cutters to cut cookies from the dough.
Once cut, place the cookies about ½-inch apart onto the lined baking sheet. Place into the oven to bake for 8-9 minutes. They will be very soft to the touch when you remove them from the oven, this is good.
While the first batch of cookies bake, roll the remaining dough into a ball. Roll out into a rectangle and cut more cookies. Continue doing this until all of the dough is used.
Once the cookies have baked, remove from the oven and place onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

For the Royal Icing

While the cookies cool, in a medium-sized bowl, whisk the powdered sugar, corn syrup, and milk together for a few minutes, or until completely smooth.
1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon milk, 1½ teaspoons corn syrup
Once the icing has come together, spoon it into a piping bag. When you are ready to decorate the cookies, snip a hole into the bottom of the bag, about the size of a pinhead. Ice the cookies as desired.
Once the cookies are iced, let set for 15 minutes to allow the icing to harden.

Notes

*I recommend using dark unsulphured molasses for the best results. Blackstrap molasses is too strong and will not taste good!

**The corn syrup adds shine and prevents crystallization. You can use honey, maple syrup, or agave nectar instead, but the color of the icing will change.

Tips:

When creaming the butter, scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to make sure everything is evenly mixed.
Don't overmix the dough once you add the flour, or your cookies will turn out tough.
Try folding in some lemon or orange zest to these cookies for a fresh flavor, or fold in some crystallized ginger for more bite!
Be sure to put a bit of flour on a flat, clean surface before rolling out your dough to keep it from sticking.
If the dough feels too firm or is cracking as you roll it out, let it rest at room temperature for 5-10 minutes to soften before trying again.
If the dough feels too soft or greasy, pop it back in the fridge for 10 minutes.
To get the most cookies cut each time you roll out the dough, carefully place the cookie cutters as close together as possible without overlapping them.
The more times you re-roll the dough, the tougher that next batch of cookies will be, so try to only do it once or twice.
Once you have cut cookies from the dough, gently pick them up either with your hands, a butter knife or a bench knife so as not to deform them.
These cookies are finished baking when the edges are firm and the middle looks set on top.
When you pull the whisk up out of the icing, it should fall back into the bowl steadily and be about as thick as toothpaste. It will take some vigorous whisking and patience before it comes together. Do not add more milk, as it will thin it out.
The hole for the icing should be large enough to push the icing through without excessive force yet not so large that the icing falls out of the opening.
To ice the cookies, either fold or twist the large end of the piping bag. Grip in your dominant hand and gently squeeze the icing out onto the surface of the cookie. The tip of the bag should be about ⅛-inch away from the cookie for optimal decorating. Keep the bag at almost a 90-degree angle to the cookie, with a possible slight tilt for better visibility.

Make-Ahead: You can prep the dough ahead and freeze it until you're ready to roll out and bake the cookies. Simply tuck the plastic-wrapped dough inside a Ziplock bag in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let thaw overnight in the refrigerator before continuing the recipe as written.

Storage: Store gingerbread cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 1 month.

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