I have always loved the idea of gingerbread cookies and decorating gingerbread houses, but I am not a fan of crunchy hard cookies. These cookies are the perfect balance of soft chewy cookies, but will still hold their shape (just maybe don’t try to build a house)!

The first step is to preheat the oven (make sure nothing is in there!)

Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, all spice, nutmeg and salt to a medium bowl.

Mix everything together and set aside.

Add the brown sugar and butter to a large bowl.

Cream together until light in color and fluffy. If using a mixer use a medium speed. It is more work, but you can do it by hand if you do not have a mixer. Just grab a wooden spoon and make sure your butter is super soft.

Add the egg and vanilla extract. Mix until combined.

Add the molasses and mix until combined.

This is what your wet ingredients should look like at the end.

Add the dry ingredients in parts (about 3), mixing until just combined. I switched to mixing with my hands for the final addition.

This is what my final dough looked like.

Roll out the dough to ~1/4 inch thick. To prevent the dough from sticking I use two sheets of parchment paper because flour always makes a big mess.

Cut out whatever you want shapes and place in the freezer for 10 minutes.

Transfer to a baking sheet and bake for 6-8 minutes.

I made a glaze to decorate my cookies with, but you can do whatever you want. You could leave them plain, buy icing, or make a different icing, Be Creative!

To make my glaze, I combined powdered sugar, vanilla extract and milk until I got a good consistency. Add the milk slowly, in teaspoon measures.

This is my final glaze. I added the spices from the cookie (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice) to flavor some of my glaze.

Gingerbread Cookies

Prep Time 2 hours
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 10 minutes
Servings 30 cookies

Ingredients
  

Cookie

  • 3 3/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tbsp ground ginger
  • 1 tbsp ground cinammon
  • 1/2 tsp ground allspice (or cloves)
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
  • 10 tbsp dark brown sugar (1/2 cup + 2 tbsp)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup unsulfured molasses

Glaze (optional)

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1-3 tbsp milk

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices (ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg) and salt to a medium bowl. Mix to combine and set aside.
  • Add the butter and sugar to a large bowl. On medium speed, cream the two together until light and fluffy.
  • Add the egg and vanilla extract to the butter and sugar mix. Mix to combine.
  • Add the molasses to the butter and sugar mix. Mix to combine
  • Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 3 parts. Mix until just combined. The final addition may need to be mixed by hand.
  • Divide the dough into at least two portions to make it easier to work with.
  • Roll out the dough between two sheets of parchment paper or on a floured surface, until 1/4 inch thick.
  • Cut out desired shapes and transfer to a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Space the cookies about an inch apart.
  • Freeze dough on the cookie sheet for 6-8 minutes.
  • Transfer the cookie sheet to the over and bake for 6-8 minutes.
  • Allow to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

Glaze

  • Add the powdered sugar, vanilla extract and 1 tbsp of milk to a small bowl. Mix to combine.
  • Add milk 1 tbsp at a time until the desired consistency is achieved.

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