Soft, spiced gingerbread cookies that hold their shape for decorating. An easy, old-fashioned recipe that’s perfect for baking with the grandkids this Christmas.
Why You’ll Love these Gingerbread Cookies
Although I usually start out my Christmas baking with classic rolled sugar cookies, this was the first time I’ve ever tried making gingerbread cookies!
This gingerbread cookie recipe (adapted from the Reader’s Digest Canada recipe) is just simple ingredients – all of which I had in my pantry and fridge. The dough can be mixed up quickly the evening before and chilled to be ready to bake in the morning.
Easy to roll out and cut with cookie cutters, they bake to the perfect crispness – sturdy enough to hang as decorations, but not too hard to enjoy eating with a cup of hot coffee or hot chocolate. (They’d be amazing with fireside coffee!!) I would call these crispy cookies “dunkers”- dunk them into your hot drink to soften them up a bit before taking a bite.;)
These cookies are the perfect cookie to make with your kids or grandkids. I think they would have so much fun joining in the process from cutting to decorating.
Have fun!
Gingerbread Cookie Ingredients
(A printable recipe card with exact ingredient measurements is available below for your convenience.)
- all purpose flour
- ground cinnamon
- ground ginger
- ground cloves
- ground nutmeg
- baking powder
- baking soda
- salt
- butter (softened to room temperature)
- brown sugar, packed
- cooking molasses
- egg
- vanilla extract
Step by Step Instructions for the Best Gingerbread Cookies Recipe
Refer to the printable recipe card below for full instructions and helpful tips.
1.Whisk together dry ingredients. 
2.Beat together other ingredients. 
3.Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.
4.After chilling the dough, place half between 2 sheets of parcment paper & roll out.
5.Dust the dough with flour as needed.
6.Cut out with desired shapes.
Tips for rolling out gingerbread cookie dough
One of the most frustrating parts about rolled cookies can be the rolling out part. (Here are some top tools for rolling dough.)If the dough gets too sticky, all kinds of problems follow. Refer to the printable recipe card below for lots of helpful tips for rolling out the gingerbread cookie dough.
How to Make Royal Icing for Gingerbread Cookies
I’ve always been a powdered sugar icing person, but this time, I decided to try making royal icing instead. Royal icing makes a really sturdy icing that dries very hard – making the perfect decorating options for these gingerbread Christmas tree ornaments!
Ingredients for Royal Icing
- 3 egg whites
- 4 cups icing sugar, sifted after measuring
- 1/2 teaspoon almond or vanilla extract
Step by step instructions for Royal Icing
- Beat the 3 egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer until frothy.
- Gradually add in sifted icing sugar 1 cup at a time. Once it is all added in, stop the mixer and scrap down the sides of the bowl. Then add the almond or vanilla extract.
- Beat until the icing becomes glossy and stiff peaks form – about 5-7 minutes.
- Place the icing in an icing bag fitted with your preferred decorating tip. (I used 2 small sizes of round tips.) (Be sure to cover any icing that may be left in the bowl as it hardens really fast.)
Note: I had lots of leftover icing after decorating these cookies, so if you’d like to half the batch of royal icing, you should still have plenty.
Tips for decorating with royal icing
This was my very first time decorating with royal icing – and it won’t be the last. It was kind of fun. But, having said that, I admit there is a bit of a learning curve, so don’t be too hard on yourself!
Here are a few tips when starting out with royal icing decorating.
- Use an actual piping bag for this project. I happened to be out of piping bags, so I cut the tip of a ziploc bag and fitted the decorator tip in it. It did work, but it was very awkward to handle.
- If you make a mistake, you can wipe the icing off immediately with a knife, or wait until it is dry and scrape it off then. I had lots of scraped off frosting before I figured out how much pressure I needed to put on the piping bag to keep the line flowing well.
- An alternative to piping bags is to put the icing in a plastic bottle with a nozzle. If kids are decorating cookies, this might be a nice option for them.
- If you want to add more colors to your icing, just divide the icing into different bowls and add food coloring to color it, and then put it in icing bags.
- Be sure to cover all the icing that is sitting in bowls or bags as it dries very quickly.
- If you want to “flood” icing on to your cookies, thin out the royal icing with water – a very little bit at a time – until you get the consistency you’d like.
How to turn Gingerbread Cookies into Christmas Decor
If you’d like to turn these gingerbread cookies into ornaments for your tree, just punch a hole in the top of each one with a straw before baking. Then once finished, tie on a piece of baker’s twine or string to attach it to the tree. These gingerbread cookie decorations would also be so cute tied to gifts! Gingerbread cookies look so cute as decorations paired with dried sliced oranges. (You can see them here in our holiday home tour.)
Other Christmas Cookies Recipes
Soft & Chewy Rolled Cut Out Sugar Cookie Recipe
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Make this condensed milk fudge recipe in the microwave in 5 minutes!
Cranberry Lemon Bars
Jam Sandwich Cookies (a shortcut recipe!)
75+ Christmas cookie recipes with pictures
Cute & quick Rudolph Cookies
Brownie Mix Cookies
Love ginger? Try my Soft & Chewy Gingersnaps, or dress these up with marbled icing.
And if you’re looking for another gingerbread recipe, you’ll love this ginger bundt cake!
Gingerbread Cookie Recipe
Fill your home with the warm, comforting scents of the season with this gingerbread cookie recipe. These tasty treats are perfect with a hot drink, and they double as Christmas decorations. Hang them with a ribbon and they’re as pretty as they are delicious!
Ingredients
Method
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In an electric mixer bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the molasses, egg and vanilla and mix until combined.
- With the mixer on low, gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and mix until combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl so everything is well mixed.
- Scoop out half the dough, place it on plastic wrap and press it into a disc. Repeat with the other half. Chill the dough in the fridge for at least 3 hours or overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
- Take one dough disc from the fridge and sandwich it between two sheets of parchment. Roll it out to 1/8 inch thick and cut into whatever shapes you like. If you want to hang the cookies, use a straw or skewer to cut a hole for the ribbon.
- Arrange the cookies about 1 inch apart on the sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until firm.
- Once completely cool, decorate with royal icing (recipe below) or powdered sugar icing.
- Three egg whites
- Four cups of icing sugar, sifted after measuring
- Half a teaspoon of almond or vanilla extract
- Beat the three egg whites in a stand mixer bowl until frothy.
- Gradually add in sifted icing sugar 1 cup at a time. Once it is all added in, stop the mixer and scrap down the sides of the bowl. Then add the almond or vanilla extract.
- Beat until glossy and stiff peaks form, about 5 to 7 minutes.
- Spoon the icing into a piping bag fitted with your favourite tip. (I used two small round tips.) Cover any leftover icing in the bowl, since it hardens fast.
Notes
Start with chilled dough. At least 3 hours in the fridge is essential, since this dough is quite sticky. Before chilling, shape it into a disc and smooth the edges with your thumb so it holds together better when rolled.
Sandwich the dough between two sheets of parchment when it’s time to roll. To stop the paper from sliding on the counter, wipe the surface underneath with a barely damp cloth.
Dust the bottom parchment with flour before placing the dough, and dust the top of the dough before adding the top sheet.
As you roll, flip the dough, peel off the paper and dust with more flour whenever it gets sticky. Don’t be shy with the flour. This dough is forgiving and doesn’t mind a little extra.
Roll these cookies quite thin, about 1/8 inch. It may seem very thin, but it’s fine! They won’t spread on the pan, but they will puff up a little.
If the rolled dough starts sticking, pop it in the freezer for 5 minutes. Then flip it, peel off the back sheet of parchment, dust it lightly with flour again, and the cookies should lift off cleanly.
