Gingerbread Cookies Recipe

Course Cookies, Dessert

Cuisine American, Southern

Keyword best-easy-gingerbread-cookies-recipe, gingerbread-cookie-recipe, gingerbread-cookies

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 10

Chill time 4

Total Time 4 20

Servings cookies (may vary)

Calories 205kcal

Ingredients

3/4 cup unsalted butter softened
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup molasses (unsulphured)
1 large egg
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 Tbsp orange zest
3 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 Tbsp ground ginger
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground clove
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
Royal Icing:
3 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp meringue powder
1 tsp clear vanilla extract or 1/2 tsp almond extract
4-6 Tbsp water
sprinkles, edible glitter, red hots, candy for decorating

Instructions

In a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer on medium speed cream together butter, brown sugar, and molasses until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla extract beating until fully combined. Add orange zest, mixing until evenly distributed.
In a medium bowl use a whisk to sift together flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, clove, salt and nutmeg. With mixer on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture to wet ingredients beating just until the dough comes together. (Don't overmix.)
Divide dough in half. Scoop the dough onto two separate sheets of plastic wrap. Create two flattened discs. Wrap securely with the plastic wrap and chill in the fridge until firm, at least 2 hours preferably 4 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350° and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Place one disc of dough on a lightly floured surface and use a rolling pin to roll dough to around until 1/4-1/3" thick rectangle.
Cut into 3-inch wide cookies using a gingerbread cookie cutter, Christmas trees, stars, bells, candy canes. or any of your favorite shapes Transfer to the prepared pans. Keep second disc chilled until ready to repeat the process.
Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes, or until lightly puffed, adjusting the time depending on the size of the cookies.
Cool on pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Royal Icing: Combine powdered sugar and meringue powder in a medium bowl adding 3 tablespoons of water.
Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until creamy and smooth, about 1-2 minutes. Turn to medium high speed beating until white and fluffy.
Add additional water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached. Likewise, if you need to thicken, add additional powdered sugar.
Divide icing into 3 or 4 portions, and tint each with white, red or green gel food coloring. Decorate cookies as desired with icing, sprinkles and candy. Let dry.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature. Do not stack.

Notes

Allow Ample Time for Chilling the Dough - Do I have to chill the dough? Don't skip the chill time. Even if the dough seems rollable after combining, the fats need time to firm so the gingerbread cookies will keep their shape while baking.
Texture - In the instance of these gingerbread cookies, softened butter is better to use instead of melted butter. Creaming the butter together with sugar lends a soft and slightly, chewy fluffy texture to the gingerbread cookies. Melted butter will result in a more dense crunchy cookie.
Start with Room Temperature Butter - Why soften the butter? If you forget to set the butter out to soften, you can utilize the soften feature on your microwave. Likewise, you could cube the butter to maximize the surface area to speed up the process on the counter. I would caution you from using the cook feature on the microwave, or it could melt unevenly resulting in partially softened and partially melted butter.
Best Molasses For Making Gingerbread - The type of molasses you use for the cookie dough can make a difference. Grandma's brand unsulphured molasses is what's used in this recipe. Please note, different brands of molasses can vary in color once combined with the remaining ingredients.
Spices - What spices are in gingerbread cookies? These cookies contain ground cinnamon, ginger, clove and nutmeg. You can change the amount of spices, if that's your preference. If you loathe the flavor of cloves, you could omit them or replace them with the same amount of allspice.
Alternate Decorating Option - The most traditional way to make gingerbread cookies is to decorate them with royal icing. If you prefer less fuss, they can be frosted completely with icing, instead of piping designs, and sprinkled with edible glitter or seasonal sprinkles.

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