The holidays just aren’t the same without gingerbread cookies and this classic recipe is the perfect balance of soft, chewy and festive flavours!
Every year, I make a large batch of gingerbread cookie dough. Sometimes I keep to the classic gingerbread man shape, others I cut out houses, and some years I use whatever cookie cutters I have on hand. But no matter what, these classic gingerbread cookies happen annually.
It doesn’t get more Christmas-y than gingerbread men though, right? Most years, I bake an obscene of these and bring them for our Christmas Eve gathering. The kids look forward to decorating them almost as much as I look forward to sipping on Gingerbread White Russians.
Not only does this recipe have all of the festive flavours you’re looking for thanks to the ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg, but they’re also just the right amount of softness. I like to eat these cookies after decorating them. So it’s important that they’re edible, if you get my drift. Crunchy gingerbread cookies aren’t my thing.
While they’re soft, this classic gingerbread cookie recipe hold their shape really well. Rolling and cutting the dough is no issue.
I included an icing recipe to this post, however there is no shame in using store-bought icing as well. I personally find it easier to use the latter when a large group of children are involved as I can purchase fun colours that come in tubes. It’s overall less messy and far less hassle.
Scroll below for this Classic Gingerbread Cookie recipe and if you haven’t already, don’t forget to subscribe! 
Classic Gingerbread Cookies
Ingredients
For the cookies
- 3/4 cup Butter, softened
- 1/2 cup Dark brown sugar, packed
- 1 Egg, large
- 2 tsp Pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup Molasses (I use Crosby's Fancy Molasses)
- 3 1/2 cups All-purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp Baking soda
- 1 Tbsp Ginger, ground
- 1 Tbsp Cinnamon, ground
- 1/4 tsp Cloves, ground
- 1/4 tsp Nutmeg, ground (I suggest freshly ground if available)
- 1/4 tsp Salt
For the icing
- 2 cups Confectioners' sugar
- 2-3 Tbsp Milk
- 1 Tbsp Corn syrup
- 1/2 tsp Pure vanilla extract
Instructions
For the cookies
- In a large bowl, combine butter and brown sugar. Beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
- Add egg, vanilla and molasses. Beat with electric mixer until well combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and salt.
- Gradually add dry ingredients to wet, with electric mixer on low, until dough is smooth and well combined.
- Divide the dough into two equal parts, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for minimum 2 hours.
- Once the dough has chilled, preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Lightly flour working surface.
- Once at a time, roll out each dough with a rolling pin to approx. 1/4 inch thickness. Use cookie cutter of choice to cut out shapes. Transfer cookies onto prepared baking sheet, spacing them minimum 2 inches apart.
- Transfer baking sheet to oven and bake 8-10 minutes.
- Repeat process until there is no more remaining dough.
- Cool completely before moving on to decorating.
For the icing
- In a large mixing bowl, combine confectioners' sugar, 1 Tbsp milk, corn syrup and vanilla. Beat on low with an electric mixer, adding 1 Tbsp of additional milk at a time until desired consistency is achieved. Icing should be thick enough to be pipeable.
- Scoop icing into a piping bag with desired piping tip. Decorate cookies and enjoy!
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