The best gingerbread cookies recipe
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The best gingerbread cookies recipe is easy to make with balanced ingredients to get everyone excited about the festive season.
How does your kitchen smell around Christmas? Can you smell the aroma of the warm spices and baking delicious cookies around the house? If yes, then the Christmas spirit has officially prevailed in the house. Yes, I am referring to those soft and chewy gingerbread cookies that everyone gets excited about around the festive season. That’s why today, I am bringing to you the best gingerbread cookies recipe, tried, tested, and approved.
This recipe is not developed by me. It is the combination of several recipes of gingerbread cookies that I’ve tested, adjusted, and tweaked until I reached the desired ingredients combination. With a typical balance between warm spices such as ginger and cinnamon on one hand, and dark molasses, on the other hand, your home will smell Christmas-ly amazing and your kids will get overexcited to start the decoration process.
The best gingerbread cookies recipe is one of the quick easy recipes to make. You can serve it with different variations such as adding a zest of orange, apple juice, or zest of lemon. Hence, it is tweakable to suit all taste buds. And with that being said, why not make different batches across the festive season and enjoy one of the perfect recipes made for the holidays.
So let’s get started!
First, what are the ingredients of the best gingerbread cookies recipe?
For our recipe, you will need:
- Unsalted butter: softened to room temperature.
- Molasses & sugar: dark molasses is the best. Sugar is added to intensify the flavor of the molasses. And you can always adjust the amount based on the level of sweetness that you like.
- All-purpose flour or whole wheat flour
- Spices: ground ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon
- Salt, baking soda, egg, and vanilla extract: essential ingredients for many cookie recipes.
What equipment do you need to make these cookies?
- A stand mixer: you can use a hand mixer otherwise.
- Rolling pin: because you need to roll the dough to cut it
- Cookie cutters: I’ve got mine from Amazon. You can choose the shapes that you want: gingerbread man, snowflakes, stars, Christmas tree…
- Decorating kit to add the final touch. If a kit is not available, a food storage bag is always a good option.
How to make this recipe?
As I mentioned, this recipe is simple to make.
- Mix the dry ingredients: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients except for the sugar and set aside.
- Form the dough: Bring your stand mixer, and start beating the softened butter and brown sugar until the batter becomes fluffy. Then add the egg, vanilla extract, and molasses and beat until all ingredients become combined. Next, you need then to start adding the dry ingredients in batches and beat until all ingredients are well combined.
- Chill the dough: Once combined, divide the dough into equal balls and wrap with a cling film. It is essential to chill the dough in the fridge for 3 hours.
- Bake the cookies: After that, you can roll the dough on a flour-dusted surface, cut, and bake for 10 minutes approximately.
- Decorate the cookies: prepare the icing as per the recipe below. Do not decorate unless the cookies are cool enough.
How to decorate these gingerbread cookies?
Your gingerbread cookies are now dry and cool. What’s next? Decorating these cookies. Let’s brainstorm together:
- Plain: if you have no problem serving them simply. In the end, the shape Is already there.
- Icing: the most renowned decorative style for gingerbread cookies. You can add food colorant to the icing and decorate your Christmas tree cookie, Rudolph with his red nose, and so on.
- Sprinkles: I am sure kids will love this style.
Here are some FAQs about the best gingerbread cookies recipe
What kind of molasses do you use for gingerbread cookies?
I would highly recommend dark molasses. It is rich in flavor that turns these gingerbread cookies to be extra delicious. In addition, the rich dark color gives your cookies the dark brown color that you are looking for. I use Carob molasses at home, and I am very satisfied with the results.
How can you store these gingerbread cookies?
You can keep these cookies safe in an air-tight container for up to 7 days. Add a slice of bread to the jar, if you want to preserve their chewy aspect. You have the option to freeze them as well without decoration for up to 6 months.
What makes these cookies chewy vs crispy?
Baking soda. If you are looking for chewy cookies, then you have to add baking soda to the dough. If you want your cookies to be crispy, then leave these ingredients out. The dough will not leaven and you will be able to have crispy gingerbread cookies in the end.
Do not miss these steps:
- Avoid having flat gingerbread cookies by beating well the sugar and butter. You will need to beat both ingredients at medium speed for around 5 minutes until they become fluffy.
- Avoid overbaking the cookies: When you see the edges of the cookies turning crispy, it is a sign that your cookies are done. Do not worry, once your cookies are cool enough, you will notice that they have become chewy and soft.
- Do not decorate before your cookies are cool enough: Imagine putting the icing sugar on warm cookies. You will end up having melted icing. Wait until the cookies are cool, then start the decoration process.
- You can still prepare the cookies ahead of time: and you can either decorate them or keep them plain until the serving date. Just make sure to store them in an air-tight container, and separate them with wax paper if you are storing them decorated.
- Make sure to chill the dough for at least 3 hours: Do not skip this step at all. You can still make the dough and keep it in the fridge for up to 2 days before using it to make your cookies.
- Make sure your butter is soft: Softened butter does not mean melted butter. So, do not melt your butter before using it. Make sure to take it out of the fridge for enough time to soften at room temperature.
Are you hosting a Christmas dinner at home? Check out these recipes:
And do not forget to check these 13 merry ideas for an elegant Christmas dining table décor.
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The best gingerbread cookies recipe is easy to make with balanced ingredients to get everyone excited about the festive season.
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 2/3 cup molasses
- 3 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Icing sugar:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2–3 tablespoons milk
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, ground ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda and set aside.
- In a stand mixer, combine the softened butter and brown sugar.
- Beat for 2 minutes over medium to high speed until the batter becomes fluffy.
- Add the egg, vanilla extract, and molasses and beat at medium speed until all ingredients become combined.
- Change the speed into low to medium and start adding gradually the dry ingredients in batches.
- Continue beating until all ingredients are combined.
- Divide the dough into 3 balls.
- Flatten each ball to 1-inch thickness and wrap it with a cling film.
- Chill the dough in the fridge for 3 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
- Dust your workspace with flour, then roll the dough. The thickness should be 1/8 inch.
- Cut the cookies using your favorite shaped cookie cutters and transfer the cookies to a baking tray covered with parchment paper.
- Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes. Then remove the tray from the oven and let the cookies cool for 5 minutes.
- Move them to a wire rack to cool perfectly.
- To prepare the icing sugar, whisk the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract until the icing becomes smooth. This step may take up to 2 minutes.
- Wait for the cookies to cool enough before decorating them with the icing.
- Remember to add drops of food coloring to create beautiful decorations around the festive season.
Notes
- Avoid overbaking the cookies
- Do not decorate before your cookies are cool enough.
- Make sure to chill the dough for at least 3 hours.
- Make sure your butter is softened.
