These are the best gingerbread cookies you will ever make, and the best part is that they will retain their shape and won’t expand into a blob!
You can find the recipe below on how to make the best gingerbread cookies, perfect to bake for the holiday season! I love these cookies because you can taste the gingerbread without it being overpowered by the ginger. This recipe also keeps the shape of the cutout without expanding during the baking process. It is helpful use a cooling rack after baking the cookies so the bottom of the cookies don’t burn on your cookie sheet.
To decorate my gingerbread cookies, my favorite icing to use is Wilton’s icing gel It makes it easy to decorate fine lines and without the mess. I also like to jazz up the cookies with colorful sparkly gels. You can find both of these at Target or Amazon.
Gingerbread cookies
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cup of flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp ground ginger
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground allspice
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 10 tbsp unsalted butter softened
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar
- 2/3 cup unsulphured molasses
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves in a big bowl. Set aside.
- Using a mixer, beat the butter until creamy. Beat in the brown sugar and molasses. Add the egg and vanilla, beat on high for 2 minutes.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients from step 1 to the wet ingredients in step 2.
- Divide the dough into two separate discs and cover with plastic wrap. Place in refrigerator to chill overnight.
- The following day, remove the chilled dough and place on floured surface. Roll out the dough until it is 1/4 inch flat
- Bake at 350 degrees for 9 minutes for soft cookies, or 11 minutes for crunchier cookies.
- Let cookies cool on cooling rack.
- Once cookies cool, enjoy decorating with icing of your choice!
Notes
- It is crucial to keep the dough refrigerated overnight to help the cookies not expand during the baking process.
- The recipe can make up to 20 cookies depending on the size of the cookie cutter used. My standard cookie cutter yields about a dozen cookies.