This gingerbread men cookies recipe is a must-have for Christmas. Intense in flavors! Ginger, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, nutmeg, vanilla, and lots of molasses.
Stop looking for any other gingerbread cookies recipe. You don't need to. This is the one and only recipe you need. It is easy to make, and you can watch every step in the video below.
Christmas is a blessed time a year. To make sure that you have a joyful season without any baking stress, I share with you a handpicked selection of my favorite Christmas recipes which are easy to make and super delicious.
Recipe No.1 was my Christmas Thumbprint Cookies recipe. They literally melt in your mouth and have an intense buttery flavor.
Recipe No.2 was this Chocolate Rum Truffles recipe. Boozy, creamy, chocolatey. 4 ingredients.
Recipe No.3 was Eggnog. Ultra creamy, spiked, and lots of flavors like vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
I highly recommend dunking these cookies with eggnog. Addictive!
As you can see in the video, they are really easy to make. Just mix all ingredients together in the described order and knead the dough a few times in the end. No big deal.
You could also replace ¼ cup of flour with cocoa powder. The chocolate taste fits wonderfully.
I divide the dough in half, form into discs, and wrap it up tightly. It's way easier to roll the dough when it is divided into two halves and have a disc form.
Chill the dough at least 3 hours before rolling and cutting. I chill mine overnight. You could make the dough up to 3 days in advance and store it in the fridge.
When you roll the dough keep it about ¼ inch (6mm) thick. They are super soft when you keep them thicker.
The next great thing about these gingerbread cookies is that they don't spread. They keep the form as you cut them. This is great for the eye because they don't lose their shape.
After cooling, you can decorate them as desired. Dunk in chocolate, decorate with royal icing, sprinkle with sprinkles or nuts. Make them traditional, modern, funny, or whatever you are in the mood for.
Easy Gingerbread Men Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 ¼ cups flour (390g)
- 1 ¼ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ¾ tbsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp allspice
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ⅔ cup butter (150g)
- ¾ cup brown sugar (150g)
- ⅔ cup molasses (200g)
- 1 egg
- 2 vanilla beans (or 2 tsp vanilla extract)
OPTIONAL: Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar sifted (120g)
- 2 tbsp water
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Combine flour, baking powder, salt, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Set aside.
- In another bowl, mix with a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment butter on medium speed until creamy, for about 1-2 minutes. Add brown sugar and molasses and mix until combined. Add egg and vanilla* and mix until fully combined. Add dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until combined. The dough will be sticky and thick. Give it a few kneads by hand and divide in half. Form discs and wrap up tightly in plastic wrap. Chill for at least 3 hours or up to 3 days.
- Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- On a well-floured surface roll out dough discs into a ¼ inch thickness. Cut out cookies with a 4-inch gingerbread men cookie cutter and place on the prepared baking sheets with about 1-inch space in-between. Bake for 8-9 minutes. I baked mine for 8 minutes. I also made 2-inch cookies which I baked for 5 minutes and 6-inch cookies for 11 minutes. Allow cooling on baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.
- OPTIONAL: Stir together sugar, water, and salt until combined. Spoon into a zip-lock bag and cut off a little piece of one edge. Pipe on cooled cookies as desired.
Video
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I made these this year for Christmas and my husband and I absolutely loved them. Followed the recipe 100% - the only part we left out was the frosting but they are delicious even without it!
What type of molasses do you recommend? Black strap or not?
I recommend unsulphured or dark molasses. Blackstrap is too bitter for this recipe.
Did I make this up or was this previously a chocolate gingerbread recipe?? I could’ve sworn there was cocoa powder in these so I added 1/4 cup to the recipe, and they turned out just like I remember! Tip for getting perfect cut outs: stick the cut out gingerbread cookies on your pan and into the freezer for about 10 minutes. Put them straight in the oven for 8-10 minutes and they will come out looking exactly how they did before you put them in! Great recipe! 🙂
Yes, I had 2 versions of these cookies on my blog. One with cocoa and one without. Thanks for the feedback, I'm glad you like them! 🙂
Made these yesterday, Colored the icing, bought sprinkles. Sat down with the family and decorated all of them while eating the ones we broke by accident. They could not stop raving about how amazing they were and if they didn't see them being made would swear I bought them somewhere to decorate. Thank you for an amazing Christmas season family fun night. Wonderful recipe very easy to follow. 10/10 would absolutely recommend this recipe to anyone wanting a great gingerbread cookie.
Thank you so much for your nice feedback! I'm happy that you enjoyed the recipe and had a good time!
Hi there! Can the cookies be made in advance and frozen?
Yes, absolutely! Though they are best eaten fresh. Through the freezing and thawing process, they will dry out a little.