These are hands down, my favorite gingerbread cookies. They’re soft in the centers, firm at the edges and full of bold warming flavors like molasses, cinnamon and ginger. They cut out beautifully, perfect for holiday trees, gingerbread people or these gorgeous snowflakes.

Plus you don’t have to chill the dough overnight before you bake! Win, win, win!

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…

I do NOT have patience for cookie dough recipes that chill for hours on end.

Over the years, I’ve found it nearly impossible to find a recipe for gingerbread cookies that didn’t have a chill time of: “overnight or up to 3 days”.

My lust for gingerbread cookies motivated me to experiment (plus it’s cold AF outside, so they just sounded good).

By tweaking the process, I took an 8 to 72 hour chilling time, down to an hour + a few minutes. (Scroll down to “The Process” for more details…)

I’ll take my Nobel Baking Prize now.

Key Ingredients

Molasses – I’d venture to say molasses and ginger truly battle it out as the star of the show here…SUCH a depth of flavor.
Spices – Get the good stuff. This is not where you want to find out your ground ginger is 5 years old and has lost it’s punch. Check the dates, refresh your spice rack if you have to.
Dark Brown Sugar – Yes, it needs to be Dark Brown sugar. Light brown sugar has less molasses/moisture and will not give you that same tender cookie with deep, molassesy flavor.

The Process

So how’d I reduce the chilling time so much?

~~Because I’m an icy bitc…~~

Because I scienced – I increased the surface area. Instead of chilling a big dough ball, I chilled thin dough sheets.

Will this work with everything? No. Does this work with this thing? Yes.

I made the dough, and split it into thirds.

Each third was rolled out on a piece of parchment paper to about ¼″ thickness. Then the rolled dough and parchment paper were placed on a sheet pan and refrigerated for 30min.

After 30min, I cut the cookies, but did not pick them up to move them around. Instead I removed the excess dough from around the cut out cookies, then chilled everything for another 30min.

After chilling, the cut out cookies were firm enough to handle and I placed the cookies so that they were evenly spaced on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Bake. Cool. Decorate. Enjoy!

Gingerbread Cookies

Perfectly firm and chewy, full of cinnamon, ginger and molasses, these gingerbread cookies are a go-to recipe for fall and winter baking.

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Prep Time 15

Dough Chilling Time 1

Total Time 2 30

Course Dessert

Servings 2 Dozen (varies)

Equipment

1-3 Baking Sheet Pans
1 Large Mixing Bowl
Electric Mixer
Parchment Paper (Not Wax Paper)

Ingredients

For The Cookie Dough

1 stick butter, softened (8 Tablespoons)
½ cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
½ cup unsulfured molasses
3 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon ground clove
¾ teaspoon salt

For the Royal Icing

1 lb powdered sugar
3 Tablespoons meringue powder (I use King Arthur Baking brand)
Scant ¼ cup water See Recipe Notes
½ Tablespoon vanilla extract

Instructions

For the Cookies

Preheat your oven to 350°F and gather at least 3 pieces of parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together softened butter and dark brown sugar until fluffy. Add the egg and molasses; mix until thoroughly combined, about 2 minutes.
Next add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices and salt. Mix until thoroughly combined. Do not over mix. Some of the dough may appear a little dry – this is ok, try to incorporate it for a more even appearance when rolling out the dough.
Divide the dough into thirds. Place one third of dough on a piece of parchment paper and roll to about ¼-inch thickness. Place dough and parchment onto a baking sheet and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough portions.
After chilling the dough for 30min, cut with desired cookie cutter(s). Do NOT attempt to transfer the cookies yet. Remove the excess dough from around the cut cookies (a toothpick helps tremendously with this, especially if they're cut close together). Place the sheet pan back in the fridge for another 30 minutes.
After chilling the cut cookies for 30 minutes, pick up and place the cookies on the parchment-lined sheet pan so that they are evenly spaced, at least 1" apart.
You can use the same parchment they were rolled and cut on, or transfer to a fresh piece/sheet pan.
Repeat rolling, cutting, and chilling process with remaining dough.
Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes, until they are just beginning to darken and the edges are set.
This baking time varies greatly depending on the thickness of the dough (and even the shape of the cutter). Keep an eye on the first batch and adjust accordingly.
You'd much rather under-bake a pan of cookies and have to add time, than burn the first tray of cookies…
Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the Royal Icing

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together powdered sugar and meringue powder.
Measure out a scant ¼ cup of water. Add most, but not all, of the water to the powdered sugar mixture. Whisk to combine.
Add the vanilla extract, and whisk to combine.
If you want a stiffer icing, better for more detailed designs, you may want to stop adding water here. If you want a more fluid icing, better for filling/flooding within a border or even glazing a cookie, you may want to add more water a teaspoon at a time.
If one of the cookies broke while being transferred to the cooling rack, or if any of them baked a little wonky, or maybe got a little over cooked…. This is a GREAT opportunity to use that cookie as the Test Cookie to check your icing consistency.
If all of your cookies are perfect (and why wouldn't they be?!), you could pipe some icing onto a piece of parchment paper and see if the consistency is where you want it.

Notes

Undecorated cookies can be stacked, separated with parchment paper, and stored for up to 3 days in an air-tight container.

Decorated cookies are best stored in a single layer, in an air-tight container for 3-5 days.

I find the more icing I use to decorate a cookie, the longer it lasts – the icing helps keep the cookie moist and from going stale.

If the cookies do get a bit hard/go stale, place a slice of plain sandwich bread in the container with the cookies overnight. Over time the bread will become hard and the cookies will soften.

Keyword Christmas Cookies, Cookies, Gingerbread, Holiday Cookies

Recipe Notes

How long will Gingerbread Cookies last? That depends – Undecorated cookies can be stacked, separated with parchment paper, and stored for up to 3 days in an air-tight container. Decorated cookies are best stored in a single layer, in an air-tight container for 3-5 days.
Can I make the cookie dough ahead of time and chill it until I am ready to use it? Yes – I would still split the dough into thirds and pat it out into a disk shape to make is easier to roll out once it’s chilled. Tightly wrap with plastic wrap before chilling.
Do I have to frost them? No, but you’re missing out if you don’t.
I don’t like Royal Icing… These cookies would also be great decorated with your favorite vanilla buttercream. Depending on how you make your frosting, you may want to make it a little stiffer than what you’d use to frost a cake.
I have leftover Royal Icing, now what? Royal Icing will keep in a zip top bag, with all the air pressed out, for about 3 days, kept in the fridge. Or… you could whip up a batch of my Easy Sugar Cookie Cut Outs…