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.
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.