These are the BEST cut out gingerbread cookies. They are soft and chewy, but hold their shape perfectly when baked, and have just the right amount of spice. Then they’re decorated with a “cheater” royal icing that’s so easy to make and doesn’t require meringue powder.
What Makes these Gingerbread Cookies the BEST?
- Chewy, but hold their shape. The best kind of cut out cookie is one that doesn’t budge but is still soft, tender, and chewy. These definitely fit the bill.
- Balanced Flavor. I don’t know about you, but if a cookie has too much spice, or even worse, too much molasses, I’m out. These gingerbread cookies are just right.
- Super easy “cheater royal icing.” The icing used to decorate these cookies is so easy to make and just requires a regular mixing bowl and a whisk, and no meringue powder. You’ll still be able to color it with gel food coloring and it will harden just like royal icing.
Ingredients
- Molasses. Make sure to use unsulphered molasses and NOT blackstrap molasses which will leave your cookies tasting dry, salty, and bitter.
- Salted Butter. I reach for the salted butter in most recipes because sweet things need salt! Kerrygold is my favorite.
- Light Corn Syrup. You’ll need a bit of this for the icing. It’s not much, and it’s what will give the icing the shine and help it harden.
- Spices. These chewy gingerbread cut out cookies call for a blend of cinnamon, ginger and cloves.
How to Make Chewy Cut Out Gingerbread Men
Make the Gingerbread Dough.
In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and dark brown sugar for 3 minutes, until well combined. Add the egg and vanilla and mix for another 2 minutes until the mixture is light and glossy. Add the molasses and mix until well combined.
Add in the flour, spices, and salt. Mix on medium speed for about 3 minutes, or until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Do a final mix with a rubber spatula to make sure that all of the flour is incorporated and none has settled at the bottom of the bowl. Form the dough into a ball and then wrap it in plastic and chill for 1 hour.
When ready to baker, preheat the oven to 375 and line 2 sheets with parchment paper. Cut the dough in half and roll it out onto a lightly floured surface to about ½” thickness. Cut out gingerbread men shapes (or whatever shape you prefer) and place cookies onto prepared pans. They won’t need much room in between because they won’t spread in the oven.
Place the cookie sheet into the freezer for 10 minutes, then bake at 375 for 8 minutes. Freezing the dough for just a few minutes before baking ensures that the cookies hold their shape. Let cool on the cookie sheet for 3-4 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely before icing.
Make the Icing.
Add all ingredients except the food coloring to a small mixing bowl and whisk until smooth. The icing should be a “15 second icing” which means that when you pick it up with your whisk and let it fall back into the bowl, it should take about 15 seconds to disappear back into the remaining icing. If it’s too thin, add extra powdered sugar. If it’s too thick, add a little more water.
Separate the icing into smaller bowls and color with the gel coloring. I used white, black, blush pink, and dark green. Put icing into piping bags (or ziplock bags with a small hole cut out) and decorate. Icing will take about 10-15 minutes to set once piped, then the cookies can be stacked for serving and transporting.
Tools & Equipment
- Piping Bags. My favorite are these tipless piping bags. They’re thin and allow you to pipe tiny details easily!
- Gel Food Coloring. I recommend gel food coloring when coloring any type of icing. It’s thicker and won’t change the thickness, which is important with royal icing and this “cheater” royal icing. I like the Americolor Gels the best.
- Cookie Cutters. I like to do a couple different sizes of gingerbread men, but totally up to you! This 3 pack from Amazon would work great!
Chewy Cut Out Gingerbread Men
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 8
- Total Time: 28 minutes
- Yield: 24 Cookies 1x
Description
Chewy and perfectly spiced gingerbread cookies decorated with a super easy “cheater” royal icing.
Ingredients
For the Gingerbread Dough
- 6 TBSP Salted Butter, at room temperature
- ¾ C (160 g) Dark Brown Sugar
- 1 Lg Egg, at room temperature
- 2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
- ½ C (160g) Unsulphured Molasses
- 3 C (375 g) AP Flour
- 1 TBSP Cinnamon
- 1 TBSP Ginger
- ½ tsp Ground Cloves
- ½ tsp Salt
For the Icing
- 1 ½ C (175 g) Powdered Sugar
- 1 tsp Clear Vanilla Flavoring
- 1 tsp Light Corn Syrup
- 2 TBSP Water
- Pinch of Salt
- Gel Food Coloring, optional
Instructions
For the Gingerbread Cookies
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and dark brown sugar for 3 minutes, until well combined. Add the egg and vanilla and mix for another 2 minutes until the mixture is light and glossy.
- Add the molasses and mix until well combined.
- Add in the flour, spices, and salt. Mix on medium speed for about 3 minutes, or until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl.
- Wrap the dough in plastic and chill for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 375 and line 2 sheets with parchment paper.
- Cut the dough in half and roll it out onto a lightly floured surface to about ½” thickness. Cut out gingerbread men shapes (or whatever shape you prefer) and place cookies onto prepared pans. They won’t need much room in between because they won’t spread in the oven.
- Place the cookie sheet into the freezer for 10 minutes, then bake at 375 for 8 minutes. Freezing the dough for just a few minutes before baking ensures that the cookies hold their shape.
- Let cool on the cookie sheet for 3-4 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely before icing.
For the Icing
- Add all ingredients except the food coloring to a small mixing bowl and whisk until smooth. The icing should be a “15 second icing” which means that when you pick it up with your whisk and let it fall back into the bowl, it should take about 15 seconds to disappear back into the remaining icing. If it’s too thin, add extra powdered sugar. If it’s too thick, add a little more water.
- Separate the icing into smaller bowls and color with the gel coloring. I used white, black, blush pink, and dark green.
- Put icing into piping bags (or ziplock bags with a small hole cut out) and decorate. Icing will take about 10-15 minutes to set once piped, then the cookies can be stacked for serving and transporting.
Keywords: gingerbread cut out cookies, chewy gingerbread men cookies, soft gingerbread cookies
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