Gingerbread Man Cookies
Easy gingerbread man cookie recipe - decorate with royal icing or try a snowflake in the middle for the cutest cookies ever!
Servings: 36 cookies
Calories: 173kcal
Ingredients
For the cookies
- 3/4 cup (170 grams, 12 Tablespoons) unsalted butter melted, and slightly cooled
- 3/4 cup (255 grams) molasses I used Grandma's brand
- 3/4 cup (160 grams) light brown sugar packed
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3 1/2 cups (420 grams) all-purpose flour
Instructions
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the melted butter, molasses, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. until evenly combined.
- Beat in the egg until evenly combined.
- With a wooden spoon or spatula, stir dry ingredients into the butter-molasses mixture until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Divide the dough in half, and wrap each portion of dough in plastic wrap, flattening into a disc. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, up to overnight.
- When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C). You can either leave the baking sheet ungreased, but I prefer to line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or you can use silicone baking mat) for easy clean-up and baking my next batch on.)
- Working with one disc of dough at a time, remove from the fridge and unwrap. Lightly flour the top of the dough. Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough to about 1/4" thick (thinner cookies will be crispier). I like to roll the dough in one direction, then turn the dough so I can make sure it's not sticking to the surface. Continue to lightly dust surface, rolling pin, and dough if it's sticking.
- Cut out shapes with a floured gingerbread man cookie cutter, cutting them as close to one another as possible to get as many cookies as possible out of the first batch (the more you have to re-roll the dough will toughen your cookies, and cause the dough to warm up too much causing them too spread).
- Transfer the cookies to your prepare ungreased cookie sheets, spaced about 2 inches apart. Bake the cookies just until they're slightly brown around the edges 8-12 minutes, or until they feel firm. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5-10 minutes, or until they're set. Transfer them to a rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough.
Notes
- Storage: Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Freezing: Yes these cookies, decorated or undecorated, freeze well for up to 3 months. You can also freeze unbaked cookies for up to 3 months as well. Then bake frozen, no need to thaw. You will just need to add on a few minutes of baking time.
- This dough needs to be chilled before you roll it out. If it's been chilled overnight, you may need to let the dough soften slightly before
- Work with one batch of dough at a time. Keep the second disc in the fridge so as not to warm up.
- If your dough warms up too much, go and chill it again for 15-30 minutes until it firms back up.
- Reduce your cookie waste, by cutting them out as close as possible with each other. You will have some scraps leftover and can do one re-roll. But it's best to not to have to keep re-rolling your dough and handling it too much, because this will toughen your cookies in the end.
Nutrition
Calories: 173kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 15mg | Sodium: 100mg | Sugar: 23g