Best Christmas Gingerbread Cookies Recipe

5 from 8 votes

Gingerbread Cookies are the most popular festive-themed Christmas cookies spiced with ginger and molasses.

Prep Time15

Cook Time12

Resting Time3

Total Time3 27

Course: Desserts, sweets

Cuisine: American, European

Servings:

Calories: 147kcal

Author: Kushi

3 cups All purpose flour (may need an additional 3 to 4 tbsp)
1 teaspoon Baking soda
½ teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon Ground Ginger
1 tablespoon Fresh ginger grated
½ cup Vegetable shortening or softened butter
¾ cup Brown sugar
⅔ cup Molasses
1 Egg
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
(Optional: You can add ¼ teaspoon of ground nutmeg or cloves or allspice or even orange zest if needed. I keep it simple with ginger and cinnamon)

Add flour, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon, and ginger in a bowl. Keep this aside.
3 cups All purpose flour (may need an additional 3 to 4 tbsp), 1 teaspoon Baking soda, ½ teaspoon Salt, 1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon Ground Ginger
Add vegetable shortening or butter, sugar, and molasses in a large bowl with an electric mixer and beat until it's smooth and creamy.
½ cup Vegetable shortening or softened butter , ¾ cup Brown sugar , ⅔ cup Molasses
Beat in the egg and vanilla extract until combined.
1 Egg, 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
Add fresh ginger and dry ingredients and stir until it is combined. This dough will be stickier than most other cookie dough. (Check the tip below)
1 tablespoon Fresh ginger grated, (Optional: You can add ¼ teaspoon of ground nutmeg or cloves or allspice or even orange zest if needed. I keep it simple with ginger and cinnamon)
Transfer this dough onto a plastic wrap. Pat it to form a square or a circle, cover it and refrigerate for 3 hours until it's firm. Chilling is a must, and I do it overnight. You can also make this dough upto 3 days in advance.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the baking sheet with shortening or butter
Divide the dough into parts. While rolling one part, wrap and refrigerate the other parts.
Place the dough on floured wax paper/parchment paper. Sprinkle even the top of the dough with flour to prevent it from sticking to the rolling pin.
Roll out the cookie dough to ¼ inch thick. If you want softer cookies, roll them even thicker.
Using a cookie cutter, cut the cookies and transfer them to the baking sheet placing 1 inch apart. Form a ball using leftover scarps and refrigerate it for a few minutes before rolling again.
Repeat the process for the remaining dough.

Bake the cookies for 8 to 12 minutes until the edges are set and crisp. Time may vary depending on the size of the cookies. Let it cool for 2 minutes.
Gingerbread cookies are ready. You can decorate with sugar, sprinkles, or icing. Happy holidays.
Store them in an airtight conatiner at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

Suppose the dough is sticky add additional flour (maybe another extra ¼ cup). You may have to vary the amount of flour depending on the weather. I always judge the flour amount depending on the dough's look and feel.
If you find it difficult to roll or if the dough is sticky, you can refrigerate it for some more time to become firm. Add a little more flour while rolling and cut them out. Brush off the excess flour from the cookie before baking.
If the dough cracks while rolling, let it sit at room temperature to warm slightly, about 10 minutes.
Increase the amount of sugar if you like the cookies to be very sweet.
If you bake the cookies longer, they will be harder and crunchier.
If you really want crispy gingerbread cookies, skip baking soda and reduce it to ¼ tsp