Go Back
–+ servings
A cookie sheet lined with gingerbread cookies. There are gingerbread men, trees, and snowflakes, decorated with a simple royal icing.
Print Recipe
5 from 3 votes

Gingerbread Men

These Gingerbread Men cookies are a holiday classic cookie. They're perfectly spiced with molasses, ginger, and cinnamon cookies, with crispy edges, soft and chewy, centers. They're delicious to eat on their own, and so fun to decorate.
Prep Time12 minutes
Cook Time8 minutes
Chilling Time3 hours
Total Time3 hours 20 minutes
Servings: 24
Calories: 264kcal

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 12 TBS unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks, softened)
  • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 TBS ground ginger
  • 1 TBS ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

For the Icing:

  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 2-4 TBS milk
  • 2-4 TBS corn syrup
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

For the Gingerbread Cookies:

  • In a large bowl add your butter and brown sugar. Cream them together till light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
  • Add in the molasses, and stir it into the butter sugar mixture.
  • Add in the egg and vanilla extract and stir till it's just combined.
  • In another large bowl, add your flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Whisk them together.
  • Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined. The dough will still be sticky.
  • Divide the dough into 2 sections. Shape them into a thick disk. Place them each on a piece of plastic wrap and wrap them up.
  • Place the dough in the fridge to chill for at least 3 hours, up to 3 days. I usually chill it overnight.
  • Preheat the oven to 350 farenheit. Line a couple large cookie sheets with parchment paper or a silicone liner.
  • Flour a work surface, and remove one of your dough disks from the fridge. Flour your rolling pin and hands. Roll out the cookie dough until it is about 1/4inch thick.
  • Cut the dough into shapes, and carefully transfer them to the prepared cookie sheet.
  • Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes, depending on their size. Until the edges look done, and the middle is set.
  • Remove the pan from the oven and let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack to continue cooling.
  • Once the cookies are cooled, decorate them as desired. Below is the icing recipe I used. You can also tint the icing with food coloring, and use it to place on sprinkles.

For the Easy Royal Icing:

  • Whisk all the ingredients together in a medium to large bowl. If your icing is too thin add in more powdered sugar, if it is too thick add in a little more milk. (You want it thick enough to pipe and hold it's shape pretty well)
  • Carefully scoop the icing into a piping bag or ziplock bag (and snip the corner off), and pipe the icing in desired patterns onto the cookies.

Nutrition

Calories: 264kcal | Carbohydrates: 48g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 22mg | Sodium: 110mg | Potassium: 148mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 22g | Vitamin A: 187IU | Calcium: 25mg | Iron: 2mg