Classic Gingerbread Cookies
The best gingerbread recipe is made with just a few basic ingredients. These are easy to make, perfect for decorating, and are truly foolproof. Use cookie cutters to make them any shape you'd like!
Servings: 15 3-inch cookies
Calories: 211kcal
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup unsulphered molasses
Instructions
- Whisk together flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, salt and baking soda in a bowl; set aside.
- In a mixer bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy, 3 minutes. Beat in egg and molasses. Add flour mixture and combine.
- Halve dough, wrap in plastic wrap and chill 2 hours.
- Heat oven to 350ºF.
- Roll dough to ¼-inch thickness on a floured surface. Cut shapes with cookie cutters and place on parchment-lined baking sheets.
- Bake until set, and cookies are just cooked through, 7 to 9 minutes. Cool completely.
Notes
For a clean, simple look, pipe designs, faces and buttons on with Royal Icing (my Lemon Royal Icing also goes so well with gingerbread!). For the more indulgent (my favorite) version, spread the entire cookie with a simple Fluffy Vanilla Frosting!
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- Make sure when you place the cut-outs on the baking sheets they are similar in size. If you're baking large and mini cookies you want to keep sizes together. If you don't, the little guys will get baked and overdone before the bigger cookies are baked to perfection.
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- Do not use blackstrap molasses to make gingerbread cookies from scratch. It's far too bitter!
Nutrition
Calories: 211kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 27mg | Sodium: 131mg | Potassium: 208mg | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 205IU | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 1.9mg
