Extra chewy gingerbread cutout cookies have soft centers, are full of warm Christmas spices and are decorated super cute!
These are part of this year's 12 Days of Christmas Cookies! Yay!
If you're looking for other Christmas Cookie recipes check out my sugar cookies, chocolate peppermint blossoms, chocolate dipped peppermint sugar cookies, Christmas Kitchen Sink Cookies, chewy peanut butter cookies, peppermint bark Christmas crack or chocolate thumbprint cookies!
This post is sponsored by Bob's Red Mill. Thank you for supporting the brands that make In Bloom Bakery possible!
Why You'll Love These Chewy Gingerbread Cookies
They've got the best flavor. Molasses and warm Christmas spices like ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice give these cookies the absolute best flavor. It's hard to eat just one cookie hehe!
They're super chewy. They use all brown sugar and egg yolks to keep them extra chewy and give them the best "bite".
They're fun to make. They do require a bit of work but making them is half the fun. They're the perfect baking project to do with your loved ones this Christmas.
Ingredients for Chewy Gingerbread Cookies
- Flour- we're using only the best: Bob's Red Mill all-purpose!
- Spice Blend- ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice bring warm Christmas flavors to these cookies
- Molasses- gives these cookies their iconic flavor, we're using unsulphured molasses
- Egg Yolks- just the yolks make these cookies extra chewy
- Brown Sugar- used to sweeten the cookies and give them a super chewy texture
- Butter- make sure it's softened
- Vanilla- I always recommend using vanilla bean paste for the best flavor, but extract works as well
- Salt- helps to bring out all the flavors in these cookies
- Baking Soda- helps the cookies to rise slightly
- Powdered Sugar- used to make the icing
- Milk- used to make the icing
- Sprinkles- for decorating the cookies really cute!
Step by Step Instructions
Please see recipe below for complete measurements and baking times!
STEP ONE: Whisk together flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
STEP TWO: Cream together butter and brown sugar.
STEP THREE: Add in egg yolks, vanilla and molasses. Mix until smooth.
STEP FOUR: Add in dry ingredients and combine.
STEP FIVE: Form dough into a disk and wrap tightly with plastic wrap, then chill.
STEP SIX: Roll dough out on a well floured surface. Cut gingerbread people or other shapes out of the dough with cookie cutters.
STEP SEVEN: Chill the cut dough, then bake.
STEP EIGHT: Make simple icing by combining powdered sugar and milk. Then Decorate the cookies as you wish.
Please see recipe below for complete measurements and baking times!
FAQs
Do I really have to chill the dough twice? Well, yes. If you don't chill the dough the first time, it will be hard to work with because it's soft, and if not the second time, the cookies will spread more in the oven giving you extra large and not very cute gingerbread people.
How do I store these cookies? Store them in an airtight container for up to four days.
Can I make the dough beforehand? You can make the dough and keep it in the fridge for up to three days before baking the cookies. You will want to leave the dough out of the fridge for about 30 minutes until it's soft enough to roll out. You can also freeze the dough for up to two weeks before using. Just make sure it's wrapped tightly with plastic wrap and then put in a plastic baggie or container so that it is completely airtight!
Pro Tips
Measure your flour properly. This is always my #1 baking tip. Do not ever scoop a measuring cup into your flour. This will always lead to using too much flour. (Trust me, I've learned the hard way that I need to measure properly!) Instead, sprinkle spoonfuls of flour into your measuring cup and swipe excess flour off with the back of a knife. Or better yet, weigh your flour. 1 cup of flour equals 125 grams.
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Other Recipes to Try
Gingerbread Whoopie Pies
📖 Recipe
Chewy Gingerbread Cookies
Ingredients
For the Gingerbread Cookies
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled (please see notes) 375 g
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened 170 g
- ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed 165 g
- 2 egg yolks, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup unsulphured molasses 170 g
For the Icing
- 3 cups powdered sugar 390 g
- 4-5 tablespoon whole milk 60-75 ml
Instructions
For the Gingerbread Cookies
- Add flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, salt and baking soda to a medium sized bowl. Whisk to combine and set aside.
- To a large bowl add the butter and brown sugar. Cream together with an electric mixer until fluffy, 1-2 minutes.
- Add the egg yolks, molasses and vanilla to the butter/sugar mixture and mix until smooth, about 1 minute.
- Add in the dry ingredients and mix until combined.
- Form the dough into a disk and wrap it tightly with plastic wrap. (It's easiest to do this with floured hands.)
- Chill the dough for 1 hour until it's cold and only slightly soft.
- On a well floured surface roll the dough out until it's ¼ inch thick.
- Cut cookies out with various cookie cutters.
- Transfer the cut cookies to a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Chill the cut cookies for at least 1 hour, or until ready to bake. (You can chill the cookies together on one or two baking sheets, and then separate them out when ready to bake.)
- When ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. (Line another baking sheet with parchment paper if the cookies are together on one sheet.)
- Arrange the chilled cookie cutouts about 2 inches apart from each other.
- Bake regular sized cookies, that are roughly 3 ½ inches for 9-10 minutes. Bake mini cookies, that are roughly 2 inches for 7-8 minutes.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for two minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack to completely cool.
For the Icing
- Sift powdered sugar into a medium sized bowl.
- Stir in milk. (Start with 4 tablespoon and add in more milk if too dry.) The icing should be thick and drip slowly off of a spoon.
- Add icing to a piping bag fitted with a very small circular tip, or just cut a tiny bit off the end of the piping bag.
- Decorate the cookies as you wish. Let the icing dry, then serve!
- Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to four days for the best taste.
Ginny, I made this recipe, and I have to tell you it was one of the best 🙂 two thumbs up, Thanks for sharing it! - Arezou
Hi. Yummy looking gingerbread cookies. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
May I ask how many grams will it be for ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened. Does it make any difference in when weight when converting it to grams for powdered sugar and all purpose flour?
Hey Eileen! Just updated the recipe to include the metric measurements for everything 🙂
So soft and flavorful. Thank you for sharing this recipe. We had a fun 'ginger-day" with friends and kiddos decorating them.
Hi Ginny,
What could be a substitute for molasses? In my country is kinda difficult to find.
Hi Mon! Molasses is a key ingredient in gingerbread, and gives it the iconic "gingerbread flavor". I'm not sure where you're located, but if you can find black treacle that could be similar, otherwise honey would work to give you a similar texture as molasses would, but the taste will not be the same. I hope this helps!
If I use fancy molasses will it turn out the same?
Yes! Should be perfectly fine 🙂
Hi Ginny,
I just made this recipe. The cookies turned out great. This is first time eating gingerbread cookies so not sure what to look for. Is 170 g the correct measurement of gingerbread cookies? Could I bring it down a little? Thank you so much!