Simple and Soft Gingerbread Man Cookies are classic gingerbread cookies made with molasses and warm spices. One of my most fave Christmas Cookie recipes!
Try my festive and Easy Peanut Butter Cookies next! Find all my irresistible Christmas Desserts here.
Gingerbread Molasses Cookies are an absolute must on Holiday Cookie Trays! I love to bake them every year without fail along side my Sprinkles Coated Cheesecake Cookies and Small Batch Iced Sugar Cookies.
Soft Gingerbread Man Cookies ingredients:
- Flour: As the base of our soft and chewy molasses cookies. Make sure to measure it correctly for best results.
- Baking soda: For slight lift and crispy edged cookies.
- Vanilla and salt: For flavor.
- Spices: We are using cinnamon, loads of ground ginger, all spices and cloves to flavor our Gingerbread Cookies.
- Brown sugar and Molasses: To sweeten the cookies and keep them soft and chewy.
- Butter: Always begin with room temperature and unsalted butter. That way you get to control the amount of salt in your cookies.
- Egg: For binding and structure.
How to make gingerbread cookies:
Let’s quickly have a look in the recipe to know how these molasses cookies come together:
- Make the dough: Gingerbread cookie dough comes together just like other cookies dough. Begin by creaming butter and brown sugar. Add and beat in eggs, molasses and vanilla. Fold in dry ingredients and there you have it.
- Cover/wrap and Chill that dough!!! Form a disc out of the dough and cover it in a plastic wrap. Chill the dough for a minimum of 4 hours. I prefer to chill mine overnight.
- Roll out and cut using gingerbread man cookie cutter: Lightly flour the surface before you begin to roll the dough out. If you find the dough to be very sticky, flour your hands and the rolling pin.
- Bake: Place the cut-out cookies on a lined baking tray leaving just a little gap between them. Around 1- 11/2 inches.
Soft Gingerbread man cookies tips:
How to decorate gingerbread cookies:
After you’ve baked the Gingerbread Man Cookies, it is time to decorate them. Totally optional but it’s such a fun task. So easy and brings Gingerbread Men to life!
We are making them smile, those cute bows and buttons (omg! using holly and berries sprinkles) and some icing sugar!
how thick should gingerbread cookies be?
Ideally Gingerbread cookies should be 1/4 of an inch thick. And thinner than this and they will bake super hard.
How do you know when gingerbread cookies are done?
Dark colored cookies are tough to check for doneness. Take care not to end up over baking them. When done the cookies will appear puffy and will begin to brown slightly on the edges.
How do you soften hard gingerbread cookies?
- Try steaming them in the microwave by wrapping them in a damp paper towel for 10-15 seconds.
- Add a piece of slightly moistened bread slice in your cookie jar.
How do you keep gingerbread cookies fresh?
Always store Cookies in airtight containers to prevent them from hardening.
How long do gingerbread cookies last?
Gingerbread cookies easily last for a week or two at room temp, covered tightly.
These soft Gingerbread Man Cookies are:
- Sweetened with brown sugar and molasses (no granulated sugar)
- They are so soft and chewy in the center with slightly crisp edges
- Super easy to bring together
- Baked with a careful blend of just the right amount of spices
More Festive Holiday Desserts that you will love:
Mini Gingerbread Bundt Cakes Recipe
My no bake Sugar Cookie Truffles
Cutest Gingerbread Man Cookies
Molasses Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/3 Cup (5 Tbsp, 72 gms) Butter (Unsalted, room temp)
- 6 Tbsp (75 gms) Brown Sugar (Packed, light or dark)
- 1/3 Cup (100 gms) Molasses Unsulphured
- 1/2 large Egg
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 3/4 Cups All purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1 1/2 tsp Ground Ginger
- 1 1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp All Spice Powder
- 1/4 tsp Cloves
- Simple Sugar Cookie Icing
Instructions
- In a medium bowl beat butter on medium for a minute. Add brown sugar and beat it in till light and fluffy.
- Add egg and vanilla. Beat it in too. Now add in molasses and mix them in.
- Sift all the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt and spices) over wet and fold in to combine. Do not overmix. Form a disc of the dough, wrap and chill the dough for 4 hours minimum or up to 3 days.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 deg F (177 deg C). Line 1-2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon mats. Set them aside.
- Flour your work surface and roll out the cookie dough disc until 1/4 of an inch thick. Cut into shapes.
- Place cut-out cookie 1 - 11/2 inches apart. Re-roll the dough scraps and cut out cookies until no dough remains.
- Bake for about 9-10 minutes. They will appear slightly puffy but will shrink back slightly once they are out of oven. If your Gingerbread man cookie cutter is smaller than 4 inches, bake for 7-8 minutes.
- Once baked, allow the cookies to cool on tray for 4-5 minutes and transfer to wire rack to cool down further.
- Decorate cooled cookies with icing as desired.
Notes
- Store Molasses Cookies at room temp, covered tightly up to 2 weeks.
- Baked or unbaked cookie dough can be frozen for 2 months.
- Thaw baked cookie on counter top for 5-6 hours before serving.
The perfect cookie for the festive time of year – these are so cute and so delicious!
I love a soft gingerbread man!! Those process shots are incredible!
These are so adorable! I love a good soft cookie always!!
These turned out so good! My kids and I had fun decorating them.
These are adorable. I love gingerbread, and soft is even better.