the Ultimate Gingerbread Cookie Recipe easy and festive

Gingerbread cookies are such a fun Christmas tradition and my kids love to decorate them. Plus, they’re super easy to make. And stay tuned because you’re gonna love this icing recipe, it’s just three ingredients and it is perfection. And I’m craving some gingerbread cookies so let’s get started.

In our quest for the perfect gingerbread cookie, we’ve meticulously crafted a recipe that not only captures the essence of the holiday season but also elevates your baking experience. Ditch the ordinary and embrace excellence as we unveil the secrets to creating the best gingerbread cookies ever.

gingerbread cookie Ingredients Spotlight

Premium Flour Blend

To lay the foundation for exceptional texture, we recommend a precise blend of all-purpose and whole wheat flour. This ensures a delicate balance between fluffiness and a satisfying bite.

1. Molasses + spices for flavor
2. Egg so the gingerbread cookies have structure and richness
3. Brown sugar instead of white granulated sugar. I always use brown sugar when its flavor fits

Start by sifting your dry ingredients. And this is to ensure you don’t get any lumps in the batter. Sift the flour together with your spices. That’s ginger, cinnamon, ground cloves, baking soda, and salt. Sometimes you’ll see clumps in the spices and baking soda, and you can break them up using a spatula.

Now, in a separate large mixing bowl, we’re gonna combine your wet ingredients. Start with your butter, which should be softened to room temperature, and I like to break it up into chunks just so it blends easier. Next, add packed light brown sugar. And you know you’ve packed it correctly when it keeps the form of the measuring cup.

Artisanal Molasses Selection

The choice of molasses can make or break your gingerbread cookies. opt for a high-quality, dark molasses to infuse a rich, robust flavor into every bite. Our carefully curated list of artisanal molasses brands guarantees a flavor explosion.

Also, add your molasses. Using an electric mixer, beat that together on high speed for about three minutes or until the mixture is light and fluffy. Now, add your room temperature egg, and beat until it’s well incorporated. Finally, add your flour mixture and beat on low speed until everything comes together.

The dough should be very soft and moist. Generously flour your work surface and turn the dough out onto the floured surface. Also, dust the top of the dough with some flour so it doesn’t stick to your hands. Then, divide it into three equal portions. Pat each piece of dough into a disc, then wrap it in plastic wrap.

You’ll need to refrigerate the dough for at least an hour to make it much easier to roll out. And you can even make it ahead up to twenty-four hours. Once the dough has been chilled.

Temperature Control Magic

Baking is a science, and our recipe accounts for it. Maintain strict control over oven temperatures to achieve that elusive balance between a crisp exterior and a soft, chewy interior. Our diagram below illustrates the optimal temperature curve for gingerbread cookie perfection.

preheat your oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit with a rack in the upper and lower third of the oven. Or you can just have a rack in the center if you’re planning to make one cookie sheet at a time.

Keep your work surface and your dough generously dusted with flour. And I like to move the dough around a little bit just to ensure it’s not sticking to my surface. Roll the dough out to one quarter inch thickness. If you keep it a quarter inch thick, this will ensure crisp edges and a soft center for your gingerbread men.

cutting nicely

Now, it’s time to start cutting out your gingerbread people. Cut out as many gingerbread people as you can and re-roll and repurpose your scraps. A four to five inch cookie cutter works great, but you can use smaller or larger cookie cutters. Just keep in mind, smaller cookies will bake a little faster, and larger ones might take a little longer.

It’s so important to keep your work surface generously dusted with flour, to prevent your cookies from sticking to your cutting board. Remember, this is a very soft dough, so you’ll need more flour than you think. Once your cookies are cut out, transfer those to a parchment lined baking sheet.

Make sure they’re at least one inch apart because they will expand a little bit in the oven. When you re-roll your scraps, if you find that your dough is getting too soft and sticky to work with, you can cover it with plastic wrap and put it back in the fridge to firm up. Then, it’ll be much easier to roll.

I like to bake these one sheet at a time, which is about one disc of dough. That way, while they’re baking in the oven, I can roll and cut out the next batch of cookies. Bake the cookies in your fully preheated oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for just 9 to 10 minutes. They’re done when you start seeing the edges turn golden brown.

Decorating Delight

Royal Icing Elegance

Take your gingerbread cookies to the next level with our royal icing recipe. Achieve intricate designs and patterns that rival professional bakers, turning your creations into edible masterpieces.

At this point, they’ll still have a softer center, but if you bake them longer, they will be crisp throughout. Transfer your cookies to a cooling rack and repeat baking the rest of the cookies. While those cookies cool, we’re gonna make an easy icing.

This has just three simple ingredients

• 1. powder sugar
• 2. milk
• 3.vanilla extract

If you wanna thin out your mixture, you can add a little bit more milk and to make it thicker, you can add more powdered sugar. You want it to have a thick ribbon consistency. This icing is perfect for decorating cookies because it hardens when it dries. Right away, transfer your glaze to a piping bag.

This will help keep it from drying out. Snip off the very tip of your piping bag. You want a hole just large enough to pipe decorations over your gingerbread cookies. Now, you can decorate your gingerbread cookies family to your heart’s delight. While the glaze is still moist, I like to add colorful holiday sprinkles, which gives these a lot of festive charm.

Decorating these is so fun, and they just become irresistibly cute. There’s also plenty of icing in this recipe if you wanted to divide it into different bags. That way, everyone can have a bag and decorate their own cookie. Decorating gingerbread cookies is such a fun activity for Christmas, and these are so beautiful on a Christmas cookie platter.

Our cookies are decorated and it is time for the taste test. And the nice thing about this glaze is you can divide it up into separate baggies and have a cookie decorating party. It doesn’t harden very quickly inside of the bag so this’ll stay for a little bit, which is great. And just let everybody decorate their cookies the way they want to.

Conclusion

In conclusion, our quest for the ultimate gingerbread cookie has led to the creation of a recipe that surpasses expectations. Elevate your baking prowess and delight your senses with every bite. Say goodbye to mediocrity and embrace the extraordinary – it’s time to redefine your gingerbread cookie experience.

All right, let’s just chomp. And the beauty of these is if you don’t overbake them, they still have like a soft center, so they’re so enjoyable.

And this glaze hardens pretty quickly, you can touch that and it’s already set. So as soon as they’re set, you can store them or enjoy them. So that’s what we’re gonna do. Here we go. Just gonna go right for her head. Savage. Here we go. (energetic music) These have so much amazing gingerbread flavor and they’re like crisp on the outside and so buttery and just delicious.

They’ve got the perfect color, they bake up beautifully and even, which makes it so easy to decorate these. This is a winning gingerbread cookie recipe, like our go-to, and I think it’s gonna become your go-to too good bye.