Published 12/6/2023 • Updated 11/5/2024 This soft gingerbread cookies recipe was inspired by our delicious chewy ginger cookies. They’re made with similar ingredients but are rolled out and cut into cute little shapes so that you can frost them with icing. We love making a double batch of these cookies because they freeze wonderfully and are so fun to decorate and giveaway as a delicious holiday gift.
What You Need for Soft Gingerbread Cookies
All-purpose flour Salt Baking soda Spices: ground cloves, ground cinnamon, ground ginger Unsalted butter Light brown sugar Large egg Molasses
Also make sure that you have a couple of baking sheets, parchment paper, a stand mixer, and your favorite cookie cutters on hand.
Can I substitute the butter for coconut oil?
No! We do not recommend using coconut oil instead of butter in these cookies. The coconut oil is too soft and does not help hold the shape of the gingerbread cookies. Cold butter is a must!
Can I use a different flour?
Whole wheat flour: We tested this recipe with part whole wheat flour and the ratio for this is 1.5 cups all-purpose to 1/2 cup whole wheat flour. White whole wheat flour: The original recipe when this was first published used part white whole wheat flour, so if you want to go that route, you can use 1 cup white whole wheat and 1 cup all-purpose flour.
What if I don’t have those spices?
If you are missing ginger, cloves, or cinnamon, check to see if you have any spice mixes. Try a chai spice mix, a gingerbread spice mix, or anything with similar spices!
How to Prevent Your Cookies from Spreading Too Much
You’ll notice in the recipe that not only do you refrigerate the dough for 4 hours, but you also freeze the cut outs before baking. Why? The colder the dough, the less likely that the cookie dough will expand in the freezer. When testing this recipe we found that the cookies spread less when there was refrigeration time and freezer time, so make sure not to skip either part! JUST TRUST US!
How to Decorate Gingerbread Cookies
While the cookies are baking, make the gingerbread cookie icing. You want the icing to be thick enough to hold its shape which is why we suggest adding the milk by the tablespoon instead of all at once. If you’re planning to pipe frosting onto the cookies as we did, you’ll want to make sure that when you spoon the frosting and let it drip, it holds shape for a few seconds before melting back into the frosting. What size Wilton tip should I use? We used a Wilton 2 Round Tip for piping the frosting onto the cookies.
Freezer Directions
These soft gingerbread cookies are a wonderful cookie to freeze. You actually have 2 options when it comes to freezing them.
Christmas Cookies Recipes
Healthy Christmas Cookies Shortbread Almond Flour Cookies Soft Ginger Cookies White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
