This is my favorite recipe for Soft & Chewy Gingerbread Men Cookies, frosted with an easy royal icing. Made with a perfect blend of spices and molasses for that classic gingerbread flavor. I highly recommend printing out the recipe, so you can make these delicious cookies every year for the holidays.
If you're looking for a gluten free gingerbread cookie recipe, try these Marbled Royal Icing Gingerbread Cookies!
The holidays just wouldn't be the holidays without gingerbread men cookies in my book. Do you agree? It might be December 31st, but there's still time to make these cute little fellas. And just because it's been a crazy year, you could even decorate them with masks for a little bit of 2020 humor.
Ingredients you need for Soft & Chewy Gingerbread Men Cookies
Flour - All purpose flour works best.
Spices - You will need a combination of ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg
Baking Soda
Salt - I used table salt, but you could also use sea salt or Kosher salt.
Butter - Unsalted butter, softened to room temperature.
Brown Sugar - Light brown sugar is what I used.
Molasses - Do not skip this ingredient, it's what makes the cookies soft and chewy.
Egg - One large egg at room temperature.
Powdered Sugar - Also called confectioner's sugar.
Meringue Powder - Egg white powder
Sprinkles - I used these sprinkles that I found on Amazon.
Tips for No Fail Gingerbread Men Cookies
Refrigerate the dough before rolling out to cut out the gingerbread men.
Flour surface before rolling out the dough.
Line your baking sheets with parchment paper to keep the cookies from sticking.
Use a half sheet pan instead of a regular cookie sheet as it has a raised edge to keep the parchment paper from sliding off.
Do not over bake cookies or they will get too crispy.
Let cookies cool completely before decorating.
Pour the royal icing into a pastry bag fitted with a #3 round tip to pipe the details on the gingerbread men. Add sprinkles, if desired.
More Old Fashioned Cookies You’ll Love
Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies
Double Delight Peanut Butter Cookies
These Soft & Chewy Gingerbread Men Cookies are so fun to make. It's a tradition at my house to make them every year at Christmas. You can use your imagination to decorate these little guys any way you like. You could give them ugly sweaters or Santa suits or make them gingerbread women, if you wish.
Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!
Lise
xo
TOOLS FOR SUCCESS
Parchment Paper Rectangles for Sheet Pan (200)
3-inch Gingerbread Man Cookie Cutter
Measuring Cups and Measuring Spoons
Note: The above items are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
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Soft & Chewy Gingerbread Men Cookies
Ingredients
For the cookies
- 3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour plus more for rolling out the dough
- 1 ½ tablespoons ground ginger
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened 1 ½ sticks
- ¾ cup light brown sugar packed
- ½ cup molasses
- 1 large egg room temperature
For the royal icing
- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 4 tablespoons warm water
- 2 tablespoons meringue powder
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
For the decorations
- Sprinkles of your choice
Instructions
For the cookies
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, spices, baking soda and salt until well combined. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat butter, brown sugar and molasses with an electric mixer until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg and beat until combined. With the mixer on low, gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients until dough just comes together. Do not overmix! Divide dough in half. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator until firm, about 1 hour or overnight if you want to make it ahead to save time.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Take dough out of the fridge and let rest about 10 minutes. Roll dough out to ¼" thickness on lightly floured surface. I used about ¼ cup of flour per disc of dough. If dough is too soft, you can work in some of the flour. Cut out gingerbread men with a 4-inch cutter. Remove excess dough, then transfer cookies to parchment lined baking sheets. (I prefer half sheet pans as they have a raised edge.) Roll out scraps and remaining dough in the same way, adding flour to surface when needed to keep dough from sticking.
- Bake cookies for 9-10 minutes. Let cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough. Decorate cooled cookies with royal icing (recipe follows) and sprinkles as desired.
For the royal icing
- Combine all royal icing ingredients. Beat at low speed until moistened. Beat at medium speed 1-3 minutes or until slightly thickened and glossy. Keep covered until ready to use.
Nutrition
All text and images © Lise Ode for Mom Loves Baking. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to this post for the recipe. Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be accurate. This post may contain affiliate links.
Katie says
The kids loved these cookies
Es says
First time making gingerbread man cookies and these were amazing! My family loved the smell of them baking! Highly recommend making these! Saved for all the years to come!
Cmc says
Excellent recipe
Mokihana says
Do I combine the ¾c unsalted butter AND the 1 ½ sticks butter? I don't do a whole lot of baking, so I'm a bit confused. Mahalo ?
Nicole says
Tablespoons or teaspoons for the ginger??
Lise Ode says
1 1/2 TABLESPOONS - because it gives them that great ginger flavor!
Michelle says
I made the mistake of using blackstrap molasses. The flavour of molasses was very strong.
Peter W says
These are fantastic! Soft and very flavorful yet not too spicy. Note: I had a hard time getting the dries to incorporate but they did eventually and the dough was perfect after 3 hours rest in the fridge.
Gabrielle Marquez says
Hi! Have you tried freezing the dough precut into shapes and then baking days later? If so, did you bake it straight from the freezer or did you let them thaw before baking? Thanks so much!
Gabby says
Hello! I was curious for your gingerbread men cookie recipe. If I don't have unsalted butter can I use salted butter instead?
Lise Ode says
Gabby - Yes you can. Salted butter works too!
Katharine Kopsaftis says
Hi
Can you make royal icing without meringue powder?
Kathie says
I made this recipe exactly as written and the cookies were soft and delicious. So glad to have found a this gingerbread man cookie recipe, the dough didn't even spread while baking. Thank you for sharing.