Nothing smells like December faster than a tray of gingerbread christmas cookies coming out of the oven, and this collection of christmas gingerbread cookie recipes gives you twelve very different ways to get there. You will find the soft and chewy batch everyone fights over, classic men built for decorating, a no-chill dough for impatient bakers, crisp gingersnaps, stuffed and sandwiched versions, and even a no-molasses batch for an empty pantry day. Every recipe is complete, with exact amounts, honest chill times and the bake cues that tell you when to pull the tray. Pick one for this weekend’s cookie exchange, and by Christmas Eve you will have a signature gingerbread that people ask for by name.
Quick Idea Summary
- The key takeaway: these 12 christmas gingerbread cookie recipes all grow out of one spiced dough family, then split by texture and technique: soft and chewy, firm for decorating, crisp enough to snap, stuffed, sandwiched and crinkled. Match the recipe to the job and gingerbread stops being a gamble.
- The detail most people miss: chill time and the bake cue decide the texture, not the spice list. Cold dough keeps cut edges sharp, and pulling soft cookies while the centers still look slightly puffy is what keeps them chewy for days instead of drying out by morning.
- What it costs or how long it takes: most batches cost under $5 in ingredients and need 15 to 25 minutes of hands-on work. Every dough here keeps for 3 days in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer, so the best christmas gingerbread cookies are usually the ones you mixed ahead on a quiet evening.
At a Glance
| Recipe | Makes | Bake | Total time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Soft & Chewy Gingerbread Cookies | 24 cookies | 8 to 10 min | 1 hr 30 min |
| 2. Classic Gingerbread Men with Royal Icing | 24 gingerbread men | 8 to 10 min | 3 hrs 30 min |
| 3. No-Chill Gingerbread Cookies | 20 cookies | 9 to 11 min | 35 min |
| 4. No-Spread Gingerbread for Decorating | 18 cookies | 10 to 12 min | 1 hr 15 min |
| 5. White Chocolate Chunk Gingerbread Cookies | 18 large cookies | 11 to 13 min | 1 hr |
| 6. Gingerbread Cheesecake-Stuffed Cookies | 16 stuffed cookies | 10 to 12 min | 1 hr 45 min |
| 7. Crisp Gingersnaps | 36 gingersnaps | 13 to 15 min | 1 hr 15 min |
| 8. Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies | 24 cookies | 10 to 12 min | 2 hrs 30 min |
| 9. Gingerbread Sandwich Cookies | 14 sandwich cookies | 8 to 9 min | 1 hr 30 min |
| 10. Sprinkle-Topped Gingerbread Cookies | 24 cookies | 9 to 11 min | 1 hr 15 min |
| 11. Gingerbread Kiss Cookies | 30 cookies | 8 to 10 min | 1 hr 15 min |
| 12. No-Molasses Gingerbread Cookies | 22 cookies | 9 to 11 min | 1 hr 45 min |
The Recipes: 12 Christmas Gingerbread Cookie Recipes
01
1. Soft & Chewy Gingerbread Cookies
This is the batch that defines soft gingerbread: thick, puffy rounds with crackled sugar tops, bendy centers and deep molasses flavor in every bite. If your gingerbread history is dry, hard cookies, this easy good gingerbread cookie recipe is the reset, because the dough is portioned into balls instead of rolled, so nothing gets overworked. Keep the bake short and these stay chewy for four days in the tin.
Makes: 24 cookies · Prep: 15 minutes · Chill: 1 hour · Bake: 8 to 10 minutes at 350°F (175°C)
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (170 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar, plus 1/4 cup (50 g) for rolling
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) molasses (not blackstrap)
- 2 1/4 cups (280 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
Steps
- Beat the butter and 1 cup of sugar for 2 minutes, until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then the molasses, scraping the bowl once so the color is even.
- Whisk the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in a second bowl. Stir into the wet mixture on low until just combined. The dough will be soft and sticky; that is correct.
- Cover and chill for 1 hour, until firm enough to scoop. Do not skip this, or the cookies bake out thin.
- Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment. Scoop 1 1/2 tablespoon balls, roll each in the extra sugar, and space them 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the tops are puffed and crackled and the edges look set while the centers still look slightly soft and shiny. That soft center is the whole point.
- Cool on the tray for 5 minutes so the centers finish setting, then move to a rack. Stored airtight, they stay chewy for up to 4 days.
Try it: roll half the batch in coarse sugar instead of granulated for a bakery sparkle and a gentle crunch against the soft center.
02
2. Classic Gingerbread Men with Royal Icing
Every christmas gingerbread man recipe lives or dies on two things: a dough firm enough to hold an arm through the bake, and icing that pipes clean lines instead of puddles. This is the classic version, spiced warmly, rolled to a true 1/4 inch, and chilled twice so the men come out with sharp fingers and flat, floodable faces. Decorate them simply with buttons and smiles, or go all in with scarves and bow ties.
Makes: 24 gingerbread men · Prep: 25 minutes · Chill: 2 hours · Bake: 8 to 10 minutes at 350°F (175°C)
Ingredients
- 3 cups (375 g) all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3/4 cup (170 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup (150 g) packed dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) molasses
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- For the royal icing: 3 cups (360 g) powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons meringue powder, 5 to 6 tablespoons warm water, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Steps
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and salt together.
- Beat the butter and brown sugar for 2 minutes until fluffy. Beat in the egg, molasses and vanilla; the mixture may look slightly curdled, which is fine.
- Mix the dry ingredients in on low, in two additions, until a firm dough forms. Divide in half, flatten each half into a disk, wrap and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Roll one disk between two sheets of parchment to an even 1/4 inch thick. Cut 5-inch gingerbread men, lift them onto a parchment lined tray with a thin spatula, and freeze the tray for 10 minutes.
- Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the edges feel firm when pressed lightly and the centers are puffed but matte. Repeat with the second disk, rerolling scraps once.
- Cool completely on a rack, at least 30 minutes. Warm cookies melt icing.
- For the icing, whisk the powdered sugar and meringue powder, then beat in the water and vanilla for 2 to 3 minutes until it holds stiff peaks that soften when you count to ten. Spoon into a piping bag with a small round tip.
- Pipe outlines, eyes, smiles, buttons and wavy cuffs. Let the icing dry uncovered for about 1 hour before stacking or packing.
Try it: flip a gingerbread man upside down and the legs become antlers: you get reindeer cookies from the same cutter, with a red candy nose piped or dotted on last.
03
3. No-Chill Gingerbread Cookies
When the craving hits at 4 pm and the cookie swap is at 7, this is the christmas gingerbread cookies recipe easy enough to save the day. The dough is balanced with a little extra flour and rolled between parchment the moment it is mixed, so there is no waiting and no sticky rolling pin. Honest trade-off: the edges are a touch softer than the twice-chilled classics, but the spice is all there and the shapes hold.
Makes: 20 cookies · Prep: 15 minutes · Chill: none · Bake: 9 to 11 minutes at 350°F (175°C)
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups (310 g) all-purpose flour, plus more for the parchment
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup (100 g) packed brown sugar
- 1/3 cup (80 ml) molasses
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Steps
- Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment.
- Beat the butter and brown sugar for 1 to 2 minutes until smooth. Beat in the molasses, egg yolk and vanilla.
- Whisk the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, cloves and salt, then mix into the wet ingredients until a soft dough just comes together. If it feels sticky, knead in 1 extra tablespoon of flour on the parchment.
- Roll immediately between two sheets of parchment to 1/4 inch thick. Cut stars, trees and men, and lift them onto the trays with a thin spatula, spacing 1 inch apart.
- Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, until the edges are set and the centers look dry and matte rather than wet. For crisper cookies, take them to the full 11 minutes.
- Cool on the tray for 5 minutes, then move to a rack. Decorate once fully cool, or dust with powdered sugar and serve plain the same hour.
Try it: if you are searching for the best easy gingerbread cookie recipe for a first bake with kids, start here. No chill timer means small helpers stay interested from mixing bowl to first bite.
04
4. No-Spread Gingerbread for Decorating
Decorators, this one is engineered for you. There is deliberately no baking soda in this dough, because leavening is what puffs and blurs cut edges in the oven, and a little cornstarch keeps the surface smooth and flat for flooding. The shapes you cut are the shapes you get, which makes this the base for all your christmas gingerbread cookie decorating ideas, from simple white outlines to full flood-and-detail work.
Makes: 18 cookies · Prep: 20 minutes · Chill: 20 minutes, plus 15 minutes freezing · Bake: 10 to 12 minutes at 325°F (165°C)
Ingredients
- 3 cups (375 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, softened but still cool
- 3/4 cup (150 g) packed dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) molasses
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Steps
- Whisk the flour, cornstarch, ginger, cinnamon and salt. There is no baking soda or powder in this recipe, on purpose.
- Beat the butter and brown sugar for just 1 minute, until combined and smooth rather than fluffy. Extra air is the enemy of sharp edges. Beat in the egg, molasses and vanilla.
- Mix in the dry ingredients on low until a stiff dough forms. It should feel firmer than the classic dough in Recipe 2.
- Roll between parchment to 1/4 inch thick and chill the whole slab for 20 minutes. Cut your shapes from the cold slab and place them on a parchment lined tray.
- Freeze the tray of cut shapes for 15 minutes. Heat the oven to 325°F (165°C) while they firm up.
- Bake straight from the freezer for 10 to 12 minutes, until the surfaces are completely matte and the cookies feel firm with no soft give in the center.
- Cool on the tray for 10 minutes, then move to a rack. The tops will stay flat and smooth, ready for royal icing outlines and flooding.
Try it: bake one test cookie before the full tray. If your kitchen runs warm and edges soften at all, drop the rolled slab into the freezer for 10 minutes before cutting instead of the fridge chill.
05
5. White Chocolate Chunk Gingerbread Cookies
Bakery-style means big, thick and a little underbaked in the middle, with puddles of white chocolate in every bite. White chocolate is the quiet hero of christmas ginger cookie recipes, because its creamy sweetness smooths the bite of ginger and molasses without covering it. A scoop of coarse sugar on top gives the crackle you see in coffee shop cases.
Makes: 18 large cookies · Prep: 15 minutes · Chill: 30 minutes · Bake: 11 to 13 minutes at 350°F (175°C)
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (170 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (200 g) packed brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) molasses
- 2 1/4 cups (280 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup (170 g) white chocolate chunks or chips
- 2 tablespoons coarse sugar, for the tops
Steps
- Beat the butter and brown sugar for 2 minutes until light. Beat in the egg, then the molasses.
- Whisk the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Stir into the wet mixture until just combined, then fold in the white chocolate chunks.
- Chill the dough for 30 minutes. Bakery cookies are scooped large, and cold dough keeps them thick instead of wide.
- Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line two sheets with parchment. Scoop generous 3 tablespoon balls, place 6 per sheet with plenty of room, and sprinkle the tops with coarse sugar.
- Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, until the edges are golden and set and the centers are puffed and still look slightly soft. They will settle into thick, chewy middles as they cool.
- Press a few extra white chocolate chunks into the warm tops if you like the bakery look, then cool on the tray for 10 minutes before moving.
Try it: swap half the white chocolate for chopped crystallized ginger if your crowd likes heat. The little spicy pops against the sweet chocolate are what make people ask for this recipe.
06
6. Gingerbread Cheesecake-Stuffed Cookies
A soft gingerbread shell hiding a tangy cheesecake center is the cookie that stops the table conversation. The trick that makes stuffing simple instead of messy is freezing the filling in small mounds first, so each one wraps cleanly in dough and stays put through the bake. Serve these slightly warm, when the center is at its creamiest.
Makes: 16 stuffed cookies · Prep: 25 minutes · Freeze: 30 minutes · Bake: 10 to 12 minutes at 350°F (175°C)
Ingredients
- For the filling: 4 oz (113 g) cream cheese, softened, 1/4 cup (30 g) powdered sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup (150 g) packed brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) molasses
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar, for rolling
Steps
- Make the filling first: beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. Scoop 16 heaped teaspoons onto a parchment lined plate and freeze for at least 30 minutes, until solid to the touch.
- While the filling freezes, beat the butter and brown sugar for 2 minutes. Beat in the egg, then the molasses.
- Whisk the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon and salt, and stir into the wet mixture until a soft dough forms. Chill for 15 to 20 minutes so it wraps without sticking.
- Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment.
- Flatten 2 tablespoons of dough into a disk in your palm, set a frozen filling mound in the center, and wrap the dough up and around it, pinching the seam closed. Roll gently into a ball, then roll in the granulated sugar.
- Bake 8 per sheet for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are set and the tops are puffed and crackled. The centers should still look soft; that is the filling staying creamy.
- Cool on the tray for a full 10 minutes before moving. The filling is molten at first and sets into a creamy center as the cookies rest.
Try it: add 1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest to the filling. The tiny bit of citrus against the spice and molasses tastes like the cheesecake and the cookie were designed together.
07
7. Crisp Gingersnaps
Of all the christmas ginger cookie recipes on this page, this is the one that truly snaps. The dough rolls into small balls, bakes low and slow, and finishes crisping as it cools, so the crackled, deeply spiced rounds stand up to coffee, tea and dunking in a way soft gingerbread never will. Make them ahead with confidence: gingersnaps taste better on day two, when the spices have had a night to marry.
Makes: 36 gingersnaps · Prep: 15 minutes · Chill: 30 minutes · Bake: 13 to 15 minutes at 325°F (165°C)
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (170 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar, plus 1/4 cup (50 g) for rolling
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) molasses
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
Steps
- Beat the butter and 1 cup of sugar for 2 minutes until fluffy. Beat in the egg, then the molasses.
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and salt and stir in until a firm dough forms. Chill for 30 minutes so the balls roll neatly.
- Heat the oven to 325°F (165°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment. The lower temperature is what bakes these through to a snap instead of leaving chewy middles.
- Roll the dough into 1-inch balls, roll each in the extra sugar, and place 2 inches apart. Flatten each ball just slightly with the base of a glass.
- Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, until the tops are deeply crackled and the cookies look dry and feel firm when the tray is nudged. They will not look fully crisp yet.
- Cool completely on the tray, at least 20 minutes. Gingersnaps crisp as they cool, so judge the snap on a cold cookie, never a warm one.
Try it: for the old-fashioned bakery snap with extra fire, add 1/4 teaspoon of finely ground black pepper to the dry ingredients. Nobody can name it, everybody notices it.
08
8. Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies
Crinkles are the drama queens of the cookie tray: dark spiced dough rolled in a thick coat of powdered sugar that splits into snowy cracks as the cookies puff. The double roll, granulated sugar first and powdered second, plus a properly cold dough are what separate sharp white cracks from a grey, melted dusting. This simple christmas ginger cookies recipe delivers the stark black-and-white look with a soft, fudgy middle.
Makes: 24 cookies · Prep: 15 minutes · Chill: 2 hours · Bake: 10 to 12 minutes at 350°F (175°C)
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (170 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (200 g) packed brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) molasses
- 2 1/4 cups (280 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar, for the first roll
- 3/4 cup (90 g) powdered sugar, for the second roll
Steps
- Beat the butter and brown sugar for 2 minutes until fluffy. Beat in the egg, then the molasses.
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and salt and stir in until a soft dough forms.
- Chill for at least 2 hours or overnight. This chill is non-negotiable for crinkles: warm dough drinks the powdered sugar and the cracks vanish.
- Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line two sheets with parchment. Scoop 1 1/2 tablespoon balls of the cold dough.
- Roll each ball first in granulated sugar, then heavily in powdered sugar until it looks like a snowball. Place 2 inches apart without flattening.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the cookies have puffed, the sugar has cracked into bold white seams, and the visible dough in the cracks looks just set.
- Cool on the tray for 5 minutes. The crackle sharpens as they cool, so resist touching one early and smudging the snow.
Try it: if the first tray’s cracks look pale, your powdered sugar layer was too thin. Roll the second tray twice in powdered sugar, pressing it on gently, and the contrast turns magazine bold.
09
9. Gingerbread Sandwich Cookies
Two thin, crisp spiced rounds with a tangy cream cheese filling: this is the cookie exchange entry people photograph before they taste. Rolling the dough thin is the whole game, because slim rounds bake up sturdy enough to hold filling without going hard. The sandwiches actually improve after a few hours, when the filling softens the rounds just slightly into a tender bite.
Makes: 14 sandwich cookies · Prep: 25 minutes · Chill: 10 minutes · Bake: 8 to 9 minutes at 350°F (175°C)
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups (310 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup (150 g) packed brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup (80 ml) molasses
- For the filling: 4 oz (113 g) cream cheese, softened, 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, 1 1/2 cups (180 g) powdered sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, pinch of salt
Steps
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Beat the butter and brown sugar for 2 minutes, then beat in the egg and molasses. Stir the dry ingredients in until a firm dough forms.
- Roll between parchment to 1/8 inch thick, thinner than a cutout cookie, and cut 2-inch rounds. You should get about 28 rounds; reroll scraps once.
- Set the rounds on parchment lined trays and chill for 10 minutes. Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
- Bake for 8 to 9 minutes, until the edges are firm and the centers look matte and set. Thin rounds go from done to dark quickly, so watch the first tray.
- Cool completely on a rack. Warm rounds melt the filling and slide.
- Beat the cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and salt until smooth and spreadable. Spread or pipe about 1 tablespoon onto the flat side of half the rounds and top with the rest, pressing gently.
- Rest the sandwiches for 30 minutes so the filling sets, then dust the tops lightly with powdered sugar before serving or packing.
Try it: stir 1 teaspoon of orange zest into the filling for a brighter finish, or roll the exposed filling edge of each sandwich in finely crushed candy cane for a striped, giftable look. And if you are building a full cookie box around these, the spiced rounds pair well with the buttery classics in our christmas shortbread recipes collection.
10
10. Sprinkle-Topped Gingerbread Cookies
This is the batch designed for small hands: a milder, softer dough, no fussy piping, and a two-ingredient glaze that exists mostly as glue for an unreasonable amount of sprinkles. Because these christmas gingerbread cookies skip the sharp clove and heavy chill of the decorating recipes, kids can mix, scoop and decorate a full tray inside one hour of kitchen time.
Makes: 24 cookies · Prep: 20 minutes · Chill: 30 minutes · Bake: 9 to 11 minutes at 350°F (175°C)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup (150 g) packed brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) molasses
- 2 1/4 cups (280 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- For the glaze and topping: 1 cup (120 g) powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons milk, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/4 cup (40 g) christmas sprinkles
Steps
- Beat the butter and brown sugar for 2 minutes until light. Beat in the egg, then the molasses.
- Whisk the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon and salt and stir in until a soft dough forms. Chill for 30 minutes so small scoops hold their shape.
- Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line two sheets with parchment. Scoop 1 1/2 tablespoon balls and space them 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, until puffed and just set at the edges with soft centers. These are meant to stay tender, so do not wait for them to look crisp.
- Cool on the tray for 10 minutes. The cookies need to be cool, or the glaze slides straight off.
- Whisk the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla into a thick glaze. Dip the top of each cookie, let the excess drip, and shower with sprinkles immediately, while the glaze is wet.
- Let the glazed cookies rest for about 20 minutes until the tops are set enough to stack in a single layer.
Try it: set out three sprinkle colors in separate bowls and let each kid claim a color. You get a rainbow tray, zero arguments, and cookies that look deliberately coordinated.
11
11. Gingerbread Kiss Cookies
Blossom cookies trade the usual peanut butter base for spiced gingerbread, and the swap is a keeper: a soft, sugar rolled gingerbread ball with a milk chocolate kiss pressed into the center while it is warm. They look like they came from a bakery case, but the only real skill involved is unwrapping the chocolates before the first tray comes out of the oven, because the pressing window is short.
Makes: 30 cookies · Prep: 15 minutes · Chill: 30 minutes · Bake: 8 to 10 minutes at 350°F (175°C)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup (150 g) packed brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) molasses
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/3 cup (65 g) granulated sugar, for rolling
- 30 milk chocolate kiss candies, unwrapped
Steps
- Beat the butter and brown sugar for 2 minutes until fluffy. Beat in the egg, then the molasses.
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon and salt and stir in until a soft dough forms. Chill for 30 minutes.
- Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment. Unwrap all the chocolate kisses now, before anything bakes.
- Roll the dough into 1-inch balls, roll each in the granulated sugar, and place 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the cookies are puffed, crackled and just set at the edges.
- The moment the tray comes out, press one chocolate kiss firmly into the center of each cookie. The base will melt slightly and glue itself in place as it cools.
- Leave the cookies untouched on the tray for at least 30 minutes, until the chocolate is matte and firm again. Moving them while the kisses are glossy smears the points.
Try it: use striped or caramel filled kisses for a two-tone tray, and chill the finished cookies for 10 minutes if your kitchen is warm and the chocolate is slow to set.
12
12. No-Molasses Gingerbread Cookies
No molasses in the pantry is no reason to skip gingerbread. This version replaces it with honey and dark brown sugar, which together bring the moisture, the deep color and most of the old-fashioned flavor, while a spoonful of cocoa quietly restores the dark bake-shop look without making the cookies taste like chocolate. The flavor lands a little brighter and milder than classic gingerbread, which many people, especially kids, actually prefer.
Makes: 22 cookies · Prep: 20 minutes · Chill: 1 hour · Bake: 9 to 11 minutes at 350°F (175°C)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup (150 g) packed dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) honey
- 1 large egg
- 2 1/2 cups (310 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cocoa powder (for color)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
Steps
- Beat the butter and dark brown sugar for 2 minutes until light. Beat in the honey, then the egg, mixing until smooth.
- Whisk the flour, cocoa, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Stir into the wet mixture until a soft dough forms. Honey dough is stickier than molasses dough; that is expected.
- Flatten into a disk, wrap and chill for 1 hour, until firm enough to roll or scoop without sticking.
- Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment.
- For cutouts, roll to 1/4 inch and cut shapes. For rounds, scoop 1 1/2 tablespoon balls and place 2 inches apart. Both styles work with this dough.
- Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, until the edges are set and the centers look dry and matte. Honey browns a little faster than molasses, so start checking at 9 minutes.
- Cool on the tray for 5 minutes, then move to a rack. Decorate with a simple powdered sugar glaze once fully cool, or serve plain.
Try it: if you do keep molasses in the house but ran short, split the difference: 2 tablespoons of molasses plus honey for the rest gives you nearly the classic flavor with a full jar’s worth of baking from half a jar.
Pro tip: roll every cutout dough on this page between two sheets of parchment, and freeze the tray of cut shapes for 10 minutes before baking whenever you want edges sharp enough to show a snowflake’s points. Cold dough going into a hot oven is the single biggest difference between bakery gingerbread and blob gingerbread.
How to Bake Christmas Gingerbread Cookie Recipes That Turn Out Every Time
Almost every gingerbread disappointment comes down to the same three things: flour amount, dough temperature and the moment you pull the tray. These rules hold across all twelve christmas gingerbread cookie recipes on this page, from the softest drop cookie to the sharpest cutout.
- Measure the flour honestly: spoon flour into the cup and level it, or weigh it (120 to 125 g per cup). Just 2 extra tablespoons is the most common reason gingerbread bakes up hard and dry, and 2 tablespoons too little is the most common reason it spreads into blobs.
- Match the chill to the cookie: cutouts, crinkles and anything you plan to decorate need cold dough, because cold butter is what holds a shape and a crackle. Drop and scoop cookies need only a short chill, and the no-chill dough in Recipe 3 is balanced to skip it entirely, trading a little edge sharpness for speed.
- Bake to the cue, not just the clock: every recipe above names its doneness cue, so use it. Soft cookies come out with puffy, slightly soft centers, decorating cookies come out matte and firm, and gingersnaps are only judged once fully cool, because they crisp as they rest.
Storing, Freezing and Gifting Your Gingerbread Cookies
Gingerbread is one of the friendliest make-ahead bakes of the season, because the spices deepen as the cookies rest. Bake the crisp and decorating batches first, the soft and stuffed ones last, and the whole list stays stress free.
- On the counter: store baked cookies in an airtight tin at room temperature for up to 1 week, with parchment between layers. Keep soft cookies and crisp gingersnaps in separate tins, because the snaps will steal moisture from the soft ones and lose their snap. A slice of sandwich bread in the tin keeps soft gingerbread chewy for days.
- In the fridge: plain baked gingerbread does not need refrigeration and actually dries out there. The exceptions are the Gingerbread Cheesecake-Stuffed Cookies and the Gingerbread Sandwich Cookies: their cream cheese fillings belong in the fridge for up to 5 days, brought back to room temperature for 20 minutes before serving.
- In the freezer: baked cookies freeze for up to 3 months in a rigid container, and unbaked dough disks, logs and cut shapes freeze for the same time. Thaw baked cookies in the closed container so condensation stays off the surface, and decorate cutouts after thawing for the cleanest icing lines.
Questions readers ask
Why are gingerbread cookies associated with christmas?
Gingerbread became a Christmas food because its spices were once expensive celebration ingredients, saved for the biggest feast of the year. Spiced gingerbread was sold at European winter fairs for centuries, German bakers turned it into lebkuchen for the holidays, and decorated gingerbread figures, popularized in England in the 1600s, made it the cookie of the season. The tradition stuck because gingerbread keeps well, perfumes the whole house, and holds the shapes that make decorating fun.
What is the best easy gingerbread cookie recipe for beginners?
The No-Chill Gingerbread Cookies in Recipe 3 are the best starting point, because the dough mixes, rolls and bakes in about 35 minutes with no waiting and no special equipment. If you prefer a scoop-and-bake cookie instead of cutouts, start with the Soft & Chewy Gingerbread Cookies in Recipe 1. Both forgive small measuring mistakes, which is exactly what a first batch needs.
Should gingerbread cookies be refrigerated?
The dough should, but the baked cookies usually should not. Chill cutout and slice doughs before baking so the shapes hold, then store plain baked gingerbread in an airtight tin at room temperature, where it stays good for up to a week and keeps a better texture than it does in the fridge. Only the cream cheese filled cookies on this page, the stuffed and sandwich recipes, need the fridge, for up to 5 days.
Why did my gingerbread cookies spread in the oven?
They spread because the butter was too warm when the tray went in, the dough skipped its chill, or the flour was under-measured. Greasy or melted butter, a hot kitchen and scooping flour straight from the bag with the measuring cup (which packs in too little here and too much there) are the three usual causes. Chill shaped dough until firm, roll cutouts between parchment, and weigh or spoon and level your flour.
How long do gingerbread cookies stay fresh?
Soft gingerbread stays chewy for about 4 days and perfectly good for up to 1 week in an airtight tin, while crisp gingersnaps and plain cutouts keep their texture for a full week or more. Decorated cookies last longest of all once the royal icing dries hard. For anything beyond a week, freeze baked cookies for up to 3 months rather than letting the tin slowly go stale.
What can I use instead of molasses in gingerbread cookies?
Honey plus dark brown sugar is the best swap, and it is the combination used in the No-Molasses Gingerbread Cookies in Recipe 12. Use the same total amount of honey as the molasses called for, choose dark brown sugar for color and depth, and expect a slightly brighter, milder cookie. Dark corn syrup and maple syrup also work in a pinch, though maple makes a softer, paler bake.
How thick should I roll gingerbread cookie dough?
Roll to 1/4 inch for classic cutouts and decorating cookies, which gives you edges that hold and centers that stay tender. Go thinner, about 1/8 inch, for sandwich rounds and any cookie you want genuinely crisp, and thicker, closer to 3/8 inch, for soft bakery-style rounds. Whatever thickness you choose, roll evenly, because a dough that varies from edge to center bakes unevenly too.
Can I freeze gingerbread cookie dough?
Yes, gingerbread dough freezes for up to 3 months and is one of the best doughs to make ahead. Freeze it as wrapped disks for cutouts, as logs for slice-and-bake styles, or as pre-scooped balls for drop cookies. Thaw disks overnight in the fridge before rolling, slice logs straight from frozen with 1 to 2 extra minutes of bake time, and bake scooped balls from frozen the same way.
People Also Ask
Are gingerbread cookies only for christmas?
No, gingerbread is baked all year, from gingersnaps in summer to gingerbread cake in autumn. The decorated men, houses and spiced cutouts are the Christmas-specific branch of the family, which is why the flavor feels so tied to December. Nothing stops you baking the soft and chewy batch in July, and plenty of people do.
Do you have to chill gingerbread cookie dough?
Not always, but chilling is what gives cutout cookies their sharp edges and crinkle cookies their deep cracks. A dough designed to skip the chill, like Recipe 3 on this page, balances the flour and fat so it rolls right away, accepting slightly softer edges in exchange for speed. For any dough you plan to decorate seriously, the chill is worth it.
Can you make gingerbread cookies without a mixer?
Yes, every dough on this page can be mixed by hand with a wooden spoon and a sturdy bowl. Use butter that is properly soft, cream it with the sugar for a full 2 to 3 minutes of stirring, and add the flour in two additions so the dough comes together without a fight. The no-spread decorating dough is the stiffest of the twelve and takes the most elbow grease.
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Hey! I'm Sanaullah — visual curator and content creator. I search, curate, and test the best aesthetic ideas across Pinterest so you can easily transform your living space, style daily outfits, and try simple creative DIYs without the overwhelm.
