A go-to Soft Gingerbread Cookies

This Soft Gingerbread Cookie Recipe is tailor-made for Christmas cut-out cookies! Perfect for all holiday gatherings and for gift-giving. And they make a fun decorating activity for kids!

We have a confession to make: we make these chewy gingerbread cookies every single year. Every single year, We take photographs of them and share them on social media. And every single year, We neglect to post them on this blog.

Until now!

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🌟 What makes these cookies so special?

At long last, We am finally posting the Soft Gingerbread Cookie Recipe. The kids and We have made a LOT of gingerbread cookies over the years. A. LOT. Here's why this recipe has won out over all the other ones:

They're super EASY to make.
They're great to make and decorate with kids.
These cookies are deliciously soft and chewy.
This recipe makes about 48 cookies, so it's great for holiday parties and to give the cookies as gifts.
All the ingredients are simple to find; you may have them in your pantry already.

🧈 Ingredient notes

Brown sugar – This recipe has brown sugar, in addition to granulated white sugar, which makes the cookies soft and chewy.
Sugar
All-purpose flour
Baking powder
Baking soda
Salt
Ground cinnamon – to give it a warm, holiday flavor.
Ground cloves – another traditional Christmastime ingredient.
Ground ginger – simply a couple of teaspoons to infuse these cookies with tasty ginger flavor
Ground nutmeg
Unsalted butter – softened to room temperature
Molasses
Egg

✅ Step-by-step instructions

Whisk together the dry ingredients – flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices – until well blended.
In a stand mixer, combine softened butter and both sugars until light and fluffy, then add the molasses and egg and mix until combined.
Incorporate the dry ingredients, then form the dough into a disc. Wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for at least one hour.
Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surface until it is approximately 1/4″ thick all around.
Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes.
Bake at 350°F for 8-10 minutes. Cool completely before icing.

👩🏻‍🍳 Recipe FAQs

How many cookies does this soft gingerbread cookie recipe make?

It makes three to four dozen cookies, depending on the size of your cookie cutters. Perfect for bringing to any holiday party!

What are the best shapes to use?

We've found that these shapes are excellent to decorate: trees, gingerbread, people, snowflakes, stockings.

How long will these soft gingerbread cookies stay fresh?

They will stay fresh at room temperature if stored in an airtight container for 3-5 days. You can refrigerate these for about a week, and you can freeze undecorated cookies for up to two months.

⏲ Tools and Equipment

Here's what you'll need to make these soft gingerbread cookies with icing:

Parchment paper
Stand mixer
Holiday cookie cutter set

🍽 Serving ideas

These gingerbread cookies are perfect for any holiday table and cookie exchange!

If you're serving them as a Christmas dessert, try serving Slow Cooker Cranberry Meatballs and a Christmas Tree Pull-Apart Bread as appetizers. Pork Tenderloin with Blackberry Bacon Sauce is a tasty and unexpected main course.

For side dishes? Make Pressure-cooker Garlic Mashed Potatoes or Garlic Parmesan Knots.

More holiday cookie recipes

Did you make this recipe? Don't forget to leave a 5-Star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card, and if you truly loved it, please leave a comment further down on the page. Thank you!

Chewy Gingerbread Cookies

By Marlynn Schotland Prep Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 10 mins Chill time: 1 hr Total Time: 1 hr 25 mins Servings: 48 cookies These chewy gingerbread cookies are tasty all year round but are great for holidays!

Ingredients

4½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1½ tsp ground cinnamon
1½ tsp ground cloves
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup sugar
1 cup molasses
1 egg, at room temperature
royal icing

Instructions

Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together dry ingredients – flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices – until well blended. Set aside.
In a stand mixer, cream together softened butter and both sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
Add the molasses and egg and mix until combined.
Add dry ingredients and mix until simply incorporated. Form dough into a disc and wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least one hour.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
After chilling for an hour, remove chilled dough from the refrigerator and roll out onto a lightly floured surface. Continue rolling out until dough is approximately ¼" thick all around.
Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes. Place cookies about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes.
Cool for about 10 minutes on the baking sheets before transferring to cooking racks and cooling completely before icing with royal icing (see our recipe for royal icing).

Notes

Makes approximately 48 cookies, depending on the size of your cookie cutters. Storage: store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week. Freeze: you can freeze undecorated gingerbread cookies. Place in single layers divided by parchment paper in a freezer-safe airtight container in the freezer for up to two months. Baking notes:

As with all cookie recipes, We recommend rotating pans halfway through baking for even baking.
If your cookies start to get crunchy, store them in an airtight container at room temperature, and they should soften.

Nutrition

Calories: 116 kcal, Carbohydrates: 19 g, Protein: 1 g, Fat: 4 g, Saturated Fat: 2 g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2 g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1 g, Trans Fat: 0.2 g, Cholesterol: 14 mg, Sodium: 79 mg, Potassium: 123 mg, Fiber: 0.4 g, Sugar: 10 g, Vitamin A: 123 IU, Vitamin C: 0.004 mg, Calcium: 28 mg, Iron: 1 mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.