Soft Gingerbread Cookies
User Reviews
4.5
-
Prep Time
1 hr 25 mins
-
Cook Time
50 mins
-
Total Time
2 hrs 15 mins
-
Servings
18
-
Course
Dessert
Soft Gingerbread Cookies
Description
Soft Gingerbread Cookies are prepared by creaming softened butter and brown sugar before incorporating molasses and egg, giving the dough a deep, rich sweetness. The dry ingredients include a mix of ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, baking soda, and salt which bring familiar gingerbread spices into the mix. The dough requires chilling to improve handling and to help maintain shape during baking. Rolled to 1/4-inch thickness and cut into cookie shapes, they bake in a moderate oven until their edges just begin to darken, ensuring a soft interior with a subtle crisp on the edges.
The use of royal icing as a topping offers a versatile way to decorate these cookies, enhancing their traditional appearance and adding a sweet contrast to their spice. This icing is made from meringue powder, powdered sugar, water, and vanilla extract, providing a smooth texture suitable for piping or spreading. The dough can be prepared ahead of time and frozen, allowing for convenient baking when desired.
These soft gingerbread cookies are suitable for holiday gatherings or anytime a comforting spiced cookie is desired. Their softness differentiates them from crisper ginger biscuits, making them enjoyable with a cup of tea or as a festive treat. Freezing the dough and thawing it overnight before baking helps maintain cookie quality and eases preparation for special occasions.
Ingredients
Cookies
- 3/4 c butter softened
- 1 c light brown sugar packed
- 1 egg
- 3/4 c molasses
- 4 c all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 3 tsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp cloves ground
- ½ tsp allspice
- 1/4 tsp salt
Royal Icing
- 1 tbsp meringue powder
- 1 ½ c powdered sugar
- 1 ½ tbsp water
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- In the bowl of your mixer add butter and sugar. Cream together until fluffy.
- Add molasses and egg to the butter mixture and continue mixing until molasses is fully incorporated.
- In a small bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl 1 cup at a time until the dough comes together and the flour is fully mixed in.
- Remove dough from the mixer, cut in half, and pat into two disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
- Right before dough has finished chilling preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- After an hour remove dough from the refrigerator and roll out to ¼” thickness.
- Using your cookies cutters cut out your cookies. Place each cut out on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Press dough scraps back together and roll out again until all of the dough is used.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes. Or until the edges of your cookies just start to darken.
- Let cookies cool on a cooling rack.
- While cookies cool make the royal icing by mixing all of the ingredients in a bowl and whisking until the icing is stiff. You can add water one tablespoon at a time (it won’t take much!) if you would like to thin the icing down for pouring rather than piping.
- Decorate cookies, let icing firm up and enjoy!
Notes
- Prepare dough ahead by wrapping in plastic and freezing; thaw in refrigerator overnight before rolling and baking.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
4.5
You'll Also Love
