Soft Glazed Gingerbread Cookies
User Reviews
3.8
Soft Glazed Gingerbread Cookies
Description
Soft Glazed Gingerbread Cookies use a combination of unsalted butter, dark brown sugar, and molasses to create a rich, moist base with classic gingerbread spices including ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and a hint of black pepper for complexity. Egg yolk enriches the dough, which comes together into a pliable texture suitable for rolling thin.
Chilling cookie stamps helps achieve clear impressions on the rolled dough that are cut into cookies using slightly larger round cutters. The cookies bake at 375°F, developing soft interiors with slight crisping on edges. After cooling slightly, a glaze made of confectioners' sugar, melted butter, vanilla, and warm water is brushed over to impart a shiny, sweet coating.
These cookies keep well for up to a week at room temperature, making them convenient for holiday baking or gifting. The spiced dough and gentle glaze create a balance of warmth and sweetness suited to festive occasions.
Flouring the work surface and cookie stamps helps prevent sticking. If dough feels too soft, brief refrigeration can aid handling. Using molasses other than blackstrap avoids bitterness and preserves the traditional gingerbread flavor.
Ingredients
wet ingredients
- 6 Tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1/3 cup dark brown sugar plus, packed
- 1/3 cup molasses do not use blackstrap, which is bitter
- 1 large egg yolk
dry ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour 2 tbsp
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder Dutch-processed
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp cloves ground
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper freshly ground
glaze
- 1 cup confectioner's sugar sifted
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter melted
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp warm water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F and put your cookie stamps in the freezer to chill.
- Cream together the butter, sugar, and molasses in a stand mixer or with electric beaters. Beat in the egg yolk.
- Sift together the dry ingredients. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, beating on low until the dough comes together.
- Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead it until all the floury crumbles are incorporated. Flatten the dough into a disk and then roll out to about 1/4 inch thickness. I did not have to chill my dough before rolling, but if yours is very soft, you may want to.
- Press the cookie stamps firmly into the dough, and then use a round cookie cutter slightly larger or slightly smaller than the stamp itself to cut out the cookies. Note: your cookie stamp shouldn't stick, but if yours does, your dough may have needed a bit more flour. Try flouring the cookie stamp before stamping, or put the cookie stamp in the fridge to chill it first.
- Transfer the cookies to a lined baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes. You don't want to over bake these cookies, so do a test cookie or two to figure out the best timing for your oven. The cookies will be soft when you remove them from the oven, but will firm up as they cool.
- Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes on the pan before carefully transferring to a rack to cool completely.
- While the cookies are baking whisk the glaze ingredients together until they become a smooth thin glaze. Add more water if the glaze is too thick, it should have the consistency of maple syrup or a thin honey.
- Brush the cooled cookies with the glaze. You want the glaze to be thick enough to settle into the design for a beautiful emphasis. It will become more translucent as it dries.
- Let the glaze set up fully before serving or storing.
Notes
- These gingerbread cookies keep fresh at room temperature for up to one week.
- Feel free to double the recipe to make a larger batch if desired.
- Blackstrap molasses is not recommended due to its bitter taste; use regular molasses for best flavor.
- Chilling the cookie stamps before use helps produce clearer impressions on the dough.
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition Facts
Serving: 14cookies
Amount Per Serving
Calories 147 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Serving | 1cookie | |
| Calories | 147kcal | 7% |
| Carbohydrates | 21g | 7% |
| Protein | 2g | 4% |
| Fat | 6g | 9% |
| Saturated Fat | 4g | 20% |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | 0.3g | 2% |
| Monounsaturated Fat | 2g | 10% |
| Trans Fat | 0.2g | 10% |
| Cholesterol | 29mg | 10% |
| Sodium | 83mg | 3% |
| Potassium | 28mg | 1% |
| Fiber | 1g | 4% |
| Sugar | 8g | 16% |
| Vitamin A | 194IU | 4% |
| Vitamin C | 0.004mg | 0% |
| Calcium | 7mg | 1% |
| Iron | 1mg | 6% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
3.8
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