David and I whipped up a batch of gingerbread men and women using my favorite gingerbread cookie recipe.
I was surprised at how well David did at cutting the cookies. There isn’t one deformed gingerbread person in the bunch. If you’re making rolled and cut cookies with kids, I think gingerbread is the way to go. The dough is a lot stronger than sugar cookie dough and holds up to the less than gentle touch of little hands.
A couple tips for making gingerbread cookies:
1. Before you measure out the molasses, spray the measuring cup with non-stick cooking spray. The molasses will pour out more easily.
2. Roll the dough out on a floured cotton towel or parchment paper. The dough can be really sticky, and the cut cookies come off the towel or paper more easily than a counter-top.
3. Bake the cookies on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper coated with cooking spray or a Silpat. (I don’t have a Silpat, but I’d love one. Hint, hint Santa.) Again this is to prevent sticking, and also makes for easy clean up.
I am not handy when it come to frosting and pastry bags, so we just decorated our gingerbread people with some star-shaped sweet tarts for buttons.
Here’s the recipe we used from my Fanny Farmer Cookbook: (I love my Fanny Farmer Cookbook and swear by it. My copy is falling apart. Another hint, Santa.) This makes a pretty small batch, so I recommend doubling the recipe.
Ginger Bread Cookie Recipe
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup sugar
3 tbs butter
1 tbs milk
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2-3 tbs of water, if needed
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring molasses to boil. Turn off heat. Stir in sugar and butter. Mix together all the rest of the ingredients then add in molasses mixture and blend well. Add water if needed to make dough hold together. Roll out dough and cut cookies. Bake 5-7 minutes. Cool and decorate.
Wow, I never knew that gingerbread cookies have that many ingredients! I don’t think I’ve ever made them from scratch, so I guess that’s why I didn’t know. I love your idea of 25 merry things to do in December!
Did you consider it strange this recipe did not call for eggs? i dont’ think i’ve ever made a cookie (or any other baked thing, for that matter) without eggs – i have the FF cookbook, 12th edition, c. 1979, and followed this same recipe, but i’m concerned that it doesn’t carry eggs; i haven’t actually used the dough, i’m just making and freezing for christmas projects at this point – did you have any trouble without the eggs?
I didn’t have any trouble with the dough, and it makes really great gingerbread cookies. I double checked the recipe just to make sure, and it doesn’t call for eggs. Eggs generally are a binding, so maybe because of the sticky molasses the eggs aren’t necessary.
Just made these cookies and they turned out fantastic! I did out the dough in the fridge for about 30 minutes. I think cold dough just rolls out better. The cookies kept their shape, I’ll be using this as my go to gingerbread recipe.
I’m glad they turned out well!
i knew as soon as i saw the pictures that this was the recipe i was looking for! when i was in high school i tore a recipe very much like this one out of the boston globe, and it was the best gingerbread ever. as i recall though, the molasses gets heated with the sugar and butter, and then the baking soda gets thrown in (watch out! it bubbles up!) and then mixed with the dry ingredients. the texture is amazing! i can’t wait to make them this weekend!
This is the recipe I have been using for more than 30 years. The dough rolls out well, you don’t need to worry about kids eating it raw, and you can use all sorts of cookie cutters with this dough. They are great for decorating. You can also turn them into Christmas ornaments by cutting a hole near the top (a straw makes the perfect size hole, and don’t make the hole too near the edge, so that there is enough cookie to hold the ribbon). If you’re going to hang them, you probably don’t want to use any milk or butter in the icing; just use confectioner’s sugar, water, and food coloring. If they don’t get eaten, you can pack them away and bring them out next Christmas to hang on the tree for years to come, just like candy canes. Of course, the gingerbread will lose its fragrance after a few years, but the cookies otherwise hold up perfectly. I made some into ornaments for Christmas 1984. They lasted until I threw them away decades later.
This is my favorite gingerbread man recipe! I make them every year, and turn some into ornaments to give as gifts! You just can’t go wrong with this recipe!!