Easy Soft Gingerbread Cookies | The Best Recipe
on Nov 10, 2017, Updated Dec 19, 2024
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These Soft Gingerbread Cookies cookies are the most amazingly soft, sweet, and lightly spiced cookies. It’s the perfect gingerbread man cookie for shaping and decorating, and the dough is make-ahead friendly so you can spread out the holiday cookie baking!
You need this recipe and you need it stat! HUNDREDS of people have made and loved these cookies, just check out the comments below! This recipe comes from my chef sister-in-law, Beth, who went to culinary school with an emphasis on baking! Seriously, she’s amazing. And now she’s my neighbor, how lucky is that?
Everyone asks for this recipe after they try it – even if they weren’t gingerbread cookie fans before. I’ve made this recipe at least 100 times and know that it’s perfect. Let me show you how to make the best gingerbread cookies in town. These are the stuff family traditions and memories are made of.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love These Soft Gingerbread Cookies
- Blue Ribbon: I made these cookies for the county fair and they received a blue ribbon! I feel like stating that these are Blue Ribbon Cookies makes them pretty legit. Blue ribbon status is a big deal in my neck of the woods.🥳
- Holiday Spice: The combination of ginger, cinnamon, and cloves creates a warm, aromatic profile that defines the holiday season, making each bite a special experience.
- Make Ahead: The dough can be refrigerated for several days or frozen, allowing you to prepare in advance and bake fresh cookies whenever needed.
- Cut & Decorate: This recipe holds its shape well, making it perfect for cutting into festive shapes and decorating with icing, sprinkles, or other creative toppings. I love to decorate them with royal icing!
🎄 We bake and decorate a LOT of gingerbread cookies during the holiday season — for events, just to eat, and even to give as gifts!
Recipe Ingredients
- Butter – Use either salted or unsalted, but be sure to use the real stuff here, no margarine please! It gives it such a nice, chewy, soft texture and a richer flavor. Margarine just doesn’t cut it.
- White sugar – This helps the cookies to hold their shape and have a nice texture. It also gives the sweetness to balance the spice of warming ginger, cinnamon, and cloves!
- Egg
- Molasses – Classic for gingerbread cookies’ color and deep flavor. If you prefer no molasses, try my gingerbread cookies without molasses.
- White vinegar – Helps the cookies to rise and stay soft, and I promise it doesn’t give any vinegar flavor. It can be subbed with apple cider vinegar.
- Flour – All-purpose white flour works the best for this recipe because it will rise well and creates a nice, soft texture. If you are looking to be gluten-free, try my gluten-free gingerbread cookies.
- Spices – Ginger, cinnamon, and cloves
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities
How to Make Gingerbread Cookies
Step 1. Beat the butter and sugar until fluffy, then add the egg, molasses, and vinegar, mixing well.
Step 2. Add the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves, and mix until the dough forms.
Step 3. Divide the dough into two pieces, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30-90 minutes.
Step 4. Roll out dough to desired thickness, cut into shapes, place on a lined baking sheet, and bake at 350°F for 9-11 minutes. Cool before decorating.
Recipe FAQs
Yes! The cookies will last 2-3 day ahead of time stored in an air-tight container at room temperature. These are a great make-ahead cookie for parties!
1. Royal icing to add pretty patterns, clothing and face details, and anything else your creativity sparks!
2. Candies for buttons, noses, eyes, or other festive designs.
3. Sprinkling sugars over top the icing to add some sparkle.
4. Rubber stamps for some printed designs.
5. Candy melts to top cookies with a chocolatey topping.
6. Sprinkles because sprinkles are always good on any cookie!
I wrote a huge post all about decorating these cookies if you want more specifics and details. You can find 6 Simple Ways to Decorate Gingerbread Cookies right here.
Use light, dark, or “fancy” molasses in this recipe. Do not use blackstrap or cooking molasses as your cookies will be bitter if you use the latter two. Here’s a post on how to make gingerbread without molasses.
You can make the dough ahead and keep it in the fridge for 2-3 days before baking it.
Expert Tips
- Crispy vs Soft: If you like your gingerbread on the crispy side, roll the dough to 1/4-inch thick and bake for 11-12 minutes. If you like it nice and soft (though still very sturdy), roll the dough 1/2-inch thick and bake for 10 minutes. If you play around with the thickness of the dough and the baking time, you’ll discover a cookie that meets your liking. I really like these thick and soft.
- Real Butter: Use real butter because it really makes the softest, richest tasting cookie. Please don’t substitute margarine in this recipe!
- Fridge Time: Don’t forget the resting time in the fridge. The dough should be tacky but not gloopy like glue when you put it in the fridge. When it comes back out of the fridge, it should be very firm. Resting time and chilling the dough let’s it set up so that it’s easier to work with and holds its shape better.
- Not For Houses: This recipe is not for making gingerbread houses. The dough is too soft. I love making gingerbread houses but they need a sturdy hard cookie that is good for construction.
Tools For Making Gingerbread Cookies
For classic gingerbread man cookies, I created a template with different sizes that I can print and trace.
If you are in need of a cookie cutter set, I’ve had this one for almost 11 years and we use it all the time.
How to Serve and Store Soft Gingerbread Cookies
Pair these gingerbread cookies with a glass of milk, hot chocolate, or spiced tea for a cozy treat.
For holiday gatherings or gift giving, arrange decorated gingerbread cookies on a platter along with Christmas magic cookie bars, Christmas peanut butter cookies, and Grandma Lucy’s Christmas sugar cookies.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week or keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
The baked cookies freeze very well. Just bake and cool but do not add icing. Store in a freezer bag or airtight container for up to 6 weeks.
You can pull the cookies out as needed when guests show up, or thaw the whole batch for decorating all at once. I froze bags and bags of these to prep for my neighbor goodie plates, and loved having the baking done ahead of time.
More Cookie Recipes to Consider
Simple Gingerbread Recipes
The Perfect Icing for Gingerbread Cookies
Cut Out Cookies
Sugar Cookie Icing Recipe for Perfect Holiday Decorating
Simple Gingerbread Recipes
Easy Gingerbread Sandwich Cookies
From Scratch Recipes
Free Printable Gingerbread Man Cookie Templates for Holiday Baking
Did you make this recipe? Leave a ⭐️ review and share it on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest!
Easy Soft Gingerbread Cookies
Equipment
- large bowl I love these because they have lids and double as serving bowls.
- baking sheet These are a go-to that every kitchen should have.
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, 2 sticks, at room temperature (salted or unsalted) (226 grams)
- 1 cup granulated white sugar, 220 grams
- 1 egg
- 1 cup light or dark molasses, do not use blackstrap or cooking molasses (325 grams)
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar, 22 grams
- 5 cups all-purpose flour, 625 grams
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda, 9 grams
- ½ teaspoon salt, 3 grams
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger, 3 grams
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 2 grams
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves, 3 grams
Instructions
- Add the butter and sugar to a large bowl (or the bowl of your stand mixer) and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy, about three minutes, using a hand mixer or the paddle attachment on your stand mixer. Scrape down the sides as few times as needed.
- Add the egg, molasses, and vinegar. Beat to combine well. The mixture will look a bit curdled.
- Add the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves to the bowl and mix to combine well. The dough should come together when you press it in your hands and shouldn’t be crumbly. If anything it’ll still be a little tacky to the touch. That’s ok.
- Divide the dough into two even pieces, wrap each piece of dough in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 to 90 minutes. Don’t skip this step, it helps the cookies to keep their shape.
- When the dough is done chilling, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Working in sections, roll the dough to 1/2 inch thick on a floured surface; cut into desired shapes.
- Place shapes on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a baking mat. Gather and reroll “scraps” of dough as needed, using all of the dough.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 9-11 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the pan for 5 minutes, and then move to a cooling rack.
- Repeat with remaining dough.
- Leave plain or decorate (here are 6 Simple Ways to Decorate Gingerbread Cookies if you are looking for some inspo).
Video
Notes
- If your dough is too tacky you can add additional flour as needed, it will be a little sticky (and firms up when you refrigerate it) but it shouldn’t be overly wet. You may need to add up to a 1/2 cup more flour as needed so the dough is workable. I’m cooking from an arid kitchen.
- You can substitute the white vinegar with apple cider vinegar without any issues.
- Use light, dark, or “fancy” molasses in this recipe. Do not use blackstrap or cooking molasses as your cookies will be bitter if you use the latter two. Here’s a post on how to make gingerbread without molasses.
- If you refrigerate your cookies longer than the recommend time, let them rest at room temperature for about 15 minutes before rolling them out so help the dough not be too stiff.
Has anyone tried this recipe with gluten free flour? I tried scrolling through comments, but after at least the 6th or 7th page no one had mentioned it. Would love to know if they turned out just as delicious. Thank you!
It will totally work! Use a 1:1 baking flour for best results!
I love this recipe! I make it every year and always get compliments on the flavor and chewiness. My only issue is getting “36 large” cookies out of the recipe. I make them 3/8” (smaller than the recommended thickness of 1/2”) and use a small cookie cutter yet I only get 30.
These are delicious cookies. I always get so many cookies, that my arms get tired and I end up refrigerating half the dough to make later. Maybe you are just rolling them thicker, or it is a large cookie cutter you are using. Someone else said their cookies were too sticky. Maybe adding 1/2 a cup or 1 cup more of flour would help make much more. Happy Baking.
This recipe is delicious! My husband loves the store bought gingerbread cookies, but he wants them year round. We also could not find any that were dye free, so I went on the hunt for a soft gingerbread recipe. This one is exactly what we were searching for!
I made this recipe using a measure-for-measure sugar substitute to make them sugar-free, and they turned out absolutely perfect every time. The spices and molasses really helped mask the aftertaste of the sugar substitute so you really couldn’t tell it was in there! This is definitely my go-to recipe for soft gingerbread cookies.
Great tip! Thank you!
Working on these now. I’ve made lots of gingerbread cookies but this is my first time with this recipe. The taste is spot on! I did struggle with the flour, though. The 5 cups was not enough as the dough was really sticky still, even after refrigeration. I just kept kneading more flour in until I could get some sort of shape to not stick (floured surface, tried parchment, etc.). So I guess go with your gut and the flour! My house smells divine, though!
These were perfect! Easy to follow, chewy and so flavourful. My kids loved making them and decorating too.
I’m not a gingerbread fan and prefer sugar cookies for Christmas. My grandkids wanted to make gingerbread cookies so we made these today. I can’t stop eating them! This is an excellent recipe and made me a convert!
Hi! Love the recipe, tastes great. Any tips to prevent spreading? I follow the i instructions exactly and the cookies end up like twice the size they started, haha! I can’t get them to keep their shape.
It sounds like you just measure the flour lighter than I do! I’d just add 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup more flour and they to roll them out while the dough is still chilled.
I made these cookies last week and they were perfect! I followed the recipe exactly as written. The cookie were soft and chewy but firm enough but held together nicely while decorating. I hosted a cookie frosting party and these were eaten before the sugar cookies!
Delicious and melt in your mouth!!