The Perfect Soft Gingerbread Cookies

If you need an easy recipe for chewy and soft gingerbread cookies from scratch, you’ve come to the right place! Tastes just like the traditional recipe!

It wouldn’t surprise me if these gingerbread men turn into the real stars of your Christmas celebration! This recipe makes the perfect cookies every time, nicely spiced with warm ginger, cinnamon, molasses and more. So why not make this timeless classic for the holiday season?

I used to make my gingerbread the way my German grandmother taught me – labor-intense, with a difficult-to-handle dough and a high rate of failure.

But once I had kids of my own who really just want to stick some eyes on their gingerbread man and don’t care that much about long-winded heritage recipes yet, I’ve switched to this classic American recipe. And now I like it even more than my old one!

Note: I updated this recipe on 11/12/2019 to make it easier and better.

Ingredients you’ll need

Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities!

Ingredient notes

• Butter – I use real butter here, but you can choose margarine instead. Please go for stick margarine and not a spread intended for using on bread.
• Light brown sugar – my favorite sugar for gingerbread cookies. If you don’t have this, you can also use white sugar and an extra tablespoon of molasses, though the taste will not be the same.
• Molasses – I like to use dark molasses, but NOT blackstrap for these cookies. Blackstrap molasses are too bitter and better for savory cooking.
• Apple cider vinegar – this helps give the dough a better texture. It doesn’t make the dough taste of vinegar. If you’re doubtful, just leave it out. White wine vinegar is an acceptable substitute.
• Flour – I always make this recipe with all-purpose flour. I know some readers have tried it with cup-for-cup gluten free flour and have been successful, but I have never personally tried it.
• Gingerbread spice mix – either use a store-bought mix, make your own with my gingerbread spice mix recipe, or use the individual spices given in the recipe card at the bottom of this post!

How to make gingerbread cookies

You start by creaming the butter and sugar (1) together until fully combined (2) – this is a lot easier if you have very soft butter. Forgot to pull it out of the fridge? No worries, just rinse a bowl under hot water, then invert it and place it over the butter for a few minutes.

Then you add the molasses, vanilla and egg (3) and mix them in just until smooth (4). Do not mix for longer than needed to fully combine the ingredients, or your cookies may turn out tough!

Then add the dry ingredients to a separate bowl (5) and mix until well combined (6).

Add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the creamed sugar mixture (7). Stir to combine into a soft cookie dough (8) – do not overmix!

At this point, the dough will feel very soft – you’ll need to refrigerate it so you can roll it and cut out cookies later.

Once it’s ready, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface (9) – or between two sheets of lightly floured baking parchment if your counters tend to get very messy (especially non-finished surfaces such as old wood counters or uneven stone).

Make sure you don’t roll the dough thinner than ¼ inch thickness, or your gingerbread won’t turn out as soft as it should.

Cut out cookies (10), place them spaced out on a lined cookie sheet (11).

Then, just bake the cookies one tray at a time, let them cool and go wild with the decorations ?

Baking tips

If adding the dry ingredients is too much work for your mixer, please use a rubber spatula to fold in the flour by hand!! I’ve broken a cheaper mixer with cookie dough before.

Also, I always stir by hand a little first before switching back to the mixer once I’ve added the dry ingredients, else you’ll end up with a huge cloud of flour dust all over yourself and your kitchen.

Don’t overmix the dough: Overmixing the egg can yield dough and dry cookies, so go easy – only mix until everything is incorporated.

The same goes for the flour, too: If you mix too much, the gluten will start developing, yielding tough cookies again. Only mix until no more streaks of dry flour are visible.

Bake the same sizes of cookies together: If you make different sized cookies (for example some gingerbread men, some candy canes and some hearts) and they’re all different sizes, bake them in separate batches. Otherwise some cookies will be overbaked and tough while others will stay too soft.

Cookie yield: This recipe makes about 45-50 mid-sized cookies. It makes about 16 large gingerbread men.

The recipe can be cut in half if you only want a small batch of cookies, but please note that there’s one egg in the full recipe, so you’re going to have to use half of a beaten egg to make a half batch.

Decorating tips

I usually just use a thick powdered sugar icing on these. I combine 2 cups powdered sugar with 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice, water or half-and-half.

Then I use a squeeze bottle to decorate the cookies with the icing (I just make more if we run out; but I start with a smaller amount in case we get tired of decorating). Feel free to use your favorite royal icing instead!

My kids enjoy sticking little sprinkles and things into the cookies instead.

Make sure the cookies are completely cooled before adding any icing or decorations. Let the cookies stand uncovered at room temperature overnight to let the icing set before packing them up.

And PS: About the decorating… It’s really not one of my biggest skillsets. I majorly lack the patience for it, too. I just whip up a powdered sugar icing (or use store-bought royal icing, there I said it) and try to draw something remotely adorable on the cookies.

If you feel the same way and usually try to skip the decorating part, I BEG you to get over yourself and sit down to decorate cookies with your kids. They will love this sweet memory so much, even if your gingerbread man looks more like a gingerbread monster.

My 3 year old’s words, not mine.

How to store the gingerbread cookies

Store the cooled gingrbread cookies in an airtight container on the coutner for 1-2 weeks (they taste best within the first few days though). Decorated cookies last a little less in my experience.

Freezer instructions

To freeze the cookie dough: Wrap the finished gingerbread cookie dough tightly in plastic wrap, then label with the name and use-by date and freeze for up to 3 months.

When ready to bake, thaw the dough overnight in the fridge (I recommend placing it on a plate to catch any water drips). Then roll, cut and bake as directed in the recipe.

To freeze the baked cookies: Freeze baked cookies before decorating them! Cool the cookies completely, then stack them in freezer-friendly containers, separating each layer with a piece of wax paper. Cover tightly with the lid, then label with the name and use-by date and freeze for up to 3 months.

To defrost, take out as many cookies as you need and thaw them on a wire rack on the counter for a couple of hours.

More classic Christmas cookies

PS If you try this recipe, please leave a review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram.

Printable recipe