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These iced gingerbread cookies are chewy, spiced and decorated with royal icing. They don’t spread much and are sturdy enough to transport in cookie boxes or to holiday parties without worry. They also don’t require any chilling time.
So why is this recipe special? The cookie recipe uses the reverse creaming method. Instead of creaming the butter and wet ingredients before adding flour, we’re going to beat the butter into the flour, then add the wet ingredients. Since the butter isn’t aerated, the cookies will have flat tops and a sturdy texture. The reverse creaming method also prevents gluten development so the cookies stay tender.
The royal icing is like a standard royal icing, but it’s made with meringue powder, so there are no raw egg whites. It’s smooth and easy to pipe. Plus, the consistency can be adjusted by adding small amounts of water. It’s great for detailed decorations!
Why you’ll love these cookies
- Sturdy texture and flat tops for easy decorating
- Full of warm spices
- Quick, easy and versatile royal icing
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour: Flour gives these cookies structure.
- Baking soda: Baking soda leavens the cookies.
- Cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg: These spices make these cookies taste like gingerbread! You can omit cloves and nutmeg if you don’t have any, but cinnamon and ginger are essential to get the right spice flavour.
- Table salt: Salt helps enhance the other flavours.
- Unsalted butter: Unsalted butter helps tenderize the cookies. Make sure the butter is fully at room temperature for this recipe, or else it will be harder to mix the butter into the flour.
- Unsulphured molasses: Molasses sweetens the cookies while giving these flavour their signature warm spiced flavour. Make sure to use unsulphured molasses, not blackstrap molasses because the two have very different sugar contents.
- Icing sugar: Icing sugar is the base of royal icing.
- Meringue powder: Meringue powder is used instead of egg whites so the icing is safe to eat. It’s not an ingredient most people have at home, but if you buy just a bag, it’ll last you for a long time.
- Water: Water liquifies the icing. Add the water slowly, especially as you approach a pipeable consistency so you get the perfect thickness for piping.
Variations
If you’d like a softer fluffier cookie, try these gingerbread whoopie pies. For this recipe, you can add different extracts to the frosting, such as vanilla or lemon. I’d start with 1/8 tsp, especially if the extract is quite strong, and add more if desired.
Equipment
Baking pan material can affect the cookies. If you use a dark coloured baking pan, the cookies will bake and brown faster than if using a lighter pan, so keep a close eye on the cookies.
Also, make sure you have a kitchen scale for this recipe since most of the measurements are in grams. Using a kitchen scale ensures you get the same results I have! Learn about why I use a kitchen scale here. If you’d like to use measuring spoons or cups, you can use an online recipe converter to change the units to whatever you’re using.
For cookie decorating, you can dip the cookies directly in the icing or use piping bags to pipe designs. Just fill the piping bag with frosting, then cut off a tiny bit off the end of the piping bag to create a hole for the icing. If you don’t have piping bags, you can use a resealable plastic bag, squeezing all the icing towards one corner with the end cut off.
Storage
These iced gingerbread cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week. Undecorated cookies can be frozen in an airtight container.
FAQ
It’s not necessary to chill the cookie dough since it doesn’t spread much in the oven. However, it is a pretty soft dough. So if you’d like a dough that’s a bit firmer and easier to work with, or want to bake it a bit later, you can chill the dough. Just shape the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap and leave it in the fridge for a couple hours.
Yes! For my little jumping men photographed above, I cut them out by hand. Use a toothpick to lightly trace out your design first, then cut out the shape with a sharp knife. If you just want circles, you can use bowls or cups. Just turn them upside down and press into the dough like you would a cookie cutter. If it’s sticking, dust the bowl or cup with some flour before cutting again.
Let’s bake!
These iced gingerbread cookies are perfect for the holiday baking. It’s so relaxing to spend a while decorating cookies and enjoying them afterwards.
When you make them, tag me on Instagram @bakewhenitrains so I can admire your cute cookies. Also, don’t forget to leave a comment and rating below. I’d love to hear your feedback!
With love,
Your baking friend Sherene ❤️
Gingerbread cookies
Ingredients
Gingerbread cookies
- 180 grams all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp each cinnamon, ginger
- 1/4 tsp each cloves, nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp table salt
- 84 grams unsalted butter room temperature, cut into pieces
- 90 ml unsulphured molasses
Royal icing
- 125 grams icing sugar
- 2 1/4 tsp meringue powder
- 1 1/2 tbsp water
Instructions
Gingerbread cookies
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a a standmixer or bowl (with an electric handmixer), whisk together flour, baking soda, spices and salt.
- Add the butter and mix until the mixture is sandy. There should be no visible pieces of butter.
- Add the molasses and mix until the dough comes together.
- Roll the dough between 2 pieces of parchment to 1/4 inch or 1 cm thick.
- Cut shapes with a cookie cutter (a sharp knife works too). Try to cut the shapes as close as possible to each other to avoid rerolling too much. Reroll as needed and cut shapes until all the dough is shaped.
- Gently transfer cookies to the baking sheet, leaving 1 inch (2.5 cm) between each cookie.
- Bake at for 9-11 minutes, until they look dry on top and don't intent easily if you gently poke them. Be careful not to overbake or else they'll become quite hard once cooled. Cool.
Royal icing
- In a medium bowl, whisk the icing sugar and meringue powder together.
- Add the water slowly, until the icing can run off the whisk.
- Place the icing into a piping bag, cut off the tip, and decorate the cookies. You can also dip the cookies directly into the icing.
These cookies were really good and the easy and quick to make.
Sorry for getting back a bit late to your comment since I chatted with you in-person about these. Thanks for sharing your experience, I’m so glad you liked the cookies! 😊