Gingerbread Cookies
Posted on December 10, 2020
Recipe borrowed from Joy of Baking and modified.
I love the smell of all these spices we use to make Christmas treats during holidays! It makes the house feel like home! One of those recipes is gingerbread cookies. Kids love them because of their shape and their flavor, too. They are so easy to make and the decoration options are limitless. Just let your creativity free, bring the inner kid out and have fun! And of course let you kids join and help you, especially while cutting or frosting the cookies! They will love it and it will become your every year tradition!
With no second thought, gingerbread cookies mean christmas to me. Even if gingerbread cookies are not a traditional christmas treat in Greece, their spices bring totally a christmas mood. Even if when I think about gingerbread cookies these gingerbread men are coming directly on my mind (and then a dreamy christmas gingerbread house), the gingerbread cookies have a long history and are common in many countries!
The gingerbread cookies are so easy to make. They contain everyday ingredients, that we always have in our kitchen: flour, salt, baking soda, butter, sugar, egg, honey and of course the spices that give this christmas flavor to these cookies, which are ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove. The original recipe asks for unsulphured molasses, but in Greece, where I live honey is more common. so I substituted molasses with it. However, with molasses gingerbread cookies get this perfect snap plus a more spicy flavor!
Hover over the image to see the ingredients
Tap on the image to see the ingredients
Start by adding all the dry ingredients ( the flour, the salt, the baking soda and all the spices) in a big mixing bowl and give them a good stir to mix well.
Then, in the bowl of your standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment beat the butter in medium speed for 1'-2' until soft and creamy. Add sugar and beat in medium speed for 2'-3' until light and fluffy.
Add the egg and the honey and beat until well combined. Gradually add the dry ingredients and beat just until incorporated in low speed. Do not over beat else your cookies will end up tough.
Divide the dough in half, and wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm (at least two hours or even overnight).
Once the butter has been firmed, preheat the oven at 170°C (340°F) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface or on a silicon baking mat, roll out the dough to a thickness of about 0.5cm (1/4 inch). Use a gingerbread cutter (or your preferred cookie cutter) to cut out the cookies.
If you want to hang the cookies, this is the time to make a small hole with the cookie cutter or with a toothpick or with the small circle piping tip at the top of each cookie.
With an offset spatula or a knife lift the cookies onto the baking sheet and let some space in-betweeen the cookies (abound 2.5 cm (1 inch)). In order the cookies to hold their shape and do not expand a lot while baking, place if you want the baking sheet cookies in the refrigerator for 10' to let the cookies firm.
Bake one baking sheet per time in the preheated oven for 8 - 12 minutes. The baking time depends on the size of the cookies. If you make cookies of different size, bake them separately and bake in the same baking sheet only the cookies with common size. They are done when they are firm and the edges are just beginning to brown.
Remove the cookies from the oven and cool on the baking sheet for about 1 minute. Then transfer each cookie gently with your hands or with an offset spatula on a wire rack to cool completely. If desired, you can press raisins, currants, or candies into the dough for eyes and buttons while the cookies are still warm and soft.
Regarding the frosting of the cookies, I prefer melting white candy melts instead of using royal icing or confectioners frosting, in order to avoid this huge amount of sugar on the cookies. Plus it is much easier and faster to melt candy melts and then pipe them directly onto the cookies. Moreover, I prefer using candy melts instead of white chocolate, because chocolate would have to be tempered (melted in a specific way) in order to be harden and shine when it is cooled down. Not tempered chocolate does not hardens completely, when it cools down, plus it melts on hand touch. With candy melts, I do not have to worry about the way I melt them and they harden extremely fast after I pipe them!
For the candy melts frosting, melt the candy melts in the microwave or in double boiler (put them in a heatproof bowl placed over a pan with simmering water) and then transfer them in a piping bag and cut a small hole at its end. You can either place the candy melts in a piping bag (do not cut its end yet) and close it tightly at the other side. Then put the piping bag with the candy melts in simmering water and let it until they melt completely. Gently work the melted candy melts in the closed piping bag with your hands, until you get the desired consistency. Then cut a small hole at the end of the piping bag.
Pipe the melted candy melts in the cooled cookies with your favorite pattern. Take into account that the melted candy melts tend to harden quite fast so work fast, or reheat them to melt again.
The gingerbread cookies are ready! Store them in an airtight container at room temperature for a week. Enjoy!
Gingerbread Cookies
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40'
Preparation Time
2 hrs
Waiting Time
8' - 12'
Cooking Time
36 cookies (for gingerbread man cookie cutter)
Servings
Ingredients
Gingerbread Cookies
3 cups ( 390 gr ) all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
113 gr ( 1/2 cup ) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg, at room temperature
2/3 cup ( 225 gr ) honey
White Candy Melts Frosting
1/2 cup white candy melts
Instructions
Gingerbread Cookies
In a large mixing bowl mix well all the dry ingredients: the flour, the salt, the baking soda and all the spices. Set aside.
In the bowl of your standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment beat the butter in medium speed for 1'-2' until soft and creamy.
Add sugar and beat in medium speed for 2'-3' until light and fluffy.
Add the egg and the honey and beat until well combined.
Gradually add the dry ingredients and beat just until incorporated in low speed. Do not over beat else your cookies will end up tough.
Divide the dough in half, and wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm (at least two hours or even overnight).
Once the butter has been firmed, preheat the oven at 170°C (340°F) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
On a lightly floured surface or on a silicon baking mat, roll out the dough to a thickness of about 0.5cm (1/4 inch).
Use a gingerbread cutter (or your preferred cookie cutter) to cut out the cookies. If you want to hang the cookies, this is the time to make a small hole with the cookie cutter or with a toothpick or with a small circle piping tip at the top of each cookie.
With an offset spatula or a knife lift the cookies onto the baking sheet and let some space in-betweeen the cookies (abound 2.5 cm (1 inch)).
In order the cookies to hold their shape and do not expand a lot while baking, place if you want the baking sheet cookies in the refrigerator for 10' to let the cookies firm.
Bake one baking sheet per time in the preheated oven for t 8 - 12 minutes. The baking time depends on the size of the cookies. If you make cookies of different size, bake them separately and bake in the same baking sheet only the cookies with common size. They are done when they are firm and the edges are just beginning to brown.
Remove the cookies from the oven and cool on the baking sheet for about 1 minute. Then transfer each cookie gently with your hands or with an offset spatula on a wire rack to cool completely. If desired, you can press raisins, currants, or candies into the dough for eyes and buttons while the cookies are still warm and soft.
White Candy Melts Frosting
Melt the candy melts in the microwave or in double boiler (put them in a heatproof bowl placed over a pan with simmering water) and then transfer them in a piping bag and cut a small hole at its end. You can either place the candy melts in a piping bag (do not cut its end yet) and close it tightly at the other side. Then put the piping bag with the candy melts in simmering water and let it until they melt completely. Gently work the melted candy melts in the closed piping bag with your hands, until you get the desired consistency. Then cut a small hole at the end of the piping bag.
Pipe the melted candy melts in the cooled cookies with your favorite pattern. Take into account that the melted candy melts tend to harden quite fast so work fast, or reheat them to melt again.
The gingerbread cookies are ready! Store them in an airtight container at room temperature for a week. Enjoy!
I avoid using confectioners sugar frosting or royal icing in order to avoid this huge amount of sugar onto the cookies. Therefore I tend to use candy melts for the frosting. I opt for candy melts instead of white chocolate, because white chocolate would need to be tempered while melting it in order to hard properly when cooled down. If chocolate is not tempered (but just melted in a double boiler) then after it cools down it hardens but it melts easily on hand touch. On the other hand, candy melts, which are imitation of chocolate, they melt easily and the remain hard after they have cooled down. But still candy melts and chocolate do may fall apart from the cookie easier, than the confectioners frosting.
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