These soft gingerbread cookies will be a new family favorite for the holidays! They’re soft, chewy, and perfect for turning into the cutest decorated gingerbread men cookies! Add them to Christmas cookie trays, use them as treats for a gingerbread house decorating night, or just as a family treat!
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Soft Gingerbread Cookies Recipe
I’ll be honest, I’m not huge fan of most gingerbread. And I really don’t like gingersnaps. I just don’t love crunchy cookies – I’ll eat soft ones all day long!
If you’re like me and want something soft and chewy, these gingerbread cookies are going to be your new favorite! They’re so simple to make and cut out perfectly so you can make all sorts of shapes from gingerbread people to gingerbread decorations for a gingerbread house!
We make and decorate these with my boys every year and they’ve decided these are their third favorite treat we make (just behind our cream cheese sugar cookies and the best ever rice krispy treats).
Why you’ll love These Gingerbread Cookies
- Cut out perfectly – these roll out and cut out so well, they’re great for making pretty much any shapes you want!
- Mild gingerbread flavor – some gingerbread cookies have a really spicy flavor (not heat, just a lot of spice) but these are mild enough that kids and adults will both enjoy them. If you want something spicier, these chewy molasses cookies are perfect!
- Easy to make – there’s really nothing to these cookies other than mixing the ingredients together! If you can make a typical batch of snickerdoodles, you can make these!
Ingredients
Ingredient notes
- Molasses – I typically use Grandma’s molasses for this because it’s classic but any molasses will work!
- Shortening – I don’t typically use shortening in my recipes but it works better in these cookies than butter.
- Vinegar – make sure it’s white vinegar, not apple cider vinegar (or balsamic) since both of those will add strong flavors.
- Flour – all-purpose flour works best in these.
How to make these soft gingerbread cookies
I mentioned it before but making these gingerbread cookies is pretty much as simple as mixing ingredients together, rolling out the cookies, and baking!
I’ve included some tips and tricks below to help you have the most success with these cookies but as long as you don’t over bake, they should be great!
1 – mix Wet ingredients together
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the shortening, white sugar, and salt. Mix all the ingredients together until they are smooth. This might take a few minutes so be patient and wait until it really is totally combined!
Next add in the egg, molasses, and white vinegar. Beat on medium speed again until all the ingredients are well combined and a smooth texture.
2 – mix in dry ingredients
In a separate medium bowl add in the all purpose flour, baking soda, and ground cinnamon, ground cloves, and ground ginger. Sift all the dry ingredients together making sure they’re evenly mixed together. I use a small whisk and gently whisk them together.
With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients into the large mixing bowl with the wet ingredients until everything is well combined. The dough will be a thick texture, that’s ok!
Tip!
Add about 1/2 cup at a time to prevent the flour from flying out of the bowl as you mix it in.
Cover the bowl of dough and put it in the fridge for at least two hours. The dough can technically be rolled out and cut right away, but the dough won’t keep its shape as you transfer it onto the baking sheet if you don’t chill it.
3 – Roll Out the gingerbread cookie dough
After the dough has had time to chill and you’re ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Prepare your surface by cutting two pieces of parchment paper at least an inch bigger than your cookie cutters. Pull off a one inch ball of dough and roll it out into 1/8 inch thick onto one of the pieces of parchment paper. Push the cookie cutter into the rolled out dough. Take any excess dough off and place it back into the dough.
Tip!
You can roll out all of the dough at one time if it’s easier for you. It just makes it more difficult to transfer the cut dough onto the baking sheet since you’re going to roll it out thinner than a typical cut out sugar cookie. If you do want to do this, just make sure you’re not using any intricate shapes – stick to things like gingerbread men!
Using the other piece of parchment paper, place it on top of the cut out shape. Flip the entire thing over and peel the bottom piece of parchment paper off so now you have your shape on top of the second piece of parchment paper (it shouldn’t be as stuck to it since you didn’t roll it onto it).
Tip!
Start from the bottom of the cookie and peel the original parchment paper back horizontally in the opposite direction. This will help keep the cookie from sticking the paper quite as much.
Flip the cookie and parchment paper again this time and place the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet, gently peeling the second piece of parchment paper off the back. This will give you the perfect cookie shape!
Tip!
While the cookies may seem a little thin, they’ll puff up as they bake! If you go much thicker than 1/8 inch thick, they take longer to bake and can start to crack.
4 – bake the gingerbread cookies
Put the cookies in the preheated oven and bake them for five-six minutes, or until they feel firm. Be careful not to over bake the cookies or they will be crunchy and like I said, crunchy cookies are not my favorite!
Take the cookies out of the oven once they are done baking and let them cool on a wire rack. Once they are completely cooled use your favorite icing and candy to decorate each cookie!
Enjoy warm or at room temperature! We like to make a double batch so we have some for home and some to give away to friends! I typically box them up and add one of these Christmas gift tags or these sweet holidays gift tags, and they’re a perfect neighbor gift!
How to store gingerbread cookies
These cookies can be made ahead of time and stored undecorated for up to 2-3 weeks in an airtight container.
Once they’re decorated, I recommend storing in an airtight container and enjoying within a week.
Tips
Avoid cookie cutters with small intricate parts or pieces. These gingerbread cookies are best with larger shapes like gingerbread men, trees, and stars you see in this post!
Make the dough ahead of time to save time! Seal the dough in an airtight container and place in the refrigerator for up to three days, then just roll out and bake the cookies like normal!
Recipe FAQs
Are these gingerbread cookies be soft or crunchy?
These gingerbread cookies are nice and soft! Just make sure you don’t over bake them or they’ll end up crunchy but not in a good way!
What happens if you don’t chill gingerbread dough?
While technically you can roll out the dough without chilling it first, the cookies will likely lose their shape when you’re trying to transfer them to the baking sheet. Chilling the dough hold things together better!
More Easy Christmas Cookies
Need more Christmas cookies to add to your Christmas treats plate? Try these!
- Christmas kitchen sink cookies – everything but the kitchen sink is in these cookies, in a good way!
- Christmas Oreos – these darling Oreos are decorated for Christmas and make a great addition to any Christmas gift!
- Candy cane sugar cookies – the cutest sugar cookies that look just like a candy cane!
- Christmas tree cookies – a simple way to make sugar cookies look just like Christmas trees!
- Snowman cookie – the cutest melting snowman cookies, kids love these!
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Gingerbread Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup shortening
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 egg
- ½ cup molasses
- 1 Tbsp white vinegar
- 2 ½ cups flour
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- ½ Tbsp ground ginger
- Icing and candy for decorating optional
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the shortening, sugar, and salt. Mix until smooth.1/2 cup shortening, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 tsp salt
- Add in the egg, molasses, and white vinegar. Beat on medium speed again until all the ingredients are well combined and a smooth texture.1 egg, 1/2 cup molasses, 1 Tbsp white vinegar
- In a separate medium bowl mix together the four, baking soda, and ground cinnamon, ground cloves, and ground ginger.2 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground cloves, 1/2 Tbsp ground ginger
- With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients into the large mixing bowl.
- Cover the bowl of dough and put it in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
- When you’re ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Cut 2 pieces of parchment paper at least an inch bigger than your cookie cutters. Pull off a one inch ball of dough and roll it out into 1/8 in onto one of the pieces of parchment paper.
- Push the cookie cutter into the rolled out dough. Take any excess dough off and place it back into the dough.
- Using the other piece of parchment paper, place it on top of the cut out shape. Flip the entire thing over and peel the bottom piece of parchment paper off so now you have your shape on top of the second piece of parchment paper (it shouldn’t be as stuck to it since you didn’t roll it onto it).
- Flip the cookie and parchment paper again this time and place the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet, gently peeling the second piece of parchment paper off the back. This will give you the perfect cookie shape!
- Put the cookies in the preheated oven and bake them for 5-6 minutes, or until they feel firm. Do not over bake or you’ll end up with crunchy cookies.
- Take the cookies out of the oven once they are done baking and let them cool on a wire rack. Decorate with your favorite icing and candy and serve!Icing and candy for decorating
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