These Gingerbread Man Cookies (or People or Santa or however you cut them out!) are perfect for decorating or hanging on the tree – the taste deepens and mellows over time, so they are best a few days after baking! That makes them perfect for cookie parties or give-away cookie plates, since you can make them a few days ahead of time and the gingerbread man cookies just get better.
If you like, use whole wheat pastry flour in this recipe – you can even substitute up to a cup with rye flour for extra body and flavor, if you like!
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Yield: About 18 cookies
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup butter
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup molasses
- 1 3/4 cup flour
- 2 tsp. ground ginger
- 1 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder (optional - adds deeper color)
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp. salt
Preparation:
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream the butter and brown sugar until light and a bit fluffy looking. Mix in molasses until combined.
- In a bowl, combine flour, ginger, cocoa, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Add to butter mixture and stir until just combined.
- Divide dough into two pieces and pat each one into a 1-inch-thick disk, wrap them in plastic, and chill for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking pans with parchment paper or silpat baking mats, if you want. Work with one piece of dough on a generously floured surface, roll dough to about 1/4-inch-thick. Use cookie cutters or a sharp paring knife to cut dough into desired shapes. Note: If you want to use them as ornaments poke a hole through them now!]
- Transfer to baking sheets and bake until set, about 10 minutes. Let sit about 5 minutes on the pans before transferring to racks to cool. Let cool completely before decorating, if you like.
This dough is fairly sturdy, so feel free to combine scraps and re-roll them.
