Gingerbread People
on Dec 19, 2024
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Create festive gingerbread people—soft, spiced cookies perfect for holiday decorating and cozy seasonal treats!
Table of Contents
What Makes This Recipe Great
There is nothing more nostalgic and magical and reminds me of the Christmas season like making Gingerbread houses and people. We grew up making this specific recipe with our grandma Nana and all us girls in the kitchen dancing, singing, spilling sprinkles and laughing, soooo much laughing. This recipe yields the perfect texture and bite. Not to soft and not to crunchy of a gingerbread person, perfect for any size and any structure you want to build.
Don’t be too alarmed with the rolling process of this recipe. The key things you need to remember when rolling cookies dough out is to ensure the dough has chilled in the fridge and you use enough flour on your surface and rolling pin. I like to make a few disks with the dough so you can start rolling with a circular dough. This makes a more uniform sized sheet of dough that will make it easier to press your cookie cutter into. Be sure and leave enough room on the cookies sheet when you bake your fun shaped cookies! Enjoy
Ingredient List
- Flour– this recipe was created using regular flour
- Salt
- Baking Soda
- Ginger
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Cloves
- White Sugar
- Unsalted Butter– best to use unsalted butter when baking
- Egg– make sure your eggs are room temp
- Molasses– any type of molasses will work
Step By Step
- In a large bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and spices.
- In the bowl of your electric mixer, with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and molasses and beat until well combined. Gradually add the flour mixture beating until incorporated.
- Divide the dough in half, and wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm (at least two hours or even overnight).
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place rack in center of oven. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mat.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of about 1/4 inch. Use a gingerbread cutter to cut out the cookies. With an offset spatula lift the cookies onto the baking sheet, placing about 1 inch apart.
- Bake for about 8 – 12 minutes depending on the size of the cookies. They are done when they are firm and the edges are just beginning to brown. Cool completely on a wire rack.
- Recipe from Joy of Baking
Pro Tip
- Growing up we also decorated with Red Hots for the eyes and buttons, a classic look!
Frequently Asked Question
Can I skip the chilling process?
- No, do not skip on the chilling process for this dough. The chilling allows the dough to rest and toughen up before you roll out, and makes it more manageable when you roll it out. My best suggestions is to make two large disks with the dough and wrap them in saran wrap and then place in the fridge for at 3 hours or overnight.
Christmas Cookies Galore
Gingerbread People
Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup granulated white sugar
- 1 large egg
- ⅔ cup unsulphured molasses
Instructions
- In a large bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and spices.
- In the bowl of your electric mixer, with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and molasses and beat until well combined. Gradually add the flour mixture beating until incorporated.
- Divide the dough in half, and wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm (at least two hours or even overnight).
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place rack in center of oven. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mat.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of about 1/4 inch. Use a gingerbread cutter to cut out the cookies. With an offset spatula lift the cookies onto the baking sheet, placing about 1 inch apart.
- Bake for about 8 – 12 minutes depending on the size of the cookies. They are done when they are firm and the edges are just beginning to brown. Cool completely on a wire rack.
- Recipe from Joy of Baking
do you happen to have a good icing recipe to go with these?
I love Sallys Baking Addictions Royal Icing recipe!