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Decorated Gingerbread cookies with icing on a vintage cutting board.

Iced Gingerbread Cookies

Try these easy-to-make, classic Gingerbread cookies and delicious icing this holiday season. This recipe makes the perfect cookies every time, nicely spiced with warm ginger, cinnamon, molasses and more. Perfect for cut-outs and gingerbread men!
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Prep Time: 35 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Chill Time: 3 hours
Total Time: 3 hours 45 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: german
Keyword: gingerbread, gingerbread cookie, how to make a gingerbread cookie, iced gingerbread cookie
Servings: 50 cookies
Calories: 79kcal
Author: Deborah McDonald
Cost: 20

Equipment

  • 1 Stand mixer
  • 1 Parchment Paper
  • 1 Baking sheets
  • 1 Cooling wire rack
  • 1 Marble rolling pin

Ingredients

Ingredients For Gingerbread Cookie

  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour You may use whole wheat flour if that is all you have on hand but white flour is best.
  • 2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp ground clove
  • 1 cup light or dark brown sugar 
  • 1/4 tsp table salt
  • 10 tbsp unsalted butter, softened to room temperature  
  • 1/4 cup molasses
  • 1/2 tsp white vinegar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Ingredients For Icing

  • 1 ½ cups Powdered Sugar
  • 1 tsp Clear vanilla regular vanilla is fine but your icing won't be as white
  • 1 tbsp Milk

Instructions

Step-by-Step Instructions For Gingerbread Dough

  • In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt.
  • Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the brown sugar and butter on medium speed until it’s creamy or fluffy, for a minute or so.
  • Add the wet ingredients including the molasses, egg, white vinegar and vanilla and beat on medium-high speed until smooth. Scrape down the sides if needed. The butter may separate but that’s ok.
  • With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients, the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove, beating just until combined. Mix until combined and the batter is smooth, quite thick and slightly sticky.
  • Place dough on a sheet of parchment paper and cover it with flour, then fold the parchment paper to make a package for each portion. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
    Chilling gingerbread cookie dough in a bowl lined with parchment paper.
  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare large baking sheets by lining them with clean parchment paper.
  • Roll out the cookies with a marble rolling pin or french rolling pin. Make sure you add plenty of flour to your rolling pin, hands and cutting board.
    Rolling out gingerbread using a french rolling pin.
  • Using cookie cutters of your choice, cut the cookies.
  • Place cookies on prepared cookie sheets, leaving several inches between cookies.
  • Sprinkle the cookies with the coarse sugar and bake cookies for 8-10 minutes. For my tiny stars, I only cooked them for 4 minutes.
  • Remove the baking sheets from the oven and place the cookies on a cooling wire rack!
    Gingerbread cookies cut out and ready to be iced.

Step-by-Step Instructions For Gingerbread Cookie Icing

  • Whisk the vanilla and milk together in a small bowl.
  • Add the powdered sugar, adding a small amount of confectioners' sugar at a time until it’s smooth and the consistency is slightly thicker than syrup.
  • Ice the cookies. For the best results, ice your cookies while they are still warm.
    Iced gingerbread houses, gingerbread men and stars on a vintage cutting board.

Notes

Chill The Dough

Chilling your dough is very important and is not a step you want to rush or skip! The dough is slightly sticky once mixed together, therefore, it must be chilled for at least 3 hours or overnight. 
Dough that is chilled will also hold its shape better which is important if you choose to make any type of shape out of your gingerbread dough. Make sure to wrap the dough in plastic wrap before you place it in the refrigerator.

Roll Out the Gingerbread

Once you have let the dough chill, you will want to roll it out to around ¼ inch thick. The gingerbread dough may still be sticky. Add lots of flour on the board or counter before you place the dough down to roll it out. Rubbing flour on the rolling pin and your hands is a good idea too. Don’t worry about adding too much, your cookies will still turn out even with all the extra flour. 

Don’t Overbake the Gingerbread Cookies

The longer the Christmas cookies bake, the more crunch they will have. If you are hoping for soft gingerbread cookies, be sure to keep an eye on them. If you do overcook them by accident, simply ice them and place your cookies in an airtight container overnight. By morning, they will have softened to a deliciously chewy cookie. 

Ice While Cookies Are Warm

It’s best practice to ice your cookies while they are warm as the icing will apply a bit smoother. Another option for these cookies is to simply sprinkle sugar on top.

Let The Icing Set

Allow the icing to cool and set for at least 1 to 2 hours. Test the icing by lightly touching the top of the cookie to see if the icing is soft or squishy.
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Nutrition

Serving: 2cookie | Calories: 79kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 10mg | Sodium: 48mg | Potassium: 41mg | Fiber: 0.2g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 76IU | Vitamin C: 0.003mg | Calcium: 10mg | Iron: 0.4mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!