# Easy & Festive Gingerbread Cookies

This recipe teaches you how to make easy and delicious gingerbread cookies with a simple three-ingredient icing perfect for holiday decorating.

- Cuisine: American
- Category: Dessert
- Language: en

## Ingredients

- 2.33 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1.5 tsp ground cinnamon
- 0.5 tsp baking soda
- 0.25 tsp ground cloves
- 0.25 tsp fine sea salt
- 0.75 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 0.5 cup packed light brown sugar
- 0.5 cup molasses
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsp milk
- 3 Tbsp milk
- 0.25 tsp vanilla extract
- Sprinkles

## Instructions

1. Start by sifting the dry ingredients: flour, ginger, cinnamon, ground cloves, baking soda, and salt to ensure no lumps.
2. In a separate large mixing bowl, combine the wet ingredients: softened room temperature butter (broken into chunks), packed light brown sugar, and molasses.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat the wet ingredients on high speed for about three minutes until light and fluffy.
4. Add the room temperature egg and beat until well incorporated.
5. Finally, add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until everything comes together.
6. Generously flour your work surface and turn the soft and moist dough out onto it.
7. Dust the top of the dough with flour to prevent sticking to your hands.
8. Divide the dough into three equal portions.
9. Pat each piece of dough into a disc, then wrap it in plastic wrap.
10. Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour, or up to twenty-four hours, to make it easier to roll out.
11. Once the dough has been chilled, preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit with a rack in the upper and lower third of the oven, or in the center if baking one sheet at a time.
12. Keep your work surface and dough generously dusted with flour, moving the dough around to ensure it doesn't stick.
13. Roll the dough out to one-quarter inch thickness.
14. Cut out as many gingerbread people as you can using a cookie cutter.
15. Re-roll and repurpose your scraps, refrigerating if the dough becomes too soft and sticky.
16. Transfer the cut-out cookies to a parchment-lined baking sheet, ensuring they are at least one inch apart.
17. Bake the cookies in the preheated oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 9 to 10 minutes, or until the edges turn golden brown.
18. Transfer your cookies to a cooling rack and repeat baking with the remaining dough.
19. While cookies cool, make the icing by combining powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract until it has a thick ribbon consistency.
20. Transfer the glaze to a piping bag immediately to prevent it from drying out.
21. Snip off the very tip of your piping bag to create a hole large enough for decorating.
22. Decorate your gingerbread family as desired, adding colorful holiday sprinkles while the glaze is still moist.

## Equipment

- Sifter
- Electric Mixer
- Rolling Pin
- Gingerbread Cookie Cutters
- Parchment Paper
- Baking Sheets
- Piping Bags
- Cooling rack

## Tips

- To thin out the icing, add a little bit more milk; to make it thicker, add more powdered sugar.
- Keep your work surface and dough generously dusted with flour to prevent sticking.
- Roll the dough out to one-quarter inch thickness for crisp edges and a soft center.
- If dough becomes too soft and sticky, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate to firm up.
- Bake smaller cookies for a shorter time and larger cookies for a longer time.
- The icing hardens when it dries, making it perfect for decorating.
- While the glaze is still moist, add colorful holiday sprinkles.
- You can divide the icing into different bags for a cookie decorating party.
- If you don't overbake the cookies, they will have a soft center.

## Source

- Original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur68U3CiRRE
- Recipe page: https://www.cliprecipe.com/recipe/3fab3d3b-5b27-4da8-b471-f802b0f70268
- Extracted: 2025-12-29

Extracted from the video by Clip Recipe (https://www.cliprecipe.com). Quantities and steps are as stated or shown in the video. Site guide for agents: https://www.cliprecipe.com/llms.txt