Classic gingerbread men or people is a Christmas favorite in our home. Talk about the spice filled cookie and the use of people cutters to make them. It’s no wonder it’s a fav with the kids as well.
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It’s cookie season here in the United States and this cookie season can’t be complete without these adorable gingerbread men.
Do you remember the story of the gingerbread man? The one we learned in Nursery School? The poor gingerbread man didn’t want to be eaten by the grandma who made him. So he jumped out of the oven as soon as he was ready and ran out the door. The Poor thing but he eventually got gobbled up by a crafty fox.
It’s an interesting story kids would love. I highly recommend You start reading to your kiddos at an early age. You can buy a copy of the gingerbread boy story book here.
Back to our gingerbread men cookie. It’s literally a dump and mix cookie recipe
I adapted from a recipe got it from one of my favorite cookie books. I got the cookie book from one of the fundraiser functions in my son’s school a few years ago. I totally love it.
Table of Contents
Gingerbread men cookies are easy to make with your regular cookie ingredients which are flour, sugar and eggs. The only difference is the use of the gingerbread spice blend. That’s what makes it a gingerbread cookie plus of course the use of gingerbread men cutters but if you don’t want to make gingerbread men, You can use regular cookie cutters or Christmas themed cookie cutters like these ones or these to cut them into fun Christmas shapes.
Picture guide: How to make gingerbread men
- All purpose flour or gluten free flour if you are gluten free.
- Commercial brown sugar or homemade brown sugar
- Molasses
- Commercial Gingerbread spice mix or my homemade Gingerbread Spice Mix
- Gingerbread men cutters.
- Royal icing or sprinkles for decorating the gingerbread cookies
- A nice rolling pin with adjustable measurement rings to ensure you get evenly rolled Cookies.
- Rolling Pin Rings. If you already have a rolling pin like this one. You can buy these rolling pin rings.
- What are Gingerbread Men Cookies?
- Gingerbread men cookies are a type of spiced cookie baked in the shape of little men or women which originated from Europe.
- Do I have to use the Gingerbread Cookie cutter?
- No you don’t have to use a gingerbread man cutter to make gingerbread cookies but you do need them if you are making gingerbread men out of your gingerbread cookie dough.
- Are Gingerbread Men Cookies soft or crisp?
Gingerbread cookies can either be soft and chewy or crisp. I personally prefer the crisp gingerbread cookies.
- Do I have to decorate my gingerbread cookies with icing?
In as much as it’s pretty to decorate your gingerbread cookies, you don’t have to. You can enjoy them plain or you can make indentations on them to indicate the eyes and mouth, you can use sprinkles like I did. If you don’t want to use homemade royal icing, you can buy the decorative tube icing. It’s totally up to you how you decorate Your gingerbread men, your rules ? hopefully they don’t come alive and run away like one gingerbread man did in the fairytale
- Are Gingerbread cookies sweet?
Gingerbread cookies are not overtly sweet. They are not meant to be as sweet tasting as sugar cookies because they are not. But they are tasty all the same.
- How long do Gingerbread cookies last?
Gingerbread cookies can last up to 2 wks in an airtight cookie jar or up to 3 months in the freezer.
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Now that you are equipped with these tips for making gingerbread cookies, gather your ingredients and let’s get started.
Love,
Classic Gingerbread Men Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup salted Butter
- ¾ cup Brown sugar
- â…“ cup Molasses
- 1 egg
- 2 ¾ cups flour
- 3 tsp gingerbread spice mix Quick sub 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp ground ginger, 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg, 1/2 tsp ground all spice and 1/2 tsp ground cloves
Instructions
- Cream together butter and brown sugar till fluffy,
- Add egg and molasses and mix till incorporated.
- Mix in the gingerbread spice blend. Then stir in the flour and baking soda.
- Mix till well incorporated (do not over mix)
- Wrap dough in cling film and refrigerate for 2 hours to overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350 *F
- Roll out cookies to about a quarter of an inch thick. Cut out cookies with Desired cutters
- Place 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet
- Bake for 16 mins in the oven
- Bring out of the oven and allow to cool
Decorating the cookies.
- If using icing, allow cookie to cool completely before decorating
- If using sprinkles, stick the sprinkles on with some water on the gingerbread men after placing them on the cookie sheets before baking.
Notes
These are too yummy to just keep around the holidays! We eat them all year long but decorate them into ninjas, haha!
Lol. I like that I idea. My 7 yr old’s teacher gifted her students with a book called the ninja bread men. I found it hilariously interesting plus the added a recipe which I intend to make.
You just can’t beat a classic gingerbread cookie! So good!
You definitely can’t ?
Those are so cute! Love how dark they are too… good use of molasses!
How cute are these? I could eat gingerbread all year long!
I know… right ?
I love gingerbread cookies all year long. They’re so cute and so delicious! And they perfectly compliment my morning cup of coffe! 🙂
Totally agree with you. I love the spice in it