It may seem strange to be sharing holiday cookies in early November, but the beautiful thing about cookies, is that they freeze really well, and I love getting a head start on holiday baking. I hope you can forgive me for being so early. I’ve also got so many ideas to share with you… I’m going to try and get them all in before Christmas! If you’d like to start baking and decorating early, click on the links to find posts on freezing cookies, thawing cookies and the shelf life of cookies.
For my video tutorials, generally I focus on the decorating aspect, but making the dough may be helpful for you too. So, after 7 years of blogging, I’m finally sharing a video on how I make my go-to gingerbread cut-out cookie dough. Near the end of the video I’ll also share how I decorated these gingerbread men.
How To Make Gingerbread Cut Out Cookie Dough and Decorate Gingerbread Man Cookies
Thanks to Miss Kate Cuttables for allowing me to share the gingerbread man design which I purchased on their site here. I had the cookie cutter custom made through How Sweet is That?, but the cutters are not allowed to be sold. You can also find the recipes and decorating tools etc. below.
Gingerbread Cookie Recipe
The gingerbread cookie recipe can be found at the end of the post. There are other cut-out cookie recipes here.
What you’ll need (these are affiliate links):
I used a large rolling pin and the*Dough E-Z Mat to roll out the dough. You’ll also need baking sheets.
*I would like you to know that I will receive an affiliate commission if you purchase the Dough E-Z mat through my site and I only recommend products that I love and use myself. You can get 10% off your purchase of the Dough E-Z mat with coupon code sweetopia.
Royal Icing
You can find my favorite royal icing recipe here. The consistency of icing is key for easy decorating. Click here to see a YouTube video on finding the right icing thickness.
Decorating Items
What you’ll need (these are affiliate links):
- Piping Tips – PME #1.5, PME #2 and PME #3
- Piping Bags
- Couplers
- Gel paste colors
- Scribe Tool or Toothpicks
Decorating Steps
This video on outlining and flooding is a good place to start if you’re new to decorating cookies with royal icing. These cookie decorating basics YouTube videos may also be helpful to get you started.
Besides the video tutorial on YouTube which I’ve shared here, I’ve also shared a few how-to videos on Instagram, which you can see here. (And an example below). You can find tutorial for the gingerbread boy’s counterpart, the gingerbread girl, here.
If you have any questions or comments please feel free to drop me a line below in the comment section or on social media. You can find me on Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter and YouTube.
Happy baking!
xo,
Marian
Gingerbread Cut Out Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 800 g all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder *omit if you don't want cookies to spread/rise
- 250 g unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup molasses
- 3 tsp ground cinnamon
- 3 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cloves
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix butter and brown sugar on medium speed until fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and spatula as needed.
- Mix in eggs, one at a time, and then molasses. Reduce speed to low. Scrape down bowl as needed.
- Sift together flour, spices and salt and add to bowl; mix on low until just combined. Note that you would sift in the baking powder here as well, if you aren't concerned about the cookies spreading. Even environment and ingredients used affect baking, so if your dough is a bit sticky add flour until it's soft to the touch but doesn't stick to your fingers.
- Roll dough out between parchment or the Dough E-Z mat, and let it rest by refrigerating until cold, about 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut out cookie shapes and place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper, approximately 2 inches apart, and re-roll out dough and cut shapes as needed. Refrigerate until firm; at least 15 minutes to 1 hour.
- Bake cookies until lightly golden; 10 to 14 minutes, depending on the size and thickness of the cookie. Let cool on sheets on wire racks and serve as is or decorate with royal icing.
Those gingerbread cookies are adorable! I too like getting started on Christmas baking early. Your video is really helpful and as always I’m in awe of your piping skills. I will keep practising. Thanks for your inspiration Marian
Hi Marilyn,
Thanks so much for your comment! I really do enjoy it when I see you here again. 🙂 About the piping skills… I think they look more impressive in fast forward, haha, but practice definitely has helped. I hope you enjoy your baking and decorating and if you have some photos you’d like to share on social media somewhere I’d love to see them! (Email works too btw).
Hi Marian – I LOVE your site and I am so grateful that you share your information, it is so very helpful. I plan on making your gingerbread cookies, however, I do not measure in grams… How do I do that, or how can I convert to cup measurements for the flour and the unsalted butter? Also, when the recipe yields approximately 30 cookies, what approximate size cookie would that be, i.e, are your gingerbread cookies 4″ long? Thank you again for sharing your knowledge and talent!!
Marian, this video is so so helpful!!
And the “outlines” you piped (Gingerbread Man) – PERFECTION!
Loved to watch the video and your photos are so so beautiful too.
Proud to call you my creative friend <3
Love you,
niner
Thanks so much Niner! xo
Marian, I think you have mentioned this before, but can you remind us of what thickness you roll your cookies out to? Love your posts as usual! Thanks for being such a great teacher!
Hi Stephanie,
No problem, here’s the post; https://sweetopia.net/2013/11/how-thick-or-thin-do-you-roll-your-cookie-dough-how-do-you-make-the-dough-even/
Happy baking!
Love all of your videos!! I’d love to win the giveaway!
I would to try these delicious looking cookies but how much butter and flour would I use in cups?
Hi Christopher,
You would need 1 cup of butter and about 6 cups of flour. For the flour, you may need to add flour if it’s sticky, especially if you’re working in a humid environment. Add 1/4 cup of flour at a time until you’re happy with the texture. When you pinch some dough between your fingers it should be soft to the touch but not sticky.
Happy baking!
Thank you for sharing your video! I would like to give it a try, but cannot find molasses in our local shops. Is it possible to replace it with anything, i.e. Honey?
Thank you 🙂
Hi Marian-
Do you recall what Americolor you used for the brown body and beige outline?
Thanks!
Hi Marian. Thanks for sharing your recipe! I want to decorate these with my step kids. They are not with me full time so layered royal icing is not a great option as they might go home before the first layer is fully dried. I am thinking about adhering store-bought, rolled fondant to the cookies with royal icing, and then decorating that with little candies – Christmas trees with green fondant and little baubles would work well. The only thing making me hesitate is, would the moisture content in the fondant impact the shelf life of the cookie – what do you think? I plan to help the kids make them as Christmas gifts.
Thank you in advance for your time!
Hi Charlotte,
That’s a great idea! I think the best way to preserve the cookies for Christmas would be to pack them individually in cellophane bags. Perfect for Christmas gifts and helps them stay fresher longer! Depending on how early you make the cookies, they can be frozen as well.
Thank you very much for sharing your expertise, Marian. I have a question, how many molasses should I use in grams?
Thank you Monica. I haven’t actually weighed it, but this site converts items for you (I googled molasses convert measurement and this site came up); https://www.aqua-calc.com/calculate/food-volume-to-weight