Soft and Chewy Cinnamon Gingerbread Cookies Recipe (2024)

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Soft and chewy gingerbread cookiesare my favorite Christmas treat to decorate with my kids. They’re just as delicious to eat as they are cute to look at!

For more delicious cookie recipes to try during the holidays I love grinch cookies, these haystack cookies, and yummy snickerdoodles. They are perfect for any gathering because everyone loves them!

Soft and Chewy Cinnamon Gingerbread Cookies Recipe (1)

Gingerbread Cookies

Tis the season for cookies so I hope you’re as excited to kick the holiday season into full gear as I am! I couldn’t think of a better recipe to share with you to start the Christmas season than with these fun and tasty gingerbread cookies! I love this recipe because the cookies are soft and chewy, instead of crispy. Plus, they have that delicious and classic gingerbread taste which really brings in that festive, holiday cheer.

Last year we enjoyed them for a treat, and then we let the leftover cookies dry out and we hung them on our Christmas tree. My kids loved it! Your kids will love to decorate them with you. We used regular buttercream frosting and added spice drops and m&m’s for the buttons. You could also use chocolate chips, red hots, raisins, or whatever you like.

Ingredients in Gingerbread Cookies

Some people shy away from gingerbread cookies because they think they are too hard! But these are not hard at all and you probably already have a lot of the ingredients in your kitchen! See the recipe card at the bottom of the post for all of the measurements.

  • Butter: I use unsalted butter that issoftened to room temperature. It will mix better when it’s softened.
  • Dark brown sugar: Make sure to pack this tightly as you measure it.
  • Sugar: This makes the cookies sweet.
  • Molasses: Useunsulphured molasses. This means it’s “pure” molasses and should be what you find at all of your local grocery stores.
  • Vanilla extract: This will enhance all of the sweet flavors.
  • Egg: A large, room temperature egg will work best for this.
  • Flour: All purpose flour works best.
  • Cinnamon, ginger and cloves: These spices are what will bring in that delicious holiday flavor.
  • Salt: The salt will also enhance the flavors of all of the other ingredients.
  • Baking powder: This is what helps these cookies get soft.
  • Milk: This is optional, use it if you need to moisten up the dough so that it will press together in your hands.
  • Frosting and candy: These are optional if you want to decorate your cookies!

Let’s Bake Some Cookies!

These gingerbread cookies are so good that you may want to bake a couple of batches all at once! Give them to your neighbors or have your kids decorate them as a Christmas activity. They are the best holiday cookie!

  1. Preheat and prep: Preheat the oven to 375° and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
  2. Beat: In a large bowl beat together the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until combined. Add in the molasses and mix until combined. Add in the vanilla and egg and beat until just barely combined.
  3. Mix flour and spices, then combine with wet ingredients: In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt and baking powder. Add the dry mixture to the sugar mixture and mix until combined. If the dough is very dry, add 2 tablespoons of milk to moisten it just enough to be able to press together with your hands.
  4. Roll and cut shapes: This dough does not need to be refrigerated, so go ahead and roll it out on a very lightly floured surface. Roll to 1/4 inch thick and cut out desired gingerbread shapes. Lay on the baking sheets with about an inch between the cookies. They shouldn’t spread as they bake.
  5. Bake: Bake for 7-9 minutes, until the center of the cookies is just barely baked. Let them sit on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Frost and decorate once cooled.
  6. Store leftovers: Store gingerbread cookies in an airtight container with parchment paper between the layers. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Soft and Chewy Cinnamon Gingerbread Cookies Recipe (2)

Tips for Baking Gingerbread Cookies

Gingerbread cookies are so much fun this time of year! Here are a few tips for you to help them turn out perfectly!

  • Don’t overwork the dough: If you overmix your batter or roll your dough too many times then it can become tough. This will make your dough be too firm and not soft and chewy. Don’t over do it. Mix it until it’s combined and then leave it alone.
  • They shouldn’t spread: Your cookies shouldn’t spread in the oven. The flour should help keep them together in their exact shape. If you find that your cookies are speading then add a little bit more flour to your dough.
  • Underbake the cookies: Take your cookies out when they are a tiny bit softer in the center. Leave them on the baking sheet and they will finish cooking on it for a couple of minutes after you take them out of the oven!
Soft and Chewy Cinnamon Gingerbread Cookies Recipe (3)

Decorating Tips

Gingerbread cookies are the best because you can make them look exactly how you want! That’s why these are some of my kids favorite cookies to make. Here are a few things that you can use to decorate them!

  • Gumdrops (small ones)
  • Red hots
  • Mini chocolate chips
  • Regular chocolate chips
  • Buttercream Frosting
  • Cream Cheese Frosting
Soft and Chewy Cinnamon Gingerbread Cookies Recipe (4)

How to Store Leftovers

These gingerbread cookies can be made ahead of time and stored for later. Have them ready to decorate for a party by baking them beforehand. You can store gingerbread cookies in an airtight container with parchment paper between the layers. Or, you can even put them in the freezer and freeze them for up to 3 months.

Soft and Chewy Cinnamon Gingerbread Cookies Recipe (5)

More Holiday Treats to Try

Holiday treats are so festive and really add to all of the get togethers during the season. Try a few more of these holiday treats. There are enough that you can try each of them and have something different to bring to your parties every time! Merry Christmas!

Appetizers

Christmas Wreath Charcuterie

20 mins

Desserts

The Perfect Christmas Star Bread

1 hr 15 mins

Desserts

Christmas Tree Sugar Cookies

33 mins

Desserts

Cranberry Christmas Cake

1 hr 15 mins

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Soft and Chewy Cinnamon Gingerbread Cookies Recipe (10)

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Soft and Chewy Gingerbread Cookies

By: Alyssa Rivers

Soft and chewy gingerbread cookiesare my favorite Christmas treat to decorate with my kids. They're just as delicious to eat as they are cute to look at!

Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 9 minutes minutes

Total Time: 34 minutes minutes

Servings: 24 Cookies

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 375° and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

  • In a large bowl beat together the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until combined. Add in the molasses and mix until combined. Add in the vanilla and egg and beat until just barely combined.

  • In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt, and baking powder. Add the dry mixture to the sugar mixture and mix until combined. If the dough is very dry, add 2 tablespoons of milk to moisten it just enough to be able to press together with your hands.

  • This dough does not need to be refrigerated, so go ahead and roll it out on a very lightly floured surface. Roll to 1/4 inch thick and cut out desired gingerbread shapes. Lay on the baking sheets with about an inch between the cookies. They shouldn't spread as they bake.

  • Bake for 7-9 minutes or until the center of the cookies is just barely baked. Let them sit on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Frost and decorate once cooled.

  • Store gingerbread cookies in an airtight container with parchment paper between the layers. Freeze for up to 3 months.

Cream Cheese Frosting

  • In the bowl of amixer, beat the cream cheese and unsalted butter together until smooth. Scrape down the bowl and beat again for about 10 seconds to make sure everything is completely incorporated.

  • Add the vanilla, salt, and powdered sugar. Mix on low until the powdered sugar is moistened enough for you to increase the speed without it making a mess. Beat until smooth.

  • Decorate your gingerbread with arms, legs, face, and gumdrop buttons.

Notes

Updated on December 18, 2021

Originally Posted on November 23, 2018

Nutrition

Calories: 166kcalCarbohydrates: 27gProtein: 2gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 15mgSodium: 140mgPotassium: 186mgFiber: 1gSugar: 15gVitamin A: 175IUCalcium: 36mgIron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Tried this recipe?Mention @alyssa_therecipecritic or tag #therecipecritic!

About Alyssa Rivers

Welcome to my kitchen! I am Alyssa Rivers and the food blogger behind The Recipe Critic. The blog launched in 2012 as a place to share my passion for cooking. I love trying new things and testing them out with my family. Each recipe is tried and true, family-tested and approved.

Read More About Me

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Soft and Chewy Cinnamon Gingerbread Cookies Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Should gingerbread cookies be hard or soft? ›

Should gingerbread cookies be hard or soft? Soft gingerbread biscuits are ideal. They ought to be flexible. However, they should still be somewhat elastic, and if you hold them too firmly because you're so excited to eat them, you might even be able to leave your fingerprints on the cookie!

What happens if you don't chill gingerbread dough? ›

Chilling the dough before it goes into a hot oven gives the butter a chance to firm up and reduces how much it spreads when baking. “You should chill the dough both before rolling and cutting and after,” she said.

What are the three types of gingerbread? ›

The three distinct types of gingerbread are brown gingerbread, wafer-based gingerbread and honey gingerbread.
  • BROWN GINGERBREAD.
  • WAFER GINGERBREAD.
  • HONEY GINGERBREAD.

What makes a cookie more soft? ›

What Makes Cookies Soft?
  1. Brown sugar, as it has a high moisture content and retains moisture better than white sugar. ...
  2. Shortening instead of butter or in addition to butter. ...
  3. Baking powder instead of baking soda. ...
  4. Eggs, particularly egg yolks. ...
  5. Cake flour instead of all-purpose flour.
Oct 5, 2020

Why is my cookies soft but not chewy? ›

Remember moisture is the key! White sugar creates crispier cookies and brown sugar creates chewier cookies. Why use melted butter? Melted butter creates cookies with a different texture compared to cookies made with softened or creamed butter.

Why is my gingerbread so hard? ›

Extra sugar made this cookie way too hard.

As was expected because of the extra brown sugar, this cookie looked dark in color and took on the texture of molasses. I thought I was going to chip my tooth when I bit into this finished, extra-sugary cookie. It was hard and dense throughout.

How long should I chill gingerbread dough? ›

Divide the dough into two thick disks and wrap each disk in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until chilled, about 3 hours. (The dough can be prepared up to 2 days ahead.) To roll out the cookies, work with one disk at a time, keeping the other disk refrigerated.

What makes cookies chewy vs crunchy? ›

The ingredients you use and how you shape your cookies both play an important role in whether your cookies turn out crispy or chewy. The type of flour and sugar you use, if your cookie dough contains eggs, and whether you use melted or softened butter all factor into the crispy-chewy equation, too.

Is gingerbread dough supposed to be soft? ›

Gingerbread biscuits can be hard or soft, so if you want to make decorations, you'll need a recipe that will set hard and be very dry. The drier the biscuit is, the longer the icing will keep its original colour and stay hard.

How do you keep gingerbread cookies soft after baking? ›

Storing Tips to Keep Cookies Soft

Store cool cookies in an airtight container (not a cookie jar with a loose lid) at room temperature. Putting cookies, cakes or breads in the refrigerator will dry them out.

Which country is famous for gingerbread? ›

Gingerbread, as we know it today, descends from Medieval European culinary traditions. Gingerbread was also shaped into different forms by monks in Franconia, Germany in the 13th century. Lebkuchen bakers are recorded as early as 1296 in Ulm and 1395 in Nuremberg.

What country invented gingerbread? ›

According to Rhonda Massingham Hart's Making Gingerbread Houses, the first known recipe for gingerbread came from Greece in 2400 BC.

What are gingerbread men called now? ›

Some bakeries are now calling gingerbread men by the gender neutral term “gingerbread people.” Do you agree with the change? I couldn't care less if they called them “gingerbread cookies.” Originally Answered: Some Bakeries are now calling Gingerbread men by the gender fluid title Gingerbread people.

Why are my gingerbread cookies hard? ›

Keep in mind that the longer the cookies bake, the harder and crunchier they'll be. For soft gingerbread cookies, follow my suggested bake times. Allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet. Transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.

Should cookies be hard or soft? ›

You can take a bite or break off a piece. Either way, when you taste it, you'll know for certain if it's done. A cookie that's fully done shouldn't be doughy, nor should it be overly crunchy (unless you're making a really crunchy type of cookie). It should be soft, crumbly, and perfect when freshly baked.

Do gingerbread cookies harden as they cool? ›

Gingerbread Cookies are done when they are set and begin to brown slightly at the edges. They will harden further as they cool, so avoid overbaking so you don't end up with hard, crunchy gingerbread! Underbake slightly to achieve soft, slightly chewy gingerbread cookies.

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