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You can make the cutest gingerbread cookies for Christmas using this easy gingerbread cookie recipe with molasses and no egg. These cut-out cookies are soft, chewy and perfect for decorating!
Gingerbread Man Cookies
This easy gingerbread cookies recipe comes from one of my mom’s friends. It’s an old fashioned recipe that is little different in that it calls for boiling the molasses, which helps with the texture.
It’s made without eggs, and I’ve never seen another cookie recipe like this. But, it definitely works because these adorable gingerbread man cookies are absolutely delicious!
For a fun twist, you can dip the cookies in this easy gingerbread dip!
Why you’ll love these gingerbread Christmas cookies
The cookie dough is super easy to work with. It’s not dry or crumbly or too wet and doesn’t spread much in the oven. Plus, the flavor is nicely balanced and not too spicy.
And, if you’re looking for an eggless gingerbread recipe, this one’s for you!
To make decorating easy, we use meringue powder to make royal icing, but you can use your favorite frosting or glaze.
What You Need
Here are the basic ingredients. Full amounts are in the printable recipe card below.
- Unsulphured molasses — not blackstrap molasses. I use Grandma’s brand
- Butter — you can use salted or unsalted butter
- Milk — acts as a binder in this recipe
- Flour
- White sugar — for sweetness
- Baking soda — a leavening agent
- Spices — ground cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger
How to Make Gingerbread Cookies
First, you mix your dry ingredients in a bowl, then cream the butter, sugar and milk in a separate bowl. Boil the molasses, add to the wet ingredients, and mix the dry with the molasses mixture. Roll the dough out, then wrap with plastic wrap, and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Use cookie cutters to cut shapes out of the chilled dough. We made men, women and children gingerbread people. Bake for 8-10 minutes, then allow to cool completely before decorating.
How to Decorate Gingerbread Cookies
We use meringue powder to make royal icing, just like we do for our sugar cookies. It’s easy this way and hardens super fast. You can add red or green food coloring for Christmas colors or leave the icing white or do a mix of colors.
Decorating gingerbread people is super easy. Just pipe squiggly lines for the hair and clothing using a piping bag, and add eyes and a mouth to each face. You can also add bows and buttons or whatever designs you like.
Storing the Cookies
Store gingerbread cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 4-5 days. For longer storage, you can freeze the cookies up to 3 months for best results. I don’t recommend refrigerating them as the royal icing tends to soften in the refrigerator.
Quick Tips
The molasses does not need to cool down before you add it to the butter mixture.
Be careful not to over bake the cookies or they will be too hard. When the edges are firm, they’re done.
Don’t skip chilling the dough or the dough will be difficult to cut out.
More Classic Holiday Cookies
Be sure to try our Christmas sugar cookies next! You may also like our pizzelle or these easy molasses cookies, these fun cornflake wreaths or these meringue cookies.
The Cutest Gingerbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teasoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 3 tablespoons butter softened
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
- ½ cup molasses
Instructions
- In a small mixing bowl, add the flour, sea salt, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Mix well and set aside
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the softened butter, sugar and milk together with an electric mixer until smooth
- Add molasses to a small sauce pan and bring to a boil
- Immediately add boiled molasses to butter, sugar and milk mixture. Mix well
- Gradually add in the flour mixture and mix until completely blended. To avoid overworking the dough, finish mixing with a rubber spatula
- Place the dough onto a large sheet of plastic wrap and use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to ¼ inch thick
- Cover rolled out dough with plastic wrap and chill the refrigerator for 2 hours
- After the dough has chilled, preheat oven to 350℉
- Unwrap the chilled dough and use cookie cutters to cut out cookie shapes
- Place cut out cookies 2 inches apart onto a prepared baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat
- Bake for 8-10 minutes or until edges are firm and set
- Allow cookies to cool completely before decorating
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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