Gingerbread Man Cookie Recipe

It is baking time for Christmas!!! Mandy and I baked a few batches of Gingerbread Man cookies a few days ago to try out a few different gingerbread cookie recipes. We finally settled on the adapted recipe from Martha Stewart which my kids and I love the most.

For years, I have been wishing to bake my own Gingerbread Man cookies, I am glad that I am able to accomplish it this year. With help from Mandy, I have baked my first ever gingerbread cookies and decorated royal icing on them!!! The feeling in getting the icing done without practicing ahead is simply thrilling, I thought I would fail but they turned out pleasing (not perfect though). Not only that, I feel the joy when seeing my kids’ first bites on the cookies they have never tried before, and, feel overjoyed when they keep asking for it, wow… 100% baking satisfaction.

The Gingerbread Man cookies have gone way too fast and I will need to bake a few more batches again very soon. I truly enjoy the process because I am devoted to bake for my loved ones.

I hope you will try out this recipe too.

Gingerbread Man Cookie

Adapted and modified from Martha Stewart
Makes 12 – 16 medium size gingerbread man cookies
Prep Time: 30 minutes | Bake Time: 12 minutes per batch

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar
4 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoons ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon finely ground white pepper
3/4 teaspoons coarse salt
1 large eggs
1/2 cup un-sulfured molasses

Royal Icing, various colors for decoration (we used royal icing premix)

Method:

Sift together flour, baking soda, and baking powder into a large bowl. Set aside.

Put butter and brown sugar in the mixing bowl, mix with a hand whisk until fluffy. Mix in spices and salt, then egg and molasses. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture; mix with a spatula until just combined. Divide dough into halve; wrap each in plastic. Refrigerate until cold, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out dough on a lightly floured work surface to a 1/4-inch thick. Cut into Gingerbread man with a Gingerbread man cookie cutter. Space 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper, and refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.

Bake cookies until crisp but not dark, 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.

When cool, you can decorate the cookies with Royal icing.

Cook’s Note:
Store cookies between layers of parchment in an airtight container at room temperature up to 5 days.
If you are going to use the original recipe (double portion) you will need an electric mixer to cream the butter and mixing the rest of the ingredients.

Conversion:
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