Soft Gingerbread Cookies
To make gingerbread cookies, cream butter and brown sugar, beat in an egg and molasses, then mix in flour with ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and baking soda to make a soft dough. Chill it for at least an hour so it's firm enough to roll and cut. Roll, cut into shapes, and bake at 175 °C for 8–10 minutes. Chilling the dough is the key to clean shapes that hold their edges. Cool completely before decorating with royal icing.
Gingerbread is the smell of the holidays. These cookies are soft and warmly spiced, sturdy enough to cut into shapes and decorate, and they turn an afternoon into a whole cozy event — flour on the counter, cutters everywhere, icing on small fingers. They’re a Christmas-baking rite of passage.
Chill the dough — really
This is the one non-negotiable step. Chilling firms the butter so the dough rolls cleanly and, most importantly, so the cookies hold their shape in the oven instead of spreading into blurry blobs. An hour minimum; overnight is even better. If the dough goes soft and sticky while you’re cutting, send it back to the fridge for 15 minutes.
Soft or crisp — same dough
- Soft and chewy: roll a little thicker (6 mm) and bake just until the edges set, 8–9 minutes.
- Crisp and snappy: roll thinner and bake a couple of minutes longer — better for gingerbread houses and dunking.
Watch them closely at the end; gingerbread goes from perfect to over-baked quickly because the dark dough hides the colour.
Spice and molasses
Ginger leads, backed by cinnamon and clove; molasses gives the deep colour, chew, and that unmistakable flavour (use fancy or cooking molasses, not bitter blackstrap). Feel free to bump the spice — a little black pepper or cardamom adds a grown-up warmth.
Decorating and make-ahead
Cool the cookies completely before icing, or the royal icing melts. The whole thing is wonderfully make-ahead: the dough keeps days in the fridge or months in the freezer, and baked plain cookies freeze well, so you can bake early and decorate closer to the day.
Line them up on a plate for Santa, string them on the tree, or box them up as gifts. They’re as much an activity as a recipe — the best kind of holiday baking.
Frequently asked questions
Why do I have to chill gingerbread dough?
Chilling firms up the butter so the dough is easy to roll and, crucially, so the cookies hold their shape instead of spreading and blurring in the oven. It also lets the flour hydrate and the spices meld. Chill at least an hour (or overnight); if the dough softens too much while you work, pop it back in the fridge.
How do I get soft cookies vs crisp ones?
It's mostly about thickness and bake time. Roll the dough a little thicker (about 6 mm) and bake just until the edges are set — around 8–9 minutes — for soft, chewy cookies. Roll thinner and bake a minute or two longer for crisp, snappy gingerbread better suited to building houses. Both come from the same dough.
Can I make the dough ahead?
Yes — gingerbread dough is very make-ahead friendly. Wrap it well and refrigerate up to 3 days, or freeze up to 3 months (thaw in the fridge before rolling). Baked, undecorated cookies also freeze well, so you can bake early and decorate closer to the day.