Best Gingerbread Cookies Recipes

Steps:

• Mix flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt in large bowl. Set aside. Beat butter and brown sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add molasses, egg and vanilla;mix well. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed. Press dough into a thick flat disk. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness on lightly floured work surface. Cut into gingerbread men shapes with 5-inch cookie cutter. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets.
• Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges of cookies are set and just begin to brown. Cool on baking sheets 1 to 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks; cool completely. Decorate cooled cookies as desired. Store cookies in airtight container up to5 days.

Steps:

• In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves until well blended.
• In a large bowl (KitchenAid's great for this) beat butter, brown sugar, and egg on medium speed until well blended.
• Add molasses, vanilla, and lemon zest and continue to mix until well blended.
• Gradually stir in dry ingredients until blended and smooth.
• Divide dough in half and wrap each half in plastic and let stand at room temperature for at least 2 hours or up to 8 hours.
• Preheat oven to 375 deg. Prepare baking sheets by lining with parchment paper.
• (Dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, but in this case it should be refrigerated. Return to room temp before using.) Preheat oven to 375°.
• Grease or line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• Place 1 portion of the dough on a lightly floured surface.
• Sprinkle flour over dough and rolling pin.
• Roll dough to a scant 1/4-inch thick.
• Use additional flour to avoid sticking.
• Cut out cookies with desired cutter-- the ginger bread man is our favorite of course.
• Space cookies 1 1/2-inches apart.
• Bake 1 sheet at a time for 7-10 minutes (the lower time will give you softer cookies-- very good!).
• Remove cookie sheet from oven and allow the cookies to stand until the cookies are firm enough to move to a wire rack.
• After cookies are cool you may decorate them any way you like.
• I usually brush them with a powdered sugar glaze when I am in a hurry, but they look wonderful decorated with Royal icing.

Steps:

• For the cookies: Whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, allspice and cloves in a large bowl.
• Mix the butter, shortening, brown sugar and molasses in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat in the egg. Beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in two additions. Divide the dough in half, wrap in plastic and pat to 1/2-inch thick. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out one piece of dough to 1/4-inch thick, dusting with flour if needed. Cut into 3- to 5-inch cookies with a gingerbread man cutter or desired shape. Brush off the excess flour and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Repeat with the second piece of dough.
• Bake the cookies in batches until they are golden around the edges, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.
• For the royal icing: Whisk the confectioners' sugar with the meringue powder in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat in 6 tablespoons of water until well combined and you have stiff glossy peaks, adding 1 tablespoon more water at a time to reach a smooth pipeable consistency. Mix in food coloring as desired. Fill pastry bags fitted with tips. Decorate the gingerbread cookies with the icing.

Steps:

• Add the flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, cloves, nutmeg, salt and pepper to a large bowl. Whisk to aerate and combine.
• Cream the butter and brown sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the molasses and blend on medium until combined. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed. Add the egg and continue to mix on medium until combined, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl until the mixture comes together. Reduce the speed to low. Add the flour mixture and water, alternating in 3 additions. Mix until the ingredients are combined.
• Mound the dough onto a clean workspace and press into two discs. Wrap each disc in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes to allow the dough to hydrate and the butter to firm up.
• Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll it to 1/4-inch thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut the dough into shapes and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Freeze the cookie cut-outs for 15 minutes so they will retain their shape when baked.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and place two racks in the upper and lower third of the oven.
• Bake, switching the baking sheets halfway through, until the cookies have dried out and are baked through, about 12 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before decorating. Continue until all of the cookie dough has been used.
• After cooling completely, decorate the cookies using royal icing or glaze.
• To decorate with royal icing: Transfer 1/2 cup of royal icing to a piping bag with a #2 metal piping tip (small round tip). Pipe as desired--the royal icing will need about 1 hour to dry, or overnight if you plan to pack them for shipping. Add additional royal icing to the piping bag as needed.
• To decorate with glaze: Dip the top half of the cookie into the glaze. Sprinkle the cookies with colored sugar as desired. Decorate with various candies if using.
• Sift the powdered sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the egg whites and mix on low until combined, about 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium and mix until smooth, about 5 minutes. With the mixer running, add 1 teaspoon of water at a time, if needed, to desired thickness.
• Use immediately, as the royal icing will dry out. Or, store in a closed container in the refrigerator until ready to use (you may need to whisk in a little water again for it to be the desired thickness). Makes about 3 cups icing.
• Add the ingredients to a small bowl and whisk until smooth. Spoon about 1 teaspoon on each cookie and use a small offset spatula or butter knife to spread the glaze on in an even layer. Sprinkle with colored sugar on top, if desired. Makes 1 1/2 cups glaze.

Steps:

• Combine first 3 ingredients in bowl.
• Cream margarine, add sugar then eggs one at a time.
• Now add the molasses and vinegar.
• Mix in the flour.
• Roll out and use cookie cutters.
• Bake 10-12 minutes at 350°F.
• After they are baked you can decorate the way you like.

Steps:

• In large bowl, beat butter and brown sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in egg and molasses. Stir in remaining ingredients except granulated sugar. Cover; refrigerate at least 2 hours.
• Heat oven to 350°F. Line cookie sheets with cooking parchment paper or silicone baking mat. In small bowl, place granulated sugar. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll in sugar. On cookie sheets, place balls 2 inches apart.
• Bake 8 to 10 minutes or just until set and soft in center. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Store tightly covered up to 1 week.