Recipe for Soft Gingerbread Cookies

My recipe for soft gingerbread cookies is a delicious, twist on the traditionally hard cookies. They’re chewy and will stay soft even days after baking! Save this recipe so you can make it each holiday!

Gingerbread might be the quintessential holiday flavor. There’s something so warm and festive about the combination of the ginger, molasses and cinnamon all mixing in one perfect bite. And I’ve found it’s even better when that bite happens to be soft and chewy! After experimenting a little, I’m so thrilled to be bringing you my recipe for soft gingerbread cookies that will be a beautiful, spice-filled dessert (or treat!) for your holidays.

What is gingerbread?

Gingerbread actually came from what is today considered Greece. (In 992 AD!) It was brought to a French region by a monk and who taught French Christians how to make the pastry. It was adopted throughout Europe and became widely available in the 1600s. At that time they were sold in pharmacies, town square markets and more. It was brought to the Americas where a version of gingerbread turned from cookies to more of a cake-like consistency baked in pans.

Today you might know Gingerbread comes in many forms – hard and soft cookies, cakes and different pastries. But by farm the most popular form is in cookies during the holidays.

Making my recipe for Soft Gingerbread Cookies

After trying a few different recipes for soft gingerbread cookies, I decided to model the my recipe off the recipe for my Cut Sugar Cookies {HERE}. I frankly didn’t love a lot of the recipes I tried and I really wanted this to feel like a cookie you might get in a town square market – full of homemade goodness and flavor. Everyone loves the Cut Sugar Cookie recipe and I knew if I could make a gingerbread cookie version that was similar, people would love that as well. So, I started with the butter and adapted it from there. To make these you do need a few important ingredients that you should know about.

1. Molasses – This is really important because you want to make sure you’re not using a bitter molasses. I used Wholesome Sweeteners Molasses to make mine.

2. Dutch processed cocoa powder – A lot of people don’t realize that cocoa powder is in gingerbread but it is and my recipe for soft gingerbread cookies uses it!

3. The spices – Ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves all really give the flavor to these sweet cookies with a little spice.

Shapes for Gingerbread

You can really make these any shape you like. They will spread just a bit thanks to the molasses I’m guessing because my cut sugar cookies do not spread. However, they should hold up fairly well if you want to use them with cookie cutters. I like using these cookie stamps {HERE} and I use these cookie/biscuit cutters {HERE} to cut out the circle shapes. Stamps feel like a little less work to me because the cookie comes out of the oven with a beautiful design and then all you need to do is ice them.

Tips for making my recipe for soft Gingerbread

• Take the butter out and make sure it is soft before starting. You want to make sure it is at room temperature. I usually leave mine out overnight.
• There’s no chill time for this dough, I usually roll it out with a nice helping of flour by my side. But if you want you can chill the dough prior to rolling it and cutting the cookies.
• Again, make sure you use a molasses that’s not bitter. Don’t overcook these cookies. The cook time is 8 minutes and that’s really all you need.
• You should roll the dough about 1/4 inch thick for best results.
• You can store these in an airtight container and keep them fresh for up to one week. They will stay soft and delicious for you.

More holiday cookies:

Need some other holiday cookie ideas? Try these ones!

Cranberry Shortbread {HERE}

Pizzelle Cookies {HERE}

No Chill Cut Sugar Cookies {HERE}

Lemon Shortbread {HERE}

Thank you so much for visiting today, friends! I hope you love my recipe for soft gingerbread cookies and that you come back and visit again. You can find the full, printable recipe below.

Recipe for Soft Gingerbread Cookies

My recipe for soft gingerbread cookies is a delicious, twist on the traditionally hard cookies. They're chewy and will stay soft even days after baking! Save this recipe so you can make it each holiday!

5 from 4 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert, Snack, treat

Cuisine: European

Keyword: recipe for soft gingerbread, recipe for soft gingerbread cookies, soft gingerbread, soft gingerbread cookies

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 8 minutes

Servings: 25 cookies

Author: Rachel

Equipment

• Electric Mixer
• Parchment paper
• Cooling rack

Ingredients

Ingredients for the Gingerbread

• 2 cups flour Plus addition 1/3 cup of flour for rolling
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup molasses
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. Dutch processed cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Ingredients for the icing

• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1-2 tbsp. milk

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees
• Cream together butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar and molasses in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer for about 4 minutes until it is well combined. Scrap the sides as needed.
• Add the egg to the mix and blend until well combined.
• In a separate bowl, mix together the remaining dry ingredients - the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, spices and salt. Whisk together well to ensure all the ingredients are distributed.
• Add the flower mix to the mixer little by little and combine. Once everything is combined, turn the dough out onto a piece of floured parchment paper. IF the dough is piece-y, use your hands to bring it together.
• Flour the roller and flour the top of the dough and then roll to about 1/4 inch thick. Use the stamper and then use the cookie cutter to cut around the stamped area.
• Add cookies to a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Bake for 8 minutes and then remove the cookies from the baking sheet immediately. Let them cool on a cooling rack completely before adding icing.
• Make the icing just before using it by combining the sugar, milk and vanilla. Whisk until well combined and then add the melted butter. Use a teaspoon to top each cookie with the icing.