Easy Gingerbread Men Cookies That Are Soft and Chewy

This classic Christmas cookie has been dubbed my daughter’s favorite! It is spiced with molasses, ginger, and cinnamon, and SO soft and chewy. If you’re on the hunt for the best gingerbread cookie recipe that comes together fast with zero fuss, these easy gingerbread men cookies are about to become your new holiday go-to. 🎄

I cannot believe we are already on Day 8 of Christmas cookie season! And Christmas is in TWO WEEKS. WHAT?!

Seriously, this time speed warp I’m in feels like madness. I’ve decided time must speed up with every kid you have. Hats off to you mommas of lots — you blink and it’s Christmas time again! Ok, before we get back on track and start talking gingerbread people, here’s something that’s been making me chuckle: my husband has started sporting a beard, and my siblings are now calling him The GingerBEARD Man. I didn’t know redheads were called “gingers” until I got married, so for those of you who are like me, there you go — my ginger husband and his ginger-beard. Also, doesn’t he look like Kris Kringle from the classic claymation Christmas movies??

Why This Is the Best Gingerbread Man Cookies Recipe

Ok, for real now — let’s talk about actual gingerbread men. These are soft gingerbread cookies, sweetly spiced with ginger, cinnamon, and a touch of black pepper for that perfect blend of spices, and SO easy to make! A lot of gingerbread recipes call for a massive amount of time to chill the gingerbread dough. But not this one, because WHO HAS TIME FOR THAT? Call me crazy, but if I’m making chewy gingerbread man cookies for Christmastime, it’s probably at the last minute, because everything that happens in December is last-minute with me. And I know I can’t be the only one, right? Right?? Plus, my daughter would have just died if I told her we had to wait hours for the gingerbread cookie dough to chill. This really is the easy gingerbread cookie recipe busy holiday bakers have been waiting for — no long time spent waiting around, just straight to the fun part: cutting out gingerbread man shapes and decorating like crazy.

Tips For Easy Gingerbread Men Cookies That Turn Out Soft Every Time

So I made sure this recipe was quick and easy and can go from large mixing bowl to rolling pin in a snap. I cream the unsalted butter and brown sugar together in my stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until it’s nice and fluffy, then mix in the large egg, vanilla extract, and molasses on low speed. I did pop the cut-out gingerbread dough in the freezer for about 5 minutes for a quick chill to help hold its cookie form during baking, but that’s really no big deal — no long chilling times here! A few tips for the best gingerbread cookies: make sure your butter is room temperature before you start, and don’t go adding loads of flour just because the gingerbread dough feels sticky — a lightly floured surface and a little bit of patience goes a long way. Too much flour is the number one way to end up with tough cookies instead of soft, chewy ones.

Here’s the gist of what you’ll need: butter, brown sugar, molasses (blackstrap molasses or dark corn syrup both work in a pinch, and maple syrup is a fun swap too), a large egg, vanilla extract, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper, and plenty of flour as your dry ingredients. Whisk those dry ingredients together in a separate bowl while your wet mixture comes together in another, then combine them on medium speed until you’ve got a soft, workable gingerbread dough.

How To Roll, Cut, And Bake Your Gingerbread Dough

Once your dough is ready, divide dough into two discs — working with one disc of dough at a time makes life so much easier. Place your disc of dough between two pieces of parchment paper (this is honestly the best way to roll dough without it sticking everywhere or needing loads of flour on your work surface). Roll it out to about a ¼-inch thickness, then grab your favorite gingerbread man cookie cutter and get to cutting! You can also use cookie cutters shaped like christmas trees or gingerbread people of all sizes — smaller cookies will need less time in the oven, so keep an eye on them.

Transfer your shapes to parchment-lined baking sheets or a plain cookie sheet, and bake until the edges are just set. Bake time is typically 8-10 minutes depending on your oven and how thick you rolled them — the baking time will also change slightly for smaller cookies versus bigger gingerbread men. You want crisp edges with a soft texture in the middle, which is really the hallmark of great ginger molasses cookies. If you’re nervous about measuring, a kitchen scale takes a lot of the guesswork out of getting consistent results every single time.

Decorating Your Gingerbread Men Cookies

You’ll want to have frosting and lots of sprinkles on hand for decorating! We decorated ours for Family Night this week. I used chocolate on mine and made a ginger-reindeer ☺️, because I think even gingerbread needs chocolate. If you want a classic recipe for icing, royal icing is the way to go — it dries hard enough to stack these for christmas cookie trays without smearing, and you can thin it out for flooding or keep it thick for piping fun little details. Load it into a piping bag with a small round tip and you can add all sorts of sweater patterns, buttons, and smiley faces to your gingerbread men. For an equally great icing recipe with a softer set, check out my sugar cookie icing recipe — it works beautifully here too. This recipe is meant to be super tasty and a lot of fun, so don’t stress over perfection. I hope you share some holiday joy in the kitchen with those you love while making these cookies this year!

More Ultimate Christmas Cookies To Try

Can we talk about how gingerbread has such deep roots in American history? I love reading about how Colonial Williamsburg bakers were making spiced gingerbread cakes and cookies centuries ago using the same standard spices we still use today — ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg. It’s such a classic cookie, and honestly one of my favorite parts of the ultimate Christmas cookies lineup every single year. If you love this one, you have to try my gingerbread house recipe for building an edible masterpiece, or my gingerbread crinkle cookies for something a little different. I think you’ll also like my Christmas sugar cookies recipe (no chill-time required for this one either, and the sugar cookie dough is just as forgiving as this gingerbread dough!):

And be sure to try my Gingerbread Blossom Cookies — another great recipe for your Christmas cookie trays this year, and proof that once you’ve mastered this gingerbread cookie dough, the whole world of gingerbread recipes is wide open to you. Store any leftover easy gingerbread cookies in an airtight container, and keep your recipe card handy because you’ll want to make these soft cookies again and again all season long!

Classic Gingerbread Man Cookies

Yield: 1 dozen

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This classic Christmas cookie has been dubbed my daughter's favorite! It is spiced with molasses, ginger, and cinnamon, and SO soft and chewy.

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Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, cold
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup molasses
• 1 egg
• 2-2/3 cups all-purpose flour + a little more
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tbsp ground ginger
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
•  

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Beat the butter until smooth. Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy.

Mix in the molasses and egg.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and combine until soft dough forms.

Mix in additional flour by the tablespoon until dough pulls away from the edges of the bowl and looks like you could handle it with your hands. (I added 5 tbsp)

Remove dough to a floured surface and form into a disc. Gently roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out into shapes and place on ungreased baking sheet.

Place in the freezer for 5 minutes. Bake for 9 minutes, until edges are firm. Let cool completely before frosting.