Soft Gingerbread Cookies – Super Healthy Kids

Full of yummy spices and a delightful aroma, these delicious Soft Gingerbread Cookies are the perfect way to create holiday baking memories.  They are super easy to cutout, hold their shape and stay soft for days!

The Perfect Soft Gingerbread Cutout Cookie

Holidays are all about traditions for me.  One thing that brings memories, family time, and fun together is food! I think holiday baking with your kids is one of the best ways to create these traditions and memories with your family. Gingerbread is not only delicious, but is so fun to make and decorate with your kids!

This super soft, perfectly spiced gingerbread cookie recipe has made a gingerbread lover out of everyone who has tried them. Not only are they incredibly delicious, but they’re simple to make and the dough is so easy to work with! Plus the fabulous aroma makes the whole house smell like Christmas. They make a beautiful addition to holiday cookie plates, and are perfect for gifting! I’m sharing my tried and true tips that will guarantee you’ll get delicious gingerbread cookies that will stay soft and chewy for days. So break out those cutters and let’s get baking!

Ingredients You’ll Need to Make These Soft Gingerbread Cookies:

• Molasses– I like Grandma’s dark molasses. Do not use blackstrap molasses.
• Brown Sugar– Brown sugar will help keep your gingerbread cookies chewy.
• All-Purpose Flour– I usually use regular flour, but I have made them in the past with whole wheat flour or a combination of both.
• Butter– I like to use salted butter.
• Egg
• Cinnamon, Ginger & Cloves– This combination makes for a delicious spiced cookie. For a more intense ginger flavor, you can add fresh ginger or minced crystallized ginger as well.
• Baking Soda
• Salt
• Pure Vanilla Extract

How to Make Gingerbread Cookies:

1. Whisk together dry ingredients. To a large mixing bowl, add the flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt and baking soda. Whisk to combine and set aside.
2. Beat the wet ingredients. In the bowl of a stand mixer and the softened butter, brown sugar and egg. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the molasses and vanilla extract and continue mixing until well combined.
3. Combine. Add the dry ingredients to the stand mixer and mix on low just until combined. The dough should be thick and a little stick.
4. Chill the dough. Divide the dough in half and wrap each piece of dough in plastic wrap. Flatten slightly to make a disc. Refrigerate the dough for at least 60 minutes and up to overnight. Chilling the dough is important or your cookies will spread when baking.
5. Roll out and cut into shapes. After the dough has chilled, remove from the plastic wrap and place on a lightly floured surface. Sprinkle the top of the dough with a bit more flour, and roll the dough to about 1/4-inch thick. Cut into shapes and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Lay out your cookies on a parchment line baking sheet. This is my very favorite parchment paper. It is pre-cut to fit baking sheets, helps your cookies bake more evenly, prevents them from sticking, and makes cleaning your pan super quick!
6. Bake. Bake your cookies at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes or just until set. This is important if you want a soft gingerbread cookie. Allow to cool completely before decorating.
7. Make the icing. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, water, and corn syrup to a mixing bowl. Use a hand mixer to beat until smooth and creamy. It will be really thick- you can add a teaspoon or so of water to thin it out if necessary. Once you have the right consistency, add to a piping bag.
8. Decorate your gingerbread cookies. Pipe the icing onto your cookies however you like! Add sprinkles immediately- the icing will harden as it dries.
9. Enjoy! Leftover cookies will stay fresh up to 3 weeks in a sealed container.

Tips & Suggestions

Decorating your gingerbread cookies.

You can use a classic royal icing, but I like to use a simple powdered sugar icing on my gingerbread cookies. It is easy to make, easy to work with when decorating, and it hardens when it dries- which makes these cookies easy to stack and pack. I bought a pack of disposable piping bags which works perfect for detailed decorating. Just snip a small bit off the tip and voila! No piping tips necessary. They’re also easy for little hands to manage. Because this icing hardens fairly quickly, make sure to add your sprinkles soon after decorating.

How do you get soft gingerbread cookies?

There are a few things you need to do to ensure nice, soft gingerbread cookies. Make sure you thoroughly chill your dough before baking. This will help your cookies to hold their shape and avoid spreading. Secondly, avoid adding too much flour. The dough will be sticky, but will be easier to work with after chilling. You also want to make sure that you don’t roll the dough out too thin. Lastly, make sure you don’t over bake! The cookies will look very soft but will continue to set up as they cool. You’ll end up with delicious chewy gingerbread cookies!

How long do gingerbread cookies last?

Leftover gingerbread cookies will stay fresh for 3-4 weeks when stored in an airtight container. If the cookies get hard, you can soften them back up by placing a slice of fresh bread in the container. They’ll soak up the moisture fro the bread and get nice and chewy!

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