Gingerbread Men Cookies

These Gingerbread Men are the ultimate Christmas cookies! This recipe yields soft, yet firm gingerbread cookies that are perfectly spiced, buttery, and hold their shape beautifully. Top them off with my foolproof icing that makes plenty for decorating, and you’ve got yourself a fun holiday activity for the whole family. Recipe includes a how-to video!

Perfect Gingerbread Cookies

Christmas cookie season is here, and I can’t think of a cookie that’s more festive than gingerbread men.

With their adorable icing faces and candy bowties and buttons, they’re almost always the cutest cookies on the tray–but they’re not always the most tasty. Many recipes call for loads of flour to make the very sticky dough (a byproduct of using molasses) more manageable, but this often leads to dull, dry cookies that just don’t taste great.

While my recipe takes a little bit more patience, I simply chill my dough for a few hours, which guarantees gingerbread men that are easy to make and flavorful.

These cookies are soft and perfectly spiced in a way that’s not overwhelming, but still distinctly gingerbread -flavored. Besides their perfect blend of spices, they have a subtle buttery note that adds richness and balances everything out beautifully. Like my well-loved sugar cookies, my gingerbread cookies maintain their shape while baking, so they’re perfect for precise cut-out shapes. Even better, they don’t get too hard (like gingersnaps); instead, the centers are firm, but ultimately melt in your mouth.

I’m confident you’re going to love them, so let’s get to it!

What You Need for Gingerbread Men

These gingerbread cookies are easy to make and so flavorful! Let’s touch on a few of the key ingredients in the cookies:

• Butter. Use unsalted and make sure it’s softened, but not melty.
• Brown sugar. You can use either light or dark brown sugar. Dark brown will add a stronger flavor, so just keep that in mind.
• Molasses. This is an essential gingerbread ingredient! It adds color, flavor, and moisture. Look for molasses that says “unsulphered” on the label and avoid blackstrap molasses, which could make the cookies bitter.
• Egg. Just one egg helps bind our dough together.
• Flour. Use all-purpose flour, and don’t be afraid to add extra when you’re rolling your dough (it will be sticky). Note: I’ve increased the flour just a little bit (about ¼ cup) compared to my original recipe that was published several years ago.
• Spices. We’ll use traditional gingerbread spices, including ginger, cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg.

While you could always use royal icing, I prefer to frost my gingerbread men with the same easy icing I use for my sugar cookies. It’s super simple, and it tastes much better than royal icing! Here’s what you need:

• Powdered sugar. Sift your powdered sugar before using it to avoid any lumps.
• Milk. Pretty much any kind of milk will work here.
• Corn syrup. Not to be confused with high fructose corn syrup, this ingredient can be left out (you might need a splash more milk) but your icing won’t dry as quickly, as shiny, or as well, unfortunately.
• Vanilla. Just a splash of vanilla extract adds a nice smooth flavor.
• Sprinkles/decoration. Use whatever you like! Or skip the sprinkles and just do some fun icing decorations.

SAM’S TIP: Many have asked if this recipe can be used to make a gingerbread house instead of gingerbread men. While I haven’t tried it myself, I think it should work as long as you keep your house small and simple. The cookies bake up with crisp edges but somewhat tender middles, so if the house is too big, it may not hold up structurally.

Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!

How to Make Gingerbread Men

1. Beat together butter, sugar, and molasses and then stir in an egg and vanilla extract.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then gradually stir them into the wet ingredients. You’ll have a sticky dough, wrap it tightly and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
3. Generously flour a clean surface and use a rolling pin to roll your dough until it is ¼″ thick.
4. Use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes. Gather scraps and re-roll your dough to cut out as many cookies as you can, and bake for 8-10 minutes.

SAM’S TIP: This dough will be VERY sticky once you’ve mixed it all together–this is normal! To make it more manageable, chill it for several hours. Some recipes would instead call for more flour to minimize the wait, but I don’t prefer this because it can make the cookies hard, dry, and much less flavorful. Chilling our dough allows us to let that buttery, perfectly spiced gingerbread flavor shine!

This icing recipe makes a bit more than you typically need so you can have fun decorating your gingerbread men! If you don’t need a lot of icing, simply make a half batch.

5. Combine icing ingredients with a whisk, starting with only two tablespoons of milk. You’ll know its ready when you hold your whisk out of the bowl and the ribbon of icing that falls down hold its shape for several seconds before dissolving into the rest of the bowl. If your icing is too thick at this stage, add the remaining milk. If it’s too thin, add some more powdered sugar.
6. Transfer icing to a piping bag and decorate! Let the icing harden before enjoying (or don’t, I don’t judge!).

SAM’S TIP: To make the icing in advance, simply store in an airtight container with a piece of plastic wrap against the surface. You can either refrigerate it or keep at room temperature, but just make sure to stir again before using.

Frequently Asked Questions

Enjoy!

More Recipes You Might Like

• Pizzelle
• Peppermint Bark Cookies
• Funfetti Christmas Cookies
• Gingersnap Cookies (Crisp, Snappy Cookies!)

Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook

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