Gingerbread Men Cookies (Day 12)

Name: Gingerbread Men Cookies (Day 12)
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 12 min
Ingredients: 1 Vanilla spiced cookie dough recipe; 1 tbsp Molasses; 1 tsp Ginger powder; 1 tsp Cinnamon powder; 1/2 tsp Nutmeg powder; 1/4 tsp Pepper powder (optional); 1 tbsp Molasses; 6 tbsp Icing sugar; 1 Royal icing recipe (check notes); Ribbons/string

A snappy gingerbread cookie filled with ginger powder, cinnamon powder, nutmeg and molasses. These cookies are simple, cute and yummy.

Welcome to day 12 of my 12 Days Of Christmas Cookie Series. We are on the last day and there is no way I could’ve done a 12 day series without including gingerbread cookies. These cookies are not your traditional gingerbread men. They are cross between ginger snaps and ginger cookies. They can be decorated with ribbon and you can make a wreath or garland for the tree but you could also dunk them in a molasses glaze for a more elegant finish.

What ingredients do we need to make these Gingerbread Men Cookies?

Cookies –

The cookie dough used to make this recipe is my no fuss Vanilla Spiced Sugar Cookie, it was the foundation recipe for day 1 of my 12 Days Of Christmas Cookie Recipes. The dough must be chilled.

Molasses –

A traditional ginger bread cookie has to have molasses for that deep caramel color and flavor, if you don’t have molasses use treacle or date syrup. I wouldn’t recommend using honey or maple syrup as they don’t give that flavor and color we are looking for.

Spice powders –

There is a lot of spice in this cookie but that is what a ginger bread cookie is all about, we cannot skip on the ginger powder. We could use all spice powder and mixed spice instead of the cinnamon and nutmeg powder. The pepper powder is optional, some recipes ask for it and some don’t. I only add it into the dough when I know I am baking the cookies for decoration.

Icing –

The easiest and tastiest icing you will make is molasses and icing sugar mixed together. This is an optional step but it is delicious if you do make it.

What equipment do we need to make these Gingerbread Men Cookies?

We need a mixing bowl to mix al the ingredients together. The molasses is a little tricky so we need to be patient and knead this with our hands. Roll out the cookie dough between two sheets of cling film and a rolling pin. Cut into gingerbread men using a cookie cutter and bake in an oven on a lined baking tray.

How to make these Gingerbread Men Cookies?

Preheat the oven to 170 Deg C and line a king tray with baking paper. In a mixing bowl crumble the cookie dough and add all the ingredients. Mix well until combined. Knead on a clean work surface and roll out the dough between two sheets of cling film. I like the cookies less than 1/4th inch of thickness. The thicker the cookie the longer it will take to bake. Using a gingerbread man cookie cutter, cut out the dough and transfer each piece to the baking tray. If you are turning them into decorations, you will need to make a hole on the cookie or cut slits in the cookies to run a ribbon through it once baked. If the gingerbread men are large, they will take 10 to 12 mins to bake, if they are small they will take 5-7 mins to bake. Once thy are done let them cool completely.

How to serve and store these Gingerbread Men Cookies?

You can serve them three ways: 1. Run a ribbons/string through the slits/holes you made in the cookies before baking and use them as decorations or serve them as decorations as well. 2. Make a molasses icing but mixing molasses and icing sugar until combine and dunk the cookies in the glaze. 3. Pipe on some Royal icing to decorate them. I like glazing the smaller ginger bread cookies and I like keeping the larger ones for decoration. Once they are baked (not iced) they will store well in an air tight container at room temperature for upto 10 days. If they are iced they will store well for 5-6 days in an air tight container at room temperature. The dough can be mixed and wrapped in cling film, stored in the freezer for a week.

Pro tips for making the perfect Gingerbread Men Cookies –

Cookie dough must be chilled as you will be kneading it. If you feel it has become greasy then wrap it up and place in the fridge until firm before rolling out.
If you are making the cookies into decorative pieces you need to create holes or slits in the cookie before it is baked.
Let them cool completely before removing from the baking tray.

We have come to an end of my 12 days of christmas cookie series and I challenged myself with this one. I wanted to bring simplicity to your kitchens this holiday season. I wanted the recipes to be approachable, festive and delicious. I hope you have enjoyed the recipes, make sure to check out the videos online. Do share it with your loved ones as well.

Now that we have covered how to make these Gingerbread Men Cookies, you can have a look at the recipe video on my socials but let’s get to it. Don’t forget to follow along for other holiday baking recipe inspiration.

If you try this recipe out, don’t forget to share it with me on instagram so I can see how it turned out. I’d love nothing more than to chat with you on your cooking/baking.