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Itโs just not the holidays without cute gingerbread cookies! Mine are extra special because they contain fresh ginger, a double dose of spices, and orange zest for that extra Christmas spice flavor!
If youโre a serious ginger lover, these are the best gingerbread cut out cookies youโve ever had! After baking, the edges are lightly crisp and the centers are just barely soft and chewy.
Theyโre packed with double the amount of spices you typically find in gingerbread: allspice, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon. However, weโre also going to take it a step further and add fresh ginger instead of ground ginger! This makes them perfectly sweet and spicy!
It might be unusual for you to see orange zest in a gingerbread cookie, but it is that old world Christmas spice vibes that you typically find in spiced mulled wine. I would even argue that orange-spiced gingerbread needs to be the next holiday candle scent.
Ingredients
- Flour. Two cups of all-purpose flour.
- Salt. Donโt omit the 1/4 teaspoon of salt in your dough. Salt balances the sweet flavors of cookies.
- Allspice. One-quarter teaspoon of ground allspice.
- Cloves. One-quarter teaspoon of ground cloves. Itโs best to buy already ground cloves. If you have whole cloves, they can be too difficult to grind down without leaving behind some hard bits in your dough!
- Nutmeg. One-quarter teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg that you grate on a microplane from the a whole nut.
- Cinnamon. One-half teaspoon of ground cinnamon.
- Butter. In general, gingerbread cookies do not contain a lot of fat, which is why theyโre on the crisper side. This recipe calls for 4 tablespoons (or half a stick) of unsalted butter that you have softened to room temperature for easy mixing.
- Brown Sugar. One-half cup of light or dark brown sugar. Since gingerbread cut out cookies are made with additional molasses, weโre using brown sugar instead of granulated white sugar.
- Fresh Ginger. Take one knob of ginger that is roughly the size of your thumb and use a microplane to grate it down about one-half inch. This will bring all the ginger spice and flavor to our cookies! Store any leftover ginger in the freezer, and grate it directly from frozen in the future.
- Orange. Itโs entirely optional, but I think adding the zest of a fresh orange gives these cookies the best holiday spice flavor! If you want classic gingerbread flavors, omit it.
- Egg. One large egg.
- Molasses. Gingerbread cookies rely on one-third cup of molasses in the dough. This gives them their characteristic brown color and texture. Please, do not use blackstrap molasses here! I know it sounds healthier because itโs less-refined, but it has a very unsavory ham flavor. Use the regular Grandmaโs molasses in the yellow glass jar.
- Powdered Sugar. We need 1.5 cups to make the royal icing for decorating the cookies! This royal icing recipe dried hard so you can stack and gift the cookies.
- Lemon Juice. Two teaspoons of fresh lemon juice for the royal icing.
- Egg White. One egg white for making the royal icing.
How to make gingerbread cookies with fresh ginger
First, whisk together all of the dry ingredients: flour, salt, allspice, nutmeg, ground cloves, and cinnamon.
Then, cream your butter and brown sugar until fluffy, using an electric mixer on medium speed. Add the fresh ginger and orange zest and beat them in.
Next, add the 1/3 cup of molasses and egg, and beat to combine. Molasses gives these cookies softness and chewiness. Do not use blackstrap molasses.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and mix to combine.
Chill your dough for aboutย an hour if it seems too soft to roll out.
Flour the board and roll out the cookies. Use a gingerbread person cutter to cut out as many shapes as you can. Gather the scraps and re-roll and cut out more.
You should get a little less than 2 dozen cookies, depending on the size of your cookie cutter. Use a spatula to carefully move them to a cookie sheet. ake for 11 minutes for soft cookies, or a few minutes longer for crisp ones.
When the cookies are cool, make the royal icing by stirring together the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and egg white. Stir with a fork until a thin mixture forms (it might take a while for everything to come togetherโbe patient and donโt add any more liquid!). Move the mixture to a squeeze bottle to decorate the cookies. Weโre using the same icing from my Christmas Lights Cookies recipe.
Can you use blackstrap molasses in gingerbread cookies?
No! Do not ever bake with blackstrap molasses. It has a savory ham-like flavor that does not belong in baked goods. Blackstrap and otherwise unsulphured molasses is a health product not meant to be used for baking.
Gingerbread Cut Out FAQs
The best way to make sure gingerbread keeps it shape during baking is to chill the dough an hour before baking. You can roll it, cut out the shapes, and move them to the baking sheet. Then, chill the entire baking sheet in the fridge for an hour before baking. This might require additional baking time, but they will not change their shape. Gingerbread dough, in general, has a lot of flour and not a lot of fat, so it doest not spread or change shape while baking. My recipe is fine to use as-written without any chill time, as long as you donโt think itโs overly warm when youโre rolling. Iโm assuming youโre baking in the winter and your kitchen is slightly chilly.
To cut out gingerbread and move it to the baking sheet without breaking it, be sure to flour your counter top very well before rolling it out. Use a floured rolling pin, and be sure to dip your cookie cutter in flour too. This should ensure a non-stick unbreakable cut out cookie experience.
Bakeries do not store their baked goods for more than one day, so everything is fresher and softer in general. If you want your cookies to stay soft, keep them in air-tight storage containers, or freeze them until ready to serve. (Defrost on the counter at room temperature before serving).
Gingerbread Cutouts
Gingerbread Cut Out Cookies with fresh ginger, and orange zest.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2" fresh ginger, grated
- zest of 1 small orange
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup molasses (not blackstrap)
- For the royal icing for decorating:
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 large egg white
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, allspice, cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon.
- Next, in a large bowl, beat together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
- Next, stir in the ginger and orange zest and beat until combined.
- Add the egg and molasses, and beat until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet in 2 increments, beating between each addition.
- Gather the dough into a ball, cover in plastic wrap and chill for about an hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350.
- After the hour is up, divide the dough in two pieces, and roll each piece out on a floured surface. I like thick gingerbread cookies, so I left my dough a little more than 1/4" thick. Cut out as many shapes as you can, re-roll dough scraps, and cut out more. Repeat with other half of dough.
- Place the cookies on a lined baking sheet. Bake the cookies for 11 minutes for soft cookies, or a few minutes longer for crisp ones.
- Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.
- When the cookies are cool, make the royal icing by stirring together the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and egg white with a fork until runny. Move this mixture to a squeeze bottle, and use it to decorate the gingerbread men however you like.
Notes
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
22Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 128Total Fat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 14mgSodium: 31mgCarbohydrates: 25gFiber: 1gSugar: 16gProtein: 2g
How much grated ginger would I use? I donโt have fresh ginger root available where I live.
Thank you!
1 teaspoon :)
Thank you!!!!
Hi, any other flavour suggestions for the icing. Not really a cranberry fan. Could I just use food colouring and leave it plain?
Sarah x
Yes, thatโs a great idea.
I just made these for my kids to decorate for Santaโs treats :) They are delicious!! Obv I had to test them. I didnโt have any oranges or fresh ginger so I used 1/4 tsp of ground ginger. They came out perfect! Thanks for this recipe, will definitely keep this for years to come!
I have Celiac and have now made these twice subbing Bobโs Redmill Measure for Measure flour in place of the regular flour and it totally works perfectly. This past time instead of making cranberry icing, I used the juice from the orange that I zested and threw in some cinnamon to make a glaze for them and that turned out quite tasty. Last year when I made them I just did a traditional royal icing. This is my current go to for gingerbread which I havenโt found in a long time.