Soft, chewy, and perfectly adequate for the season, the gingerbread cookies have had a special place in our hearts, and tummies. Being a spicy opportunity to cook in our houses with our family and friends, here are some sweet gingerbread cookies recipes that will tempt your creativity.
Gingy from Shrek
Of course, there’s no gingerbread cookie without a gingerbread man. And what better way to do so than by baking the most popular and funny gingerbread man! Yes, I’m talking about Gingy and his gumdrop buttons. This recipe from Barry Lewis will help us bake Shrek’s friend.
Ingredients
Directions
Grab a mixing bowl and add in plain flour with the butter, cinnamon, ginger, and baking soda.
Rub this together with your fingers; the color may darken slightly, and it will go crumbly.
Carry on by adding in the sugar, golden syrup (if you can only get corn syrup, use dark brown sugar instead), then finally add the egg.
Mix well, with your hands if you like, and then place your mixture on a floured board.
It’s important to keep the board floured as it can stick quite easily.
Roll out to 5cm (2 inches) or so thickness and cut out with a gingerbread man cutter.
If needed, use your hands to alter the legs and arms of Gingy.
Bake for 10-12 mins on a tray lined with baking paper until your batch gets lightly golden.
Allow to cool fully, then use colored icing pens and jelly sweets to decorate and personalize your very own Gingy!
Extra tip: You can grab one of your cookies to recreate the scene where the evil Lord Farquaad wanted to find out the whereabouts of the other fairytale creatures. By the way, do you know the muffin man?
Gingerbread Cookie Sandwiches
This next recipe happens to be from the one and only Buddy Valastro, the owner of Carlo’s Bakery, and the star from the reality tv show Cake Boss!
Ingredients:
For the cookies:
For the filling:
Directions:
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices; set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugars together until they appear light and fluffy. Add the egg and mix to combine, scraping down the sides of the bowl once if needed.
Working in three batches, add the dry ingredients, mixing between each addition until just incorporated. Remove the dough and turn it out onto a sheet of plastic wrap; form into a dish, wrap tightly and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours. The dough can be made up to 1 day ahead.
Preheat the oven to 350˚. Remove the dough and cut it in half. Rewrap one half and place back in the fridge; let the other sit at room temperature for a few minutes to soften slightly. Lightly flour a work surface and your rolling pin and roll out the dough to ¼ inch thick.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using cookie cutters, cut out the gingerbread men, and transfer them to the prepared sheets.
If the dough feels very soft, refrigerate the gingerbread men on the baking sheet for 15 minutes before placing them in the oven to bake. Bake until cookies appear firm and like they’re just starting to crisp, 12-15 minutes. Remove and let cool on the sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely.
Meanwhile, make the sandwich filling. Beat together the butter, vanilla, and salt until fluffy. Add the confectioners’ sugar in 2 batches and beat on low speed until incorporated. Add the milk and beat until the mixture is thick but spreadable, adding more milk in 1 teaspoon increments as needed.
Spread some of the icing onto half of the cooled cookies, sandwich each with another cookie.
Christmas Light Gingerbread Cookies
Torie Cox’s formula gives a stylish twist to the gingerbread cookie. You can even decorate your home with these colorful treats, whether you’d like to place them on your Christmas tree or as a centerpiece wreath!
Ingredients
Directions
Whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves in a bowl. Beat butter and granulated sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 4 minutes. Beat in molasses. Reduce speed to low and gradually beat in flour mixture just until combined. Divide dough in half, flatten it into disks, and wrap in plastic; chill for at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Working with one disk at a time, roll on a lightly floured work surface to 3/8-inch thick. Cut into light-bulb shapes using 2- and 3-inch light-bulb-shaped cutters. Place 1 1/2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Knead and reroll scraps up to 2 more times. Repeat with the remaining dough disk.
Bake until edges are lightly browned, 7 to 9 minutes for small cookies and 10 to 12 minutes for large cookies. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
Beat confectioners’ sugar, meringue powder, and 1/3 cup water on medium speed until smooth and thickened, about 1 minute. Add additional water, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, as necessary to reach desired consistency for piping.
Divide icing into 5 bowls. Tint 4 bowls to desired colors using blue, pink, red, and green food coloring. Leave the remaining bowl white. Spoon half of each color into a piping bag fitted with a #2 open piping tip. Spoon one-fourth of the remaining white icing into a piping bag fitted with a #1 piping tip.
Pipe a white border around the “socket” of each cookie with white icing. Outline bulb of each cookie with desired icing color; let stand until dry, 15 minutes. Squeeze any remaining icing back into bowls and thin with 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon water; return to piping bags. Fill bulbs of cookies with icing and let stand until dry, at least 1 hour. Arrange cookies on a platter in the shape of a wreath.
Chocolate Chip Gingerbread Cookies
Why would you have to choose only one cookie flavor when you can combine two in one recipe? Ashley Manila has made it possible for us to merge the chocolate and gingerbread cookies. The perfect match for a sweet tooth!
Ingredients
Directions
Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, freshly grated nutmeg, and Dutch-process cocoa powder; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and fresh ginger on medium speed until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl if needed; about 4 minutes. Add brown sugar and beat until well combined. Add molasses and beat until well combined.
In a small bowl combine the baking soda and boiling water. Add half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, then add the baking soda mixture. Beat in the remaining flour. Mix in the chocolate chunks until just combined. Be sure not to over mix the dough at any point. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours, or overnight.
Gingerbread cookie with dulce de leche
For all the fans of the caramelized milk, courtesy of Sarah from Broma Bakery, I present you these gingerbread Linzer cookies with dulce de leche on their center!
Ingredients
For the dulce de leche:
For The Shortbread:
Directions
For the dulce de leche:
Remove the labeling from the sweetened condensed milk and place the can on its side in a pot of boiling water. Lower the heat and simmer for 3 hours. Make sure the water covers the top of the can at all times (you will have to pour in more water from time to time). Remove can from water, allow to cool slightly, then open and stir in salt. Set aside.
For The Gingerbread Shortbread:
In a stand mixer, whip butter and brown sugar until combined.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, spices, and salt. Pour into the mixer, pulsing until combined.
Separate dough in half and pound into disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (or up to 24 hours).
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
Remove one disk of dough from the fridge and place it on a well-floured work surface. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness.
Using a 3-inch fluted edge cookie cutter, cut out disks of dough and place them onto baking sheets. Use a 1-inch fluted edge cutter to cut out the center of half of the disks of dough. You can repeat this process again with your leftover scraps of dough.
Repeat the entire process with a second disk of dough.
Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes. The cookies should be slightly soft to the touch. Allow to cool for 10 minutes on the baking trays, then transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling completely.
Dust the center-cut cookies with powdered sugar. Place a rounded teaspoon of dulce de leche in the center of a full cookie and then sandwich it with the powdered-sugar cookie. Repeat with remaining cookies.
Note: You can buy your favorite brand of dulce de leche instead of making it from scratch to save some time.
