With fresh ginger and no molasses these Gingerbread Men Cookies are the real deal. With a delicious flavor and super easy these will be the hit of the holidays!
Ok you guys might be thinking, no molasses and real ginger – what is this gal thinking? Trust me, this has been a recipe in our family forever.
Now I do love the cookies with the molasses but if you have never tried these Gingerbread Men Cookies you have to once in your life because they are amazing.
I’m not sure where my grandma got this dessert recipe as it was hand written and she has since passed but I really wanted to share it with you because it’s different than the others.
They still have all the same colors and flavors, look and appeal of what you are used to, they are just made a little bit differently.
The fresh ginger is not overpowering at all and you don’t get a huge bite of spice with the molasses. These are sweet with the perfect spice flavor.
Finished off decorated with a powdered sugar frosting, these Gingerbread Men Cookies are cute and fun and one of my favorite holiday cookies.
Some of my other favorite cookies we have on our site include: Linzer Cookies, Butter Pecan Cookies and Iced Oatmeal Cookies.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- They have a nice balance of flavors that work well together.
- You can shape them however you like.
- They are super simple to whip up and bake!
INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE AT BOTTOM):
Honey
Brown sugar
Unsalted butter
All-purpose flour
Unsweetened cocoa powder
Ground cinnamon
Fresh ground ginger
Baking soda
Salt
Egg
Powdered sugar
Vanilla extract
Milk
HOW TO MAKE GINGERBREAD MEN COOKIES, STEP BY STEP:
- Place honey, butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan. Stir over medium heat until the butter is melted and the sugar is dissolved. Allow to cool for 10 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large bowl whisk the flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda and salt.
- Gradually add the honey mixture and egg. Mix with a spatula until it comes together.
- Transfer to a lightly floured working surface and knead for 5 minutes or until you get a smooth, soft dough. If the dough is sticky, add some flour.
- Divide the dough in half.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of about ¼-in.
- Using a shaped gingerbread cutter, cut out the cookies. With a spatula transfer the cookies onto the prepared baking sheets, placing about 1 inch apart.
- Bake for about 8 – 12 minutes depending on the size of the cookies.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool completely on the baking sheet.
- Decorate with confectioners’ frosting if desired.
- To make frosting using a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the vanilla extract and milk (or half & half) and beat until the frosting is light, about 4 minutes.
- Transfer the frosting in an icing bag fitted with a Wilton #3 or #5 tip and decorate the gingerbread men as desired.
CAN I USE GROUND GINGER INSTEAD OF FRESH?
Yes you can, although I HIGHLY recommend fresh ginger in this recipe and you can easily find at your local grocer for cheap and break off as much as you’d like.
But if you can’t find it or want to use ground ginger you will need 3/4 teaspoon for this recipe.
SHOULD GINGERBREAD MEN COOKIES BE HARD OR SOFT?
Usually they will have a soft texture when biting into them, they should not be crunchy, if they are they they are overbaked.
These should bend and feel nice and soft right out of the oven and they should stay that way if they are properly stored.
DO I NEED TO CHILL THE DOUGH?
Unlike some Gingerbread Men Cookies this recipe does not require that you chill your dough which makes them quick and easy to make!
I love quick and easy and that is one reason that this is one recipe that I have stuck with for many years now.
HOW TO STORE:
These cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature where they will keep for up to 3 days.
These can also be frozen, cool your cookies completely. You can choose if you want to decorate them or not they will freeze the same either way.
Place cookies in a freezer container separated by parchment paper and they should last 3-4 months. Let defrost at room temperature and then decorate if you froze undecorated.
TIPS AND TRICKS:
- You can double this recipe to give as gifts or to freeze for later!
- You can substitute the fresh ginger for ground ginger if you like, but I highly recommend fresh!
- Decorate how you like, you can color your frosting different colors or use it as glue to add candy.
- These can be frozen, see my tips above.
- We use a 4″-5″ cutter for this recipe, if using smaller reduce the time by a few minutes.
- You can shape these into whatever you’d like as well.
If you want a fun non-traditional recipe for Gingerbread Men Cookies then you have to whip these up, quick easy and oh so tasty!
If you like this recipe you might also like:
If you’ve tried these GINGERBREAD MEN COOKIES or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and what shenanigans I’m getting into!
Gingerbread Men Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies:
- ⅔ cup honey spray the cup with a non-stick vegetable spray to prevent honey from sticking to the measuring cup
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon fresh ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
Frosting:
- 1 cup powdered sugar sifted
- ¼ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 - 1 ½ tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Place honey, butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan. Stir over medium heat until the butter is melted and the sugar is dissolved. Allow to cool for 10 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large bowl whisk the flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda and salt.
- Gradually add the honey mixture and egg. Mix with a spatula until it comes together.
- Transfer to a lightly floured working surface and knead for 5 minutes or until you get a smooth, soft dough. If the dough is sticky, add some flour.
- Divide the dough in half.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of about ¼-in.
- Using a gingerbread cutter, cut out the cookies. With a spatula transfer the cookies onto the prepared baking sheets, placing about 1 inch apart.
- Bake for about 8 - 12 minutes depending on the size of the cookies.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool completely on the baking sheet.
- Decorate with confectioners’ frosting if desired.
- To make frosting using a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the vanilla extract and milk (or half & half) and beat until the frosting is light, about 4 minutes.
- Transfer the frosting in an icing bag fitted with a tip # 3 or #5 and decorate the gingerbread men as desired.
Notes
- You can double this recipe to give as gifts or to freeze for later!
- You can substitute the fresh ginger for ground ginger if you like, but I highly recommend fresh!
- Decorate how you like, you can color your frosting different colors or use it as glue to add candy.
- These can be frozen, see my tips above.
- We use a 4"-5" cutter for this recipe, if using smaller reduce the time by a few minutes.
- You can shape these into whatever you'd like as well.
Nutrition
Tornadough Alli is not a nutritionist or dietitian, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and nutritional value is important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and values can vary depending on which brands were used.
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