Make about 24-30 gingerbread man cookies, 3 inches in size, 1/4 inch thick.
Oven Temperature 350F (150C)
For Soft Cookies bake for 10-12 minutes
For Crunchy Cookies with golden brown edges bake for 13-15 minutes.
1 serving = 1 cookie
- 3 cup all purpose flour (430grams)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 3/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp cloves
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature (1 stick, 113grams)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar (50 grams)
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 cup molasses
- zest of one lemon, about 1 tablespoon
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Into a bowl sift all purpose flour (3 cups, 430grams), baking powder (1/2 teaspoon), ground cinnamon (1 teaspoon and 3/4 teaspoon), ground ginger (1 teaspoon and 3/4 teaspoon), cloves (1/4 teaspoon) and salt (1/2 teaspoon). Set aside.
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On a medium high speed in a bowl cream room temperature unsalted butter (1 stick,113 grams) and brown sugar (1/4 cups), granulated sugar (1/4 cup). Beat until creamy, about 3 minutes.
TIP : When using a stand mixer use a paddle attachment and with hand held mixer use wire beaters.
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Into the butter mixture add large egg (1 whole egg), beat until well combined. Then beat in Vanilla Extract (1/2 teaspoon) and lemon zest (about 1 tablespoon).
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Switch the mixer to low speed setting and gradually beat in molasses (1/2 cup, 120ml). Beat until mixture is homogenous, about 1 minute. Scrape down the bowl, once or twice, as needed.
TIP : Try not to pour molasses directly onto the beaters, it can be messy.
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Also on low speed, gradually in 2-3 additions, beat flour mixture into the wet butter-molasses mixture. Gather cookie dough into a ball and flatten it into a disk.
TIP : If mixture is unmanageably wet add up to 1/4 cup more flour. Try not to add to much flour as it can lead to tough cookies. Slight stickiness is okay.
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Roll out freshly made cookie dough between 2 pieces of parchment or 2 silicone mats. Dust parchment and top of the cookie dough with a little flour. Roll it out to about 1/4 inch thick. Slide a flat tray or a baking sheet underneath and transfer rolled out cookie dough into a fridge. Chill at least for 1-2 hours and up to overnight.
TIP: Use rolling guides for even thickness.
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Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Peel off top parchment, place it back on the rolled out cookie dough. Holding both parchment paper ends turn the rolled out cookie dough upside down and then peel off the other parchment. Now you can cut out cookies. Transfer cookies onto a baking sheet lined with parchment.
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Bake cookies in the preheated oven at 350F (180C) for 10-12 minutes for soft cookies and 13-15 minutes for slightly crunchy cookies, or even longer depending on the oven. Allow to cool before eating, decorating and packaging.
- CAN I FREEZE THE COOKIE DOUGH? - yes, you can freeze it for up to 3 months. Wrap it well before freezing to prevent dough from frost bite and drying out.
- HOW LONG DO THE COOKIES LAST? - up to 4 weeks.
- CAN I DECORATE THESE COOKIES? - yes, these cookies can be decorated with icing. I'd recommend baking them for a little longer if you plan on decorating. Only because they will soften up a little as they sit when icing on them is drying.
- WHAT KIND OF MOLASSES DO YOU USE? - I like Grandma's Molasses, unsulphured. Don't use blackstrap molasses in this recipe, it can overpowder the flavors; it tends to be bitter, too.
- HOW TO MAKE COOKIE DOUGH SPICIER? -Use more ginger up to 1/2 tsp and 1/8 tsp white pepper.
- WHAT OTHER SPICES DO YOU RECOMMEND TO USE? - I like using star anise. Ground star anise looses its potency fairly quickly. I buy it whole and I ground my own using a coffee grinder. in this recipe I'd use 1/4 teaspoon of star anise in addition to the rest of the spices.