Gather inspiration for making whimsical gingerbread cookies decorated with white royal icing for your holiday treats. With their fragrant spices and delightful decorations, these soft molasses cookies are perfect for sharing with family and friends.
How to Make Gingerbread Cookies
Gingerbread cookies are a festive favorite, especially during the holiday season. This recipe makes soft, chewy cookies with molasses and vanilla royal icing for decoration.
Prepare Gingerbread Cookies on Separate Days
To make the process more manageable, consider separating the baking and decorating into two days. On day one, make and bake the cookies, allowing them to cool completely. Then store them in an airtight container on the countertop. On the second day, mix the royal icing and decorate them.
The Magic of Molasses
The key ingredient in these soft gingerbread cookies is molasses. It adds a distinct flavor and contributes to the cookies’ moistness. The combination of spices, such as ginger, cloves, and cinnamon, complements the rich molasses perfectly, giving the cookies a warm, inviting aroma. Use unsulphured molasses for this recipe.
Types of Molasses
Unsulphured Molasses: Made from ripe sugar cane with no additives. It is the purest form of molasses.
Sulfured Molasses: Made from unripe sugar cane that is preserved with sulfur dioxide. It can have a slight chemical taste from sulfur dioxide.
Light, Dark, and Black Strap Molasses: Molasses are boiled down three times. The first boiling produces light molasses, the second black molasses, and the third boiling produces blackstrap molasses, which is less sweet than the others.
Creative Shapes and Themes
One of the creative things about baking gingerbread cookies is that each batch can be different, depending on the cookie cutters used to make different shapes. Whether you prefer traditional gingerbread men, festive stars, or unique holiday-themed designs, the choice is yours! Let your creativity loose as you select shapes that reflect your style or the season.
The Importance of Chilling the Dough
Chilling the cookie dough is an essential step in achieving cookies that hold their shape during baking. By keeping the dough cold, you prevent spreading, resulting in beautifully shaped cookies. After rolling out the dough, chill the cutouts in the refrigerator for a few minutes before baking.
Decorating Gingerbread Cookies with Royal Icing
How to Mix the Icing
Sift the powdered sugar for this icing to break up clumps and make it smooth and lump-free. After adding all the ingredients, beat with a mixer for approximately 10 minutes. Check every 2-3 minutes for soft peaks. You can determine whether the peaks are soft by removing the whisk beater and watching whether the icing tip folds over. When the icing folds or curls, it is at soft peaks and ready for piping borders.
White Icing for Gingerbread Cookies
This recipe uses an all-white royal icing for striking and contrasting decorations. However, feel free to add food coloring to create your own vibrant designs. Royal icing is perfect for piping intricate details and designs on your cookies. Using a piping coupler can help streamline the decorating process, allowing you to switch between different piping tips with ease.
Tips for Gingerbread Cookies Decorating Success
Piping Tips
If you’re using several sizes of round piping tips, the coupler will simplify the process. However, if you stick with one size, you can proceed without it. These gingerbread cookies were piped with a round tip size 5.
To achieve smooth piping lines, start by piping small sections of icing at a time. Then use a toothpick to gently spread out any clumps. As you practice more, you’ll find that piping becomes easier and more intuitive. Remember, it’s important not to focus too much on perfection; instead, embrace the process and have fun! Your cookies will turn out delicious and visually appealing, regardless of minor imperfections.
Keep Icing Fresh
When working with royal icing, cover the container top with a damp paper towel to prevent the unused icing from hardening while you decorate. If the icing dries and becomes too stiff, add a few drops of water and stir until it becomes workable again.
Storing Gingerbread Cookies
You can make these cookies ahead of time, because they keep for several weeks. Store them on the countertop in an airtight container. Place a sheet of waxed paper between each layer to help keep the icing intact. Also, be sure to let the icing dry completely before storing them. For longer-term storage, keep them in the freezer in an airtight freezer container.
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Gingerbread Cookies
Equipment
- plastic wrap
- a rolling Pin
- cookie cutters approximately 3-4 inches tall
- parchment paper or silicon baking mats
- 2-3 cookie sheets
- cooling rack
- piping bag
- small round piping tips
- piping coupler
Ingredients
Cookies
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
- 2 ¼ teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cloves
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ cup butter
- ½ cup vegetable shortening
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- ½ cup unsulphured molasses
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
Royal Icing
- 6 tablespoons warm water
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 2 ½ tablespoons meringue powder
- 2 ½ cups confectioners' sugar
Instructions
Cookies
- Whisk the flour, salt, baking soda, ginger, cloves, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Use a mixer to cream the butter, shortening, and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the molasses and eggs.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, beating after each addition, until the mixture is mixed and the dough is smooth.
- Shape the dough into a disc, then wrap it in plastic wrap. Place it in the freezer for about 15 minutes to chill it.
- After the dough is chilled, remove it from the freezer and cut the disc into 6 pie-shaped wedge slices. Place one pie-shaped portion onto a floured surface for rolling. Place the remaining dough back in the freezer to keep it chilled.
- Roll to 1/4-inch thick circle. Use the cookie cutters to cut out shapes.
- Place the cutouts (separated) on a cookie sheet prepared with parchment paper or a baking mat. Place them in the refrigerator and let them chill for 15 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake the chilled cookies for 7 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool on the pan for a few minutes. Then move them to a cooling rack.
- Remove another pie-shaped slice from the freezer, then repeat rolling and cutting. If the dough is thoroughly chilled, move it to the refrigerator. Repeat until all cookies are rolled, baked, and cooled.
Royal Icing
- Add water and extracts to a mixing bowl. Whisk in the cream of tartar and meringue powder until smooth.
- Sift the powdered sugar into the bowl. Mix on low, scraping down the bowl sides when needed. Mix for approximately 10 minutes (checking every 2-3 minutes) or until soft peaks form. You can determine soft peaks by removing a beater and holding it upside down to see whether the mixture on the beater folds over or bends to one side. If it bends, the icing is at soft peaks and ready for piping borders.
- Fit the coupler into the piping bag, then cut a hole in the end of the bag so the coupler nose sticks out. Add a round tip and screw the coupler ring on. Add the icing. Cover the icing bowl with a damp paper towel to prevent any leftover icing from drying out.
- Pipe outlines and patterns on the cookies to decorate them. If needed, change tip sizes by unscrewing the coupler ring, removing a tip, and replacing it with another size. However, you might use only one tip size for decorating these cookies.