Gingerbread Man Cookie

gerbread Man Cookie is a cut-out cookie full of ginger, cinnamon, and molasses flavor, decorated as creatively as you like! Try my Soft Ginger Cookie for another delicious spiced cookie.

Gingerbread Man Cookie

Gingerbread Men Cookies are holiday classic cookies that are as fun to decorate as they are tasty to eat. These cut-out cookies may have originated when Queen Elizabeth I held her fancy dinners. She actually had her royal gingerbread maker make gingerbread men who represented members of her court. Whichever way you decorate the cookies, be creative and have fun! For an adults-only sippable twist to this classic cookie, check out my Gingerbread Martini!

Gingerbread Man Cookie Ingredients

Before you can roll out and cut the dough, it does need to chill for at least 4 hours, so plan accordingly. There are a few ingredients that are a must when making gingerbread man cookies; ginger, cloves, and molasses. 

Molasses: The molasses in the cake is unsulphured molasses. Unsulphured molasses (regular molasses) is richer, thicker, and sweeter than sulphured. It is made with fewer preservatives because it is made with more mature sugarcane. Sulphured molasses has added sulfur dioxide to the younger sugarcane, so that can alter the flavor of the recipe.

There is also a variety of molasses called blackstrap. Do not substitute molasses in a recipe (including this one) for blackstrap unless the recipe is very specific about using it. 

Room Temperature Ingredients: For best results, have all ingredients (especially butter, eggs, and milk) at room temperature. To be specific, room temperature ingredients should be 65-70°F.

Decorating Gingerbread Man Cookies

The gingerbread men cookies I made were decorated with my buttercream frosting recipe and some added sprinkles. You could also use a glaze, icing, candies, and colorful sugars to add more flair to each cookie. That’s the fun part about this classic holiday cookie–the fun you and the family can have while dressing and designing the gingerbread men!

PRO TIP: Do NOT decorate these cookies until you are ready to serve them. These cookies will remain soft if stored properly, but once decorated it is hard to store them without smashing the decorations.

How to Keep Cookies Soft

To store the cookies (before decorating) I add parchment or wax paper to a rectangular storage container. I place the cookies in a single layer, then cover them with another piece of parchment. Repeat once more. I then place a couple of pieces of BREAD on top of the top layer of parchment. The bread will stale, but the cookies will NOT!