Soft and Chewy Gingerbread Cookies with White Icing

Soft and Chewy Gingerbread Cookies

These molasses-spiced gingerbread cookies have defined cutout edges and soft centers. A two-hour chill makes the dough easier to shape into gingerbread people and snowflakes, while rolling it 1/4 inch thick helps the cookies stay tender. Bake until the edges are set rather than waiting for the centers to feel firm; the cookies will finish setting on the sheet. Once cool, decorate both shapes with fine white icing.

Yield: About 24–30 cookies with 3- to 4-inch cutters; the count depends on cutter size. Time: About 35 minutes of active dough preparation, at least 2 hours of chilling, 8–11 minutes of baking per sheet, and about 20 minutes to decorate, plus cooling and icing-drying time. Allow about 4–5 hours overall.

Ingredients for Gingerbread Cutouts

Cookies

• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled (420g), plus a few tablespoons as needed for rolling
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened (170g)
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar (150g)
• 2/3 cup unsulphured molasses, not blackstrap (225g)
• 1 large egg

White Piping Icing

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted if lumpy (180g)
• 1 tablespoon meringue powder (9g)
• 2–3 tablespoons water, added gradually

Light or dark brown sugar works; dark brown sugar gives the cookies a deeper molasses flavor.

How to Make Soft Gingerbread Cookies

1. Mix the dry ingredients: Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg in a bowl until evenly combined.
2. Make the dough: Beat the butter and brown sugar until smooth and creamy. Beat in the molasses and egg. Add the dry ingredients and mix just until a cohesive dough forms. It will be soft and may feel sticky.
3. Chill the dough: Divide it into two flattened discs, wrap them, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days. The chilled dough should be firm enough to roll without smearing.
4. Roll and cut: Fully preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line baking sheets with parchment; do not grease them. Keep one dough disc refrigerated while working with the other. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough evenly to 1/4 inch thick. Lightly flour the cutters as needed, then cut gingerbread people and snowflakes. Transfer them to cool baking sheets, about 1 inch apart, using a thin spatula to support the snowflake arms. Gather scraps for another rolling without repeatedly reworking them. If the dough sticks or the cutouts soften, chill them briefly before baking.
5. Bake until just set: Bake similar-sized cutouts together, uncovered, for about 8–11 minutes per sheet. Begin checking at 8 minutes. Remove them when the edges look set and the surfaces no longer look wet, but the centers still feel slightly soft when gently touched. Smaller shapes may finish first; larger snowflakes may need another minute or two, so watch their narrow tips for darkening. Let the cookies firm on the sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer them to a rack to cool completely.
6. Mix the icing: Beat the powdered sugar, meringue powder, and 2 tablespoons water until smooth. Add more water a few drops at a time, just until the icing flows through a small piping tip or snipped bag corner while holding a raised line. If it spreads flat, mix in a little more powdered sugar.
7. Decorate: On the completely cooled gingerbread people, pipe white eyes, smiles, three buttons, and zigzag trim on the arms and legs. Pipe branching lines and dots on the snowflakes. Leave the cookies in a single layer until the icing feels dry before stacking or packing them, about 1 hour or longer for thicker lines.

How to Keep the Cutouts Soft and Well Shaped

Measure the flour by spooning it into the cup and leveling it, or use a scale. Too much flour can make the dough crumbly, and heavy dusting during repeated rolling can make the last cookies tougher. If chilled dough still sticks to the rolling pin, roll it between two sheets of parchment.

Keep the dough close to 1/4 inch thick. A cookie that feels hard throughout when it leaves the oven has baked past the soft-center stage; the slightly soft centers will firm as the cookies cool on the sheet. Cutter size and narrow snowflake tips matter more than an exact minute on the timer.

Serving, Make-Ahead, and Storage

Serve the iced people and snowflakes together on a cookie platter, or add a few to a dessert charcuterie board. For another decorated cutout idea, try these classic gingerbread man cookies.

Wrapped dough can be refrigerated for up to 2 days. If it becomes very firm, let it sit just until pliable enough to roll. Once the icing has dried completely, store the cookies in an airtight container at cool room temperature and use them within about 1 week for the best soft texture. Reheating is unnecessary.

For longer storage, freeze completely cooled cookies, preferably undecorated, with parchment between layers in an airtight container for up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature before icing. Wrapped dough discs can be frozen for up to 3 months; thaw them in the refrigerator until firm but rollable.

Nutrition

Approximately 180 calories, 2g protein, 5g fat, and 31g carbohydrates per cookie, based on a yield of 27 cookies and using all the icing. Approximate values per 100g are 400 calories, 5g protein, 12g fat, and 69g carbohydrates. Values are estimates and vary with cutter size, icing used, and moisture lost during baking.