Gingerbread Cookies

Perfectly spiced, warmly fragrant, and just the right amount of chewy — classic gingerbread cookies with a rich, deep molasses flavor and a crisp, golden edge that cut beautifully into any shape and beg to be decorated with bright royal icing. A beloved holiday tradition that fills the whole house with the most wonderful smell imaginable.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 0.5 teaspoons baking powder
• 0.5 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1.5 teaspoons cinnamon
• 0.5 teaspoons nutmeg
• 0.5 teaspoons allspice
• 0.25 teaspoons cloves
• 0.75 cups unsalted butter, softened
• 0.75 cups brown sugar, packed
• 1 large egg
• 0.5 cups unsulfured molasses
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted (for royal icing)
• 2 tablespoons meringue powder (for royal icing)
• 5 tablespoons water, plus more as needed (for royal icing)
• 0.5 teaspoons vanilla extract (for royal icing)
• gel food coloring (optional)

STEPS

1. Mix the dry ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves until evenly combined. The warm spice blend is the soul of gingerbread — measure carefully and do not reduce any of the spices.
2. Cream butter and sugar: In a separate large bowl, beat the softened butter and brown sugar together on medium-high speed for 3–4 minutes until pale, light, and fluffy. Add the egg and beat well. Add the molasses, vanilla extract, and apple cider vinegar and mix until completely combined. The mixture may look slightly curdled — this is normal and will come together once the flour is added.
3. Combine: Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until a smooth, firm dough comes together. The dough will be slightly tacky but should not stick to your hands. Divide into two equal portions, flatten into discs, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. Chilling is essential — soft, warm dough spreads badly and the cookies will lose their shape.
4. Preheat and prep: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
5. Roll and cut: On a lightly floured surface, roll one disc of chilled dough to about 1/4-inch thickness for soft, chewy cookies or 1/8-inch for crispier ones. Cut into shapes using cookie cutters and transfer carefully to the prepared baking sheets spacing about 1 inch apart. Re-roll the scraps and continue cutting until all the dough is used.
6. Bake: Bake at 350°F for 8–11 minutes depending on thickness — until the edges are just set and the centers look barely dry. Do not overbake — the cookies will look slightly underdone when you pull them from the oven and firm up completely as they cool. Overbaked gingerbread is hard and dry rather than chewy and tender.
7. Cool completely: Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Cool completely before decorating — icing applied to warm cookies will melt and run.
8. Make the royal icing: In a large bowl, beat together the sifted powdered sugar, meringue powder, water, and vanilla extract with a hand mixer on medium-high speed for 4–5 minutes until the icing is bright white, thick, and holds stiff peaks. Add more water a few drops at a time to reach your desired consistency — stiff for piping outlines and slightly thinner for flooding. Divide into bowls and tint with gel food coloring as desired.
9. Decorate: Pipe or spread the royal icing onto the completely cooled cookies in any design you like. Let the icing set completely at room temperature for at least 1 hour until firm and dry before stacking or storing.

NOTES Tips: Chilling the dough for at least 2 hours — overnight is even better — is the single most important step for cookies that hold their shape cleanly and do not spread into blobs during baking. Never skip this step. Rolling on a lightly floured surface and flouring the cookie cutters between cuts also helps maintain clean, defined edges. Do not overbake — pull the cookies from the oven the moment the edges look set even if the centers look soft. They will firm up perfectly as they cool and the result is a wonderfully chewy interior rather than a rock-hard cookie. Molasses is what gives gingerbread its signature dark color and deep, slightly bitter sweetness — use unsulfured molasses for the best flavor. Meringue powder in the royal icing produces a far more stable, food-safe icing than raw egg whites — find it at craft or baking stores. These cookies keep in an airtight container at room temperature between layers of parchment for up to 2 weeks and freeze beautifully undecorated for up to 3 months.