You just can’t go wrong with this chewy Gingerbread Cookies’ recipe, made with a simple gingerbread recipe, and decorated however you like! Everyone loves this classic recipe and they taste delicious.
This particular recipe has been a favorite of mine because of the softness of the cookies and how much the kiddies love decorating and gobbling them down. I also love adding these adorable gingerbread men to my cookie trays, when I do my annual cookie swap with a group of my family/friends.
https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/gingerbread-cookies/ Laura Allen recipe…
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 Tbsp. ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 12 Tbsps. butter , room temperature, cut into 12 pieces
- 3/4 cup dark molasses
- 2 Tbsps. milk
For the frosting:
- 2 Tbsps. butter, room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 Tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Add flour, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt to a mixing bowl and mix.
- Add the butter pieces and use a pastry blender to cut the butter in until the mixture resembles a fine meal texture.
- With a mixer running on low speed gradually add the molasses and milk and mix until combined, about 30 seconds.
- Divide the dough in half, forming each into a ball. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight, or place in the freezer for about 20 minutes, until firm, if you’re in a hurry.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Remove one dough sheet from the fridge/freezer and place on the counter. Roll out the dough (use a little flour on your rolling pin if needed), until it’s about ½ inch thick. Cut gingerbread men and place them on prepared baking sheets.
- Refrigerate the gingerbread men for 5 minutes (meanwhile you can roll out the other dough ball).
- Bake the cookies until set in the centers and the dough barely retains an imprint when touched very gently with fingertips, 8 to 11 minutes (depending on the size of your cookie cutter). Do not overbake!!
- Remove the cookies to a wire rack. Allow to cool to room temperature before frosting.
- Store gingerbread cookies in an airtight container with parchment paper between the layers.
Freeze for up to 3 months.
For the frosting:
- Add butter, milk, and 1 cup of powdered sugar to a bowl.
- Mix until smooth.
- Add an additional cup of powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
- Add frosting to the piping bag, if desired.
Make Ahead Instructions: Make the gingerbread cookie dough and store it, well covered, in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Roll out and cut into cookies when ready to bake. You can also bake the cookies and freeze them.
Freezing Instructions: Wrap dough really well in plastic wrap and freeze in a freezer safe container for 2-3 months. Allow the dough to thaw in the refrigerator before attempting to roll.
These melting snowman sugar cookies are a fun holiday project to make by layering icing and marshmallows onto cookies! This tasty winter treat is perfect for baking with the kids and letting them decorate to make snowman faces! Your finished melting snowman cookies are a hit at holiday parties!
MELTING SNOWMAN SUGAR COOKIES
Here is an adorable sugar Christmas cookie that the kids will love to help decorate. Although it has many steps, it’s actually an easy recipe. This is another festive cookie to add to your Christmas tray, or maybe, cookie charcuterie board.
Recipe by: https://bakeitwithlove.com/melting-snowman-sugar-cookies/ .…Angela
COOKIES DOUGH INGREDIENTS
- Butter – 1 cup, or 2 sticks, of butter that is softened at room temperature.
- Sugar – 1 cup of white granulated sugar.
- Vanilla – 2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract.
- Egg – 1 large, room temperature egg.
- Baking Powder – 2 teaspoons of baking powder to help the cookies rise.
- Flour – 3 cups of all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled.
- Salt (optional) – A pinch of salt. If using unsalted butter, you can increase this amount to ½ teaspoon.
ROYAL ICING
- Powdered Sugar – 4 cups of confectioner’s sugar
- Meringue Powder – 3 tablespoons of meringue powder.
- Water – 5 tablespoons of warm water, plus more as needed to thin out the icing.
FOR DECORATING
- Marshmallows – 30 regular-sized marshmallows, or 1 per cookie.
- Food Coloring – Black and orange gel food coloring to make the arms, eyes, and nose.
- Sprinkles – Some silver sanding sugar for a festive touch.
- Mini M&Ms – 90 mini M&M candies, or 3 per cookie.
- Twizzlers – A package of pull n’ peel Twizzlers to make the scarf.
This recipe will make approximately 30 snowman cookies.
Directions
- Cream together butter, egg, sugar, and vanilla extract.
- Add salt and baking powder.
- Add flour.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, use a stand mixer or hand mixer to beat together 1 cup of butter, 1 cup of sugar, 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, and 1 large egg .
- Add 2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1 pinch of salt to the wet ingredients. Then, start with the first 2 cups of all-purpose flour. Mix until blended, adding more flour if the dough is too sticky (typically ¼-½ cup extra).
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Form into a disc then roll out.
- Cut out rounds.
- Layout on baking sheet and bake.
- Remove from oven and cool.
- Transfer your cookie dough to a lightly floured work surface and roll it out until it is ¼-inch thick.
- Lightly flour a 2½-inch round cookie cutter and cut out as many cookies as possible.
- Place the cookie rounds onto the prepared baking sheet 1 inch apart from one another. Then, bake in the oven at 350°F for 7-10 minutes or until the edges are only barely golden.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before moving them to a wire cooling rack. They need to cool completely before decorating.
MAKE THE ROYAL ICING
- Sift confectioner’s sugar and meringue powder.
- Mix together.
- Add warm water and beat.
- Sift together 4 cups of confectioner’s sugar and 3 tablespoons of meringue powder into a large mixing bowl.
- Add 5 tablespoons of warm water and use an electric hand mixer or stand mixer (with a whisk attachment) to beat the mixture for 10 minutes. *Add more water in small increments if the icing is too thick.
DECORATE THE COOKIES
- Spread icing.
- Add marshmallows.
- Mix food coloring.
- Put food coloring in piping bags.
- Pipe/draw the arms and eyes.
- Pipe orange nose.
- Add candy buttons.
- Add licorice scarf.
- Add sprinkles.
- Spread the icing. Spoon some of the icing into the middle of your cooled cookies and gently spread it towards the edges. This can be neat or messy, as it represents a snowman that has melted.
- Add the head. Place one marshmallow onto each cookie, positioning them towards one edge in order to leave room for the buttons.
- Mix the food coloring. Separate some of your icing into 2 small bowls. Add the orange and black gel food coloring and mix until combined.
- Thinly pipe the black icing to make arms and eyes and use the orange to make the carrot nose.
- Place 3 mini M&M chocolate candies onto each cookie to make the buttons and wrap pulled-apart Twizzlers around the neck to make the scarf. Finish the cookie off with some sprinkles.
- Let the cookies set at room temperature for at least 2-4 hours to harden the icing.
- Refrigerate your melted snowmen to set more quickly.
These cookies can also be frozen for up to 3 months, but separate any layers with parchment paper if you stack them.
