These soft gingerbread cookies with a cinnamon icing are a tender and chewy cookie, full of all the holiday spices.
SOFT GINGERBREAD COOKIES WITH CINNAMON ICING
It's no secret that I love a good ginger cookie, but they need to be soft for me. I don't love those crunchy ones you can buy in bags and boxes at the store. About 10 years ago a friend of mine, Stacy, brought me these gingerbread men for a Christmas treat and I knew instantly I needed the recipe. Since then I have continued to make these every single year, with only a few minor tweaks to her recipe. And I can promise you that these will become a holiday season favorite for you too!
WHY YOU WILL LOVE THESE COOKIES
FLAVORFUL COOKIE- These cookies have melted butter, molasses and so many spices in them, and you can taste it all with every bite.
CINNAMON ICING- It's such a simple icing, but adds so much extra flavor to these cookies, not to mention its so much easier than frosting.
FUN TO MAKE FOR THE HOLIDAYS- My kids always look forward to helping cut-out the cookies and feeling like they made them themselves.
QUICK & EASY- This recipe can be made without a mixer, and doesn't require any chilling time. The dough is so easy to work with.
INGREDIENTS
- Butter, melted & cooled
- Sugar
- Eggs, room temp
- Molasses
- Flour
- Baking Powder
- Baking Soda
- Ginger
- Cinnamon
- Cloves
- Salt
- Powdered Sugar
- Vanilla
- Milk
STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, mix melted butter and sugar together. Add eggs and molasses and mix until combined.
Add dry ingredients and mix until completely combined.
Flour a large surface or baking mat. Roll dough until desired thickness. I like mine to be about ½ inch thick. Cut out cookies and continue to re-roll dough and cut until all dough is used.
Bake for 8-10 minutes or until a light golden brown around the edges.
Add all icing to a bowl and mix together. Dip cooled cookies into the icing, or you can frost them with an off set spatula if you prefer. Allow icing to set.
COOKIE TIPS
Make sure that your butter is completely cooled before beginning, or the dough will be too soft, and hard to manage. If you're feeling like it's hard to create a shape, allow it to rest for a bit, or place it in the fridge for about 15 minutes.
I like to dip my cookies in the icing and then let some drip off before setting back down. your hands might get a little sticky, but it's worth it.
These cookies will store perfectly in an airtight container for 4-5 days on the counter, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
I like to double the batch of these and take to friends and neighbors around the holiday time. Everyone always loves them!
OTHER COOKIE RECIPES TO TRY:
Salted Chocolate Chunk Cookies
For more yummy treats follow me on instagram @thesaltedsweets. And be sure to tag me and comment below if you make them and love them as much as I do.
Soft Gingerbread Cookies with Cinnamon Icing
Ingredients
- 1 cup (227 g) melted butter, cooled
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temp
- ⅔ cup (148 g) molasses
- 4½ cups (630 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) baking soda
- 1½ teaspoon (1.5 teaspoon) ground ginger
- 1½ teaspoon (1.5 teaspoon) cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) cloves
- 1½ teaspoon (1.5 teaspoon) salt
Cinnamon Icing
- 1 cup (120 g) powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) vanilla
- 2 tablespoon milk
- sprinkle of cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix melted butter and sugar together. Add eggs and molasses and mix until combined.
- Add dry ingredients and mix until completely combined.
- Flour a large surface or baking mat. Roll dough until desired thickness. I like mine to be about ½ inch thick. Cut out cookies and continue to re-roll dough and cut until all dough is used.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes or until a light golden brown around the edges.
- Add all icing to a bowl and mix together. Dip cooled cookies into the icing, or you can frost them with an off set spatula if you prefer. Allow icing to set.
Barbara Christensen
These cookies are incredibly easy to make AND are soft and delicious!! My kids thought they were the bomb. Someone even asked me where I bought them because they look so profesh! I used an ice cream scooper because I don’t have a 3 TBSP cookie scooper. Brooke has taught me than an ice cream scooper is equivalent to a 4 TBSP cookie scooper - so I only put 6 cookies on my pan to prevent them from squishing into each other. And they were perfect!! 🙌🏻
Allison Watson
These are so, so good. That cinnamon icing takes them to the next level! My 9 year old son told me I was the best cookie maker ever. So overall, I'll give 5 stars all day long. Yummmm!!
Maggy
These gingerbread cookies are a 10 out of 10! I made a half batch for my husband and I, and they were almost gone in a day! I'll definitely make a full batch next time! The texture is perfectly soft, and I love the cinnamon icing! I will be making these all month long!
brooke
Thank you so much!!! I love knowing other people love them as much as I do!
Amy
I actually only used your cinnamon glaze because I was looking for an easy frosting other than something to pipe on my gingerbread cookies. This cinnamon was PERFECT! I made snowman and Christmas tree shaped GB cutouts. I separated the glaze into 4 different bowls to have red, blue, green, and white. It was very easy to spread with just a butter knife. I will 100% use this glaze in the future.
Kinzie
Oh. My. Word. Made these, soft and scrumptious cookies for a Christmas party. They are perfect.
Cece
Your recipes never fail!! These were such a hit in our cookie boxes this year. Thank you for sharing your recipes with us. Merry Christmas 🥰
Sarah C.
These cookies were perfect. It was a great balance of sweetness and holiday spice, all in a soft cookie that holds its shape even with my little ones decorating them. Love!! And they stayed so fresh even after 1.5 weeks in a container. You have to make these.
Catalina
These turned out wonderful! So soft and so addicting! I think next time I would chill the dough, so it is easier to cut out the gingerbread! I made it work, but I noticed it was a little flimsy. Thank you for sharing your recipes!
Sandra
Salted or unsalted butter? Thanks. Can’t wait to make these. 🥰
Brooke Homec
I always use salted, but either is fine!
Shannon Schlotfeldt
100% worth making. Easy and delicious. Also not to mention very simple and pretty looking.
Jill
I made these with my 2.5 year old who has been asking to make gingerbread cookies for weeks. She loved using all the Christmas cookie cutters and is already ready to make more. They’re delicious and turned out perfectly even with the help of little hands!
Brooke Homec
I love that! Thank you so much!!
Amanda Smith
These are SOOOO yummy. They are super soft. Even better the next day. And the icing takes it over the top!!
Natalie
Just made these with my kids. They are delicious. I was a bit skeptical on how good they would turn out BUT they are so GOOD. I highly recommend making these delicious cinnamon gingerbread cookies.
I can’t wait to try more recipes from The Salted Sweets.
Brooke Homec
Yay!!! Glad they exceeded your expectations!☺️
Bailey Green
So SO soft and so easy! I’ve never had such a soft ginger bread cookie. I feel like they’re always solid! LOVE these! Perfect for the holidays 🎄🍪
Sarah
These are by far the best gingerbread cookies I have ever made. Brooke knows what she is doing. Don’t sleep on these. They are amazing fresh out of the freezer too!
Madison Herbst
Classic and not too overpowering in flavor. Perfectly soft
Tiffany Bloxham
These are the best Christmas cookies! These were so easy and everyone in my family loves them. This recipe makes a bunch and we even froze some to add to the teacher cookies trays this year. Like this cookie is a top 5 all time , maybe even 2nd place (chocolate chip will always win) but this is a close 2nd. Will definitely make again.
Alexandra
Soooo...living in Greece, we don't eat as much molasses and we tend to make gingerbread cookies crispy and with honey instead. I was looking for the PERFECT recipe and yes, this it it!!!!! The cinammon glaze gives them something extra, I also added some cloves for more spiciness!
Danielle S.
These gingerbread cookies are perfect! Soft and chewy and not too gingery. The glaze on top was a great addition. We couldn't get enough. My niece who doesn't like gingerbread cookies loved them! Will definitely be making again!
Kimberly Campbell
Normally I am not a fan of gingerbread cookies but these have changed my mind, they are SO good ! The perfect flavor and the perfect softness. We made these for teachers this year.
Anne
These are fantastic. Just the right amount of crunch on the outside, but soft and chewy overall. My picky eater loved them which is the highest praise for this Mom! We haven’t even iced them yet and they are so good.
Hayden Horton
The icing goes perfectly with the thickness of the cookie. This recipe is one of the best if not the best that I've tried for gingerbread over the last few years.
Stephanie Burge
These were such a hit and so easy to make! I love soft gingerbread cookies and the icing on top was perfect!