Royal icing isn’t the easiest thing to work with and I always over-flood my cookies so I kept is fun and simple for these cookies and used some of the sprinkles and sugar balls I had on hand for the decorations. I think holiday baking should really mean time together with friends and family, sharing and enjoyment. Not stress and frustration! Also, I do love how crunchy the icing gets after a day or so but these cookies won’t last very long so good luck with that! Make sure to lighten or sift the flour before measuring it out. If you pack it into the measuring cup you could almost double the amount of flour required by the recipe! 😱
Gingerbread Men
Spicy and delicious gingerbread cookies that don't spread all over the place!
Ingredients
INGREDIENTS:
For the Cookies:
- 3 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup butter room temp
- ¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar
- ½ cup molasses
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Icing:
- 2 egg whites
- 1 lb confectioners sugar
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- 2-4 tsp water
Instructions
INSTRUCTIONS
For the Cookies:
- Preheat to 350 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt.
Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and brown sugar on medium. Mix until fluffy.
Add in the molasses, egg and vanilla. Mix until combined.
Add in flour gradually until a nice dough forms.
Roll into disks. Cover with plastic wrap.
Refrigerate for about 4 hours or overnight. This step is important because the dough gets soft quickly.
Roll out dough about ¼-inch in thickness.
Cut out gingerbread people with a cookie cutter. Transfer to a baking sheet.
For the gingerbread people holding the candy cane nugget, roll up a ball of aluminum foil and bend the arms around the ball before baking.
Bake cookies for 10 minutes. Let cool.
For the Decoration:
- Sift the powdered sugar into a bowl.
- Beat the egg whites and add the cream of tartar once they become frothy.
- Add the sugar in 3-4 batches and mix at low speed.
- Once combined, add the water until desired consistency is reached.
- Transfer to a piping bag.
Pipe a shirt, pants and facial details.
Attach sprinkles for buttons.
Add candy cane nuggets to gingerbread people with bent arms.
Recipe Notes
Adapted from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/230238/gingerbread-men-cookies/
How to Make Gingerbread Cookies
How to Make Gingerbread Cookies
Gingerbread cookies are such a treat. If there’s any bad wrap to them it’s because of those box kits for gingerbread houses with stale pieces inside. For the best resu…
Adorable!
These look really nice!