Get ready to fill your kitchen with cozy holiday aromas with this Best Gingerbread Man Recipe, a festive classic that's soft, chewy, perfectly spiced, and so fun to decorate. Using simple pantry staples and warm spices, these cookies bake up beautifully every time-ideal for gifting, snacking, or building your own cookie-decorating tradition.
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Why This Recipe Works
- Perfect Texture: Butter, molasses, and brown sugar create a soft, tender cookie with that signature gingerbread chew.
- Warm Spice Blend: Ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves add rich, nostalgic holiday flavor without overwhelming sweetness.
- Easy to Roll & Cut: Chilled dough made with flour, egg, and baking soda holds shape beautifully for crisp, clean cookie-cutter edges.
- Fun to Decorate: Royal icing adds sweetness and makes these cookies customizable for parties, gifting, or holiday baking days.
Make sure to check out these other tasty gingerbread recipes: Crinkle Gingerbread Cookies, Gingerbread Cookie Tree, Gingerbread Bundt Cake, and Easy Gingerbread Trifle.
This recipe was given to me by my mother-in-law. She makes these every year, and it's so special to get to share them with all of you!
If you want more family recipes, check out my Grandma's salmon croquettes, my mom's cinnamon pull-apart, orange jello salad, deviled eggs, my dad's chocolate chip pie, and my sister's chocolate pudding pie!
What This Recipe Needs
- Unsalted Butter: Provides richness and helps create the perfect chewy-soft texture.
- Molasses: The key ingredient that gives gingerbread its dark color and warm, rich taste.
- Buttermilk: Help keep the cookie texture soft.
- Egg: Helps bind the dough and keeps the cookies tender.
- Baking Soda: Gives the cookies a slight lift without making them too puffy.
- Ginger, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Cloves: Create that signature warm, fragrant gingerbread flavor.
- Royal Icing Ingredients: Powdered sugar, meringue powder, and water for decorating your adorable gingerbread men.
- Christmas Sprinkles: I like to use little round red and green ones as buttons.
- Gingerbread Man Cookie Cutter, Piping Bag, and Writing Tip
Substitutions
- Butter → Margarine: Works in a pinch, though flavor will be slightly milder.
- Molasses → Dark Corn Syrup: Not as rich but maintains the chewy texture if molasses isn't available.
- Royal Icing → Vanilla Buttercream: Great for a more fluffy frosting. Check out my Christmas Tree Cookies and Valentine's Sugar Cookies for ideas on how to decorate with buttercream.
How to Make the Gingerbread Man Cookies?
- Step 1: Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Then mix in the molasses and buttermilk.
- Step 2: Add the flour, ginger, baking soda, salt, and baking powder, and mix until fully combined.
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- Step 3: Divide the dough in half, wrapping each half in plastic wrap, then refrigerate for at least 3 hrs.
- Step 4: Once the dough is chilled, roll it flat between two pieces of parchment paper.
- Step 5: Cut out the gingerbread men shapes.
- Step 6: Bake until done! Allow cookies to cool completely before decorating.
- Step 7: Make the Royal Icing by using a stand mixer. Combine the meringue powder and powdered sugar. Add in the warm water, then mix on high until stiff peaks form.
- Step 8: Decorate gingerbread men with icing and sprinkles!
Expert Tips
- Chill the Dough: Cold dough prevents spreading and keeps shapes crisp.
- Rolling the Dough: I like to roll the dough between two pieces of parchment paper to help prevent sticking, and then I need less flour. Also, I highly recommend a French Rolling Pin/Dowl for the best control of thickness for cookies and pie crust, plus it's very durable.
- Rotate the Pan: For even baking, turn the cookie sheet halfway through.
- Decorate After Cooling: Warm cookies will melt the icing, so let them cool completely.
Variations
- Spiced-Up Version: Add a pinch of cardamom or allspice for even more warmth.
- Crispier Cookies: Roll the dough thinner for a snappier, more traditional gingerbread.
- Cutting Cookies: Dip your cookie cutter in some flour then cut the dough and place on the prepared baking sheet.
- Mini Gingerbread Men: Use small cutters for bite-sized treats perfect for gifting.
- No-Cookie Cutter No Problem: Just roll into 1-inch balls and place on a lined baking sheet; bake for 7-10 minutes, let cool, then decorate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Store them in an airtight container with a small piece of bread to maintain moisture.
Yes! The dough chills beautifully and can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for months.
Absolutely-this dough holds stars, trees, hearts, and any cookie-cutter shape very well.
Aim for ¼-inch thickness for soft cookies or slightly thinner for crispier ones.
Royal icing sets beautifully and holds details well, making it ideal for gingerbread.
After cookies are baked, cooled, and iced, please place them in an airtight container or zip-lock baggie. Store in the refrigerator or in a dry, cool place for 3-4 days.
More Related Recipes
If you like this recipe, check out my other fun Christmas recipes like: Christmas Popcorn, Red Velvet Crinkle Cut Cookies, Peppermint Bark, Red Velvet Cookies with Cake Mix, Christmas Wreath Cookies, Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cake Dip, and this fun Christmas Crack Recipe!
If you like this recipe, make sure to give it a 5-star review and leave a comment down below!
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Video
Best Gingerbread Man Recipe
Ingredients
- ¾ cup granulated white sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened*
- ¾ cup molasses
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 4 cups flour
- 2 ½ teaspoon ginger powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
Easy White Cookie Icing*
- 2 tbs meringue powder
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tbs warm water + more if needed to thin
- Red and Green Sprinkles- optional
Instructions
- Using a stand mixer or a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar.¾ cup granulated white sugar, ½ cup unsalted butter
- Beat in molasses and buttermilk.¾ cup molasses, ½ cup buttermilk
- Add flour, ginger, baking soda, salt, and baking powder. Stir until fully combined.4 cups flour, 2 ½ teaspoon ginger powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ¾ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon baking powder
- Scoop out ½ of the dough and wrap with plastic wrap, forming a disc.* Repeat with the other half. Refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 375°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Roll dough* to ¼-inch thickness for soft cookies, thinner for crispier cookies. Dip your cookie cutter in flour, then cut the dough and place it on a prepared baking sheet. Bake for 7-10 minutes.
- Once baked, transfer cookies to a cooling rack. Allow cookies to cool completely before frosting.
- In a bowl using a hand mixer (or stand mixer), stir together the meringue powder and the powdered sugar.2 tbs meringue powder, 2 cups powdered sugar
- Add the water and mix on medium low, then once combined mix on medium high until stiff peaks form.3 tbs warm water + more if needed to thin
- Decorate using a piping bag with a small round tip (wilton #2 or #3), or just cut the end off of a plastic bag, and some sprinkles.Red and Green Sprinkles- optional
- Icing will take a ~6 hours to set completely but you can eat it any time before that.
Notes
- *If you forget to let your butter come to room temperature, place the cold butter on a microwave-safe dish, microwave on 30% power for 15-second intervals until softened.
- Separating the dough into two halves and forming them into discs makes working with the dough after it's chilled easier.
- Rolling out the dough between two pieces of parchment paper for a no-stick, mess-free time! See the video for the visual.
- Icing: This will make enough for small details like eyes, buttons, and lines on the arms and legs. If you want to ice the entire cookie, double or triple this recipe.
Lisa says
I love this recipe! It's great for all types of cut out gingerbread cookies!