A Christmas Classic. These gingerbread men are a soft cookie with a mild ginger flavor. From an old family recipe.
What’s Christmas without gingerbread men?
Sure you could make a sugar cookie shaped like a man but it’s not the same.
Something about the taste of a gingerbread man just makes you feel the holiday from the inside out.
And they’re not overly sweet like a lot of cookies.
And come on,
We all know it’s fun to bite off a leg or an arm and remember when we ate these as kids.
This is a family recipe given to me by my Aunt Kitty years ago when I was looking for a good gingerbread man recipe. She’s made these gingerbread men with her girls for probably 40 years. So you know it has to be good!
Gingerbread Men
Yield: 8 dozen cookies
Gingerbread Men
Ingredients
- 8 cups sifted flour
- 3 teaspoon ginger
- 1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 c. unsulfered molasses
- 1 cup shortening
- 3 tsp baking soda
- 2/3 cup hot water
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Combine flour, ginger, cinnamon and salt. Make a well in the center, stir in sugar and molasses.
- Add shortening.
- Dissolve baking soda in hot water, then pour into dough.
- Finally add egg and blend until well combined.
- Wrap dough in Plastic wrap. Chill thoroughly, I chill over night.
- Roll dough out onto a floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes on a greased cookie sheet.
- Once cooled decorate with Royal Icing or whatever you choose.
Notes
recipe source ChocolateChocolateandmore.com
Need more Christmas cookie inspiration?
Cream Cheese Chocolate Croissant Cookies
Lesa @Edesia's Notebook says
They’re so cute! I love their little smiles!
Carrie - ASassyRedhead.com says
Oh, goodness…it has been YEARS since I’ve had these!
What memories…wow.
And once again, you make them look perfect. =)
Robin Allen says
Does this recipe keep them soft and chewy? I’m only wondering, ’cause they look great and I would love to make soft, chewy Gingerbread people!
Joan Hayes says
Robin, these are a soft cookie, not hard at all. Enjoy!
Anonymous says
Can you also make gingerbread houses with this recipe? or is it too soft?
Joan Hayes says
This recipe would definitely be too soft for Gingerbread houses.
Joanne T Ferguson says
G’day! I love gingerbread cookies, true!
I could almost smell yours through the screen…great photo too!
Cheers! Joanne
Viewed as part of Helene’s Christmas Cookie Collection 2013
Dana Garrett says
Could you use butter instead of shortening?
Joan Hayes says
I never have. I’m sure you could but it will change the taste of these cookies.
Sheila says
I think they would turn out more crisp with butter.
Amanda says
Can I halve this recipe and it still turn out?
Joan Hayes says
You can but it’s hard to Halve an egg. Other than the egg issue, the rest of the recipe is easy to halve. This dough does freeze well so you could make a full batch and just freeze half the dough for another time.
kat says
I made these with my kids today. The dough was amazing to work with. …I don’t know if I used the wrong kind of molasses, but I find the flavour completely overpowering. I’m not sure if these will get eaten in my house. They look great, but I think there’s just too much molasses. What kind did you use?
Joan Hayes says
I use Grandma’s Molasses. Did you use unsulphured?
Kat says
I used Crosby’s. It’s the only molasses I can find where I live. (never seen Grandma’s before. I just noticed I bought cooking molasses and on the back it says “recipes prepared with Crosby’s Cooking Molasses will have a much stronger taste than with Crosby’s Fancy Molasses” Guess I should have bought the Fancy. I wish the cookies tasted as good as they look. That was a long time spent baking and decorating 🙁 Fun time with the kids, but end results a molasses cookie. What is unsulfered?
Cindy says
Are these spicy? Almost every gingerbread cookie i eat is spicy 🙁 iwant just a hint of ginger
Joan Hayes says
I don’t think they taste overly spicy but they do taste like gingerbread.
Emily says
Hi! Great recipe. Substituted date syrup (I live in the Middle East so readily and freshly available) for molasses and used butter instead of shortening and it worked a treat. Yummy chewy cookies with a perfect level of gingeryness for all children. Thanks!