Making My Gingerbread Man a "Softy"......The search for a Soft Moist Gingerbread Cookies Recipe
I love anything with ginger in it and I definitely love moist gingerbread warm from the oven with a huge dollop of whipped cream on it. Yummmmmmmmmmm..... but I am not all that crazy about hard gingerbread cookies. I'm a soft cookie fan and most gingerbread recipes I tried always turned out hard and crispy. Great to use as ornaments but not what I wanted to eat. I assumed it was the recipe, so I tried a couple of different recipes that were for soft moist gingerbread cookies but they came out crumbly and were very difficult to roll out for cutting with the cookie cutter.
So I made it my mission to find a soft moist gingerbread cookies recipe that would give me the texture and softness I wanted and would hold together for the cookie cutter process. With a little research, I found that that the problem wasn't so much the recipes as it was technique. In fact, I found a recipe that would work for both the soft, chewy cookies that I like to eat and the crispier version that I like to use as decorations. The only difference was how I processed the dough. If I want a thin, crispy cookie I roll out the dough ⅛" thick before processing rather than ¼" that I do for the chewier version. I use different cooking temperatures and times for the two different styles also. But other than those differences, the recipe is the same so it is possible to make both types of cookies from the same batch of dough.
PrintSoft Moist Gingerbread Cookies
Fragrant and spicy, this cookie recipe will give you both soft moist gingerbread men and hard crispy cookies for ornamental decorations...it's all in the processing.
- Category: Cookie
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
- 1 tsp. ground ginger
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp. cloves
- ½ tsp. kosher salt
- ¾ tsp. baking soda
- 6 oz. unsalted butter, cut into cubes & slightly softened
- ¾ cup molasses
- 2 tbs. of milk, may need a little more dependent of dryness of flour
Instructions
- Put flour, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt, and baking soda in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle beater.
- Stir dry ingredients together on low speed.
- Add butter pieces and mix at low speed until ingredients resemble fine meal.
- With mixer running, slowly add molasses and milk just until dough is evenly moistened. Then increase speed to medium and mix until thoroughly combined.
- Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface.
- Divide dough in half.
- Place the dough between two large sheets of parchment paper.
- Roll out each half to ¼"thickness.
- While still between the parchment paper, stack the sheets of dough on a cookie sheet.
- Freeze until firm. This will take about 20 minutes. If you want you can refrigerate the dough overnight. If refrigerating make sure it is for a minimum of 2 hours.
- Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper, while preheating oven to 350F.
- Remove cookie dough from freezer.
- Peel off top layer of parchment paper and then lay the paper back down on the dough.
- Carefully turn the dough over so that the bottom becomes the top and gently peel away that layer of parchment paper and discard.
- Cut dough into desired shapes with cookie cutters and using a large spatula, place them on the parchment lined cookie sheets. Keep them about 1" apart because they will spread a little in the cooking process.
- Bake them for 8 to 11 minutes, I turn the sheet front to back half way through the cooking process so they cook evenly. I test them when I am ready to take them out by pressing my finger lightly on the center of the cookie. If the cookie barely retains a slight indent, they are done. Do not over bake.
- Let the cookies rest on the sheet for 2 minutes and then remove with spatula and let cool on wire racks. Decorate cooled cookies with Royal Icing.
- Yield is difficult to predict as it is dependent on the size of the cookie cutters you use. This recipe makes about 30 3" cookies.
C Gobin says
Your ingredients say baking soda and the instructions say baking powder. Which is correct?
Sheryl Thompson says
Thanks for letting me know about my typo. Baking soda is the correct ingredient.
Lauren Ann says
Those look really good! Thanks for sharing that recipe! 😉
Debi and Charly @ Adorned From Above says
Thank you so much for sharing with Adorned From Above’s Link Party. We love having your join the fun.
Debi and Charly @ Adorned From Above
http://www.adornedfromabove.com
Vashti Quiroz-Vega says
Hi Sheryl! Great recipe and I enjoyed reading your post. Thank you for sharing this recipe and your discovery. 🙂 I'm following you via Twitter (@VashtiQV). I'll check out your Facebook page as well. Have a great day!
Vashti
Jordan Hansen says
This sounds great! I love the taste of gingerbread but hate feeling like I'm going to break my teeth on those hard cookies. Glad you found a solution 🙂
Jess says
These looks so tasty! YUM!
Thanks for joining the Link Up this week!
Sharon says
I love a soft gingerbread cookie. Like this recipe! Will definitely be trying it out when the kids go on Christmas break from school. I can taste it now....with a little bit of vanilla ice cream on the side. Pinning for sure....
Amy kahler says
I prefer soft cookies too! Thanks for linking up! I might have to try these out!
Cynthia Banessa says
Great cookies for the holidays and they are so cute too!!! Found you on Simply Gloria linky party
Sheryl T says
Be sure to visit the Homesteadlady.com and check out her Gingerbread Christmas Tree tutorial! Great instructions with lots of detailed photos. Thanks for letting us know about it!