This is the BEST recipe for gingerbread cookies I have ever tasted. It looks complicated, but isn't. I have used this recipe for many years and always get compliments on it.
This was a yummy recipe!! Some small changes though, little more than 3/4 molasses, not 1 cup, 1 Tbsp cinnamon (says 1 tsp) and 1 tsp of all spice. Those spices really kicked up the flavor. Also make sure to use lots of flour to roll out the dough as it is sticky.
Read MoreI hate giving a bad review to a favorite recipe of another, but these tasted awful and I was extremely dissapointed. The shortening taste is more pronounced than it should be and the taste of molasses and cloves is overwhelming. For the cost of the spices and the time it takes to work the dough together, this recipe was a huge let down (my son and I had planned on decorating gingerbread men and had all the fixings to do so - we decided to make another dessert after tasting the cookie) I would choose a recipe with a "sweeter" base. These are spicy, but not in a way that will be pleasing to children and I have to agree with another reviewes when they said these tasted like dog biscuits. Sorry!!
Read MoreThis was a yummy recipe!! Some small changes though, little more than 3/4 molasses, not 1 cup, 1 Tbsp cinnamon (says 1 tsp) and 1 tsp of all spice. Those spices really kicked up the flavor. Also make sure to use lots of flour to roll out the dough as it is sticky.
I was apprehensive, with the variety of reviews, but this recipe turned out great. I've made gingerbread cookies in the past; either the dough was too tough to work with, or they did taste like cardboard after baking (the frosting redeemed them). I did double the ginger, as suggested. The dough was soft, easy to work with, and did not get hard and tough as we continued to work with it. The dough we were working with mixed very well with the dough we added from the refrigerator. The cookies were soft when done baking. The kids and I both liked the flavor. I will use this recipe again.
I doubled the cinnamon, left the ginger the same (a whole *tablespoon* is plenty), and cut the molasses to 34 cup. They came out tasting great :) I also dumped the cloves because I don't like that flavor. The dough wasn't the easiest to work with, but I didn't wait the full three hours to roll it out, so I can't complain. The cookies held their shape in the oven and stayed soft in the middle. Another minute or two would have added some crispiness, and I'll probably try that next time. Great cookies, thanks for the recipe :)
Excellent soft gingerbread cookies. I have received many compliments!! I must have been using potent powdered ginger: unlike other reviewers, I found my cookies to have a hot ginger taste. As suggested by others, I doubled the cinnamon & added 1/2 tsp allspice. Next time I would leave the cinnamon at 1 tsp, to keep the ginger dominant. I used 1/2 cup shortening (all I had on hand) and 1/2 cup margarine. I did not notice a 'molasses taste'. I recommend rolling the dough out between 2 pieces of plastic wrap, rather than using a floured surface, to reduce the risk of dry cookies. Bake only until the cookies don't look wet. They will be sturdy but still soft when cool.
Excellent soft gingerbread cookies. I have received many compliments!! I must have been using potent powdered ginger: unlike other reviewers, I found my cookies to have a hot ginger taste. As suggested by others, I doubled the cinnamon & added 1/2 tsp allspice. Next time I would leave the cinnamon at 1 tsp, to keep the ginger dominant. I used 1/2 cup shortening (all I had on hand) and 1/2 cup margarine. I did not notice a 'molasses taste'. I recommend rolling the dough out between 2 pieces of plastic wrap, rather than using a floured surface, to reduce the risk of dry cookies. Bake only until the cookies don't look wet. They will be sturdy but still soft when cool.
I hate giving a bad review to a favorite recipe of another, but these tasted awful and I was extremely dissapointed. The shortening taste is more pronounced than it should be and the taste of molasses and cloves is overwhelming. For the cost of the spices and the time it takes to work the dough together, this recipe was a huge let down (my son and I had planned on decorating gingerbread men and had all the fixings to do so - we decided to make another dessert after tasting the cookie) I would choose a recipe with a "sweeter" base. These are spicy, but not in a way that will be pleasing to children and I have to agree with another reviewes when they said these tasted like dog biscuits. Sorry!!
Reading some of the other reviews, I almost decided not to try these. But I'm sooooo glad that I did. I didn't change anything and they were great. I baked them only until they were slightly firm to the touch. Perfect. Thanks, Kim.
Delectable. Use only 3/4 cup molasses, it's enough. You want these sweet and spicy, not too molasses-rich.
Fantastic! My kids as well as the adults in the family loved this cookie. If they come out too dry, try cooking them for a minute or so less. The dough was easy to make, at the end it got a little difficult for mixing but once the dry ingredients were all absorbed it was a dream! Give it a taste test before you divide it up for the fridge. This was a really nice cookie, I will make it every year! Thanks Kim!
Though the dough takes a good deal of time and effort to prepare ( it becomes very thick and dificult to mix) this recipe is well worth the effort. I served them at a neighborhood cookie swap and they were the hit of the party! Thanks Kim!
This recipe is excellent, i don't know what the others are talking about. I have three points to make to the people who have been having problems: 1) Chilling the dough is extremely important, you are using melted butter which is essential for the texture, you must 'set' the dough in the fridge and it will be very easy to work. 2) pet peeve: stop complaining about the flavour of recipe's like this. Adjust the spices! amount of spiciness is a personal preference and should not have bearing on the quality of the recipe when baking. 3) Do not overbake, bake until just dry. If the edges start to become brown you have gone too far. I added a few tablespoons of B&B to mine, baked them in small rounds and dusted them with powdered sugar when they cooled. They were beautiful!
I made few adjustments to the recipe based on previous reviews...used 2 tbsp ginger (I like the heat), 1/2 tsp allspice, 3/4 cup molasses, substituted 1/2 of the shortening with butter, added a half teaspoon of salt and substituted orange juice for the water. The orange juice *made* these cookies. I also dredged the cut cookies in a light coating of granulated sugar. These cookies are soft and lovely. *Awesome*
after reviewing other similiar recipes, I ended following this one mostly. However, steps differed, I used black strap molasses 3/4 c and added the baking soda to it, letting it sit till frothy and lt brown. In a separate bowl creamed shortening and brn sugar, then added all spices (doubled the ginger and added 1/2 tsp allspice), vanilla, molasses and then water. Tasted and decided to add 1C of reg sugar, 2 more Tbs of vanilla, and one Tsp of Salt. Gradually added the flour until forming a moist yet firm dough. refrigerated as recipe suggests, then removed and let sit at room temperature for 15-20 min. Rolled mine to just under 1/2" and baked at 375 for exactly 10 minutes. These were deliciously moist yet solid, had a great spice to them!! After reading reviews, I speculate others may be using milder forms of molasses. Black strap is very robust and melds with the clove and ginger to awaken your senses. The batter is almost too much...but the taste cooks down a bit to make very palatable yet flavorful.
I've never baked gingerbread cookies before, and aftyer trying this recipe, I'll probably never stray from it! The dough was very easy to make and work with, I don't know what others are complaining about. I was very (very!) generous with the spices. You have to make sure you are using fresh spices or you will get no flavor! I think I may have also added some allspice. I rolled the dough a little thicker than 1/4 in., and didn't bake for long. I ended up with a wonderful, soft cookie that held it's shape well during decorating and transportation. I made a simple powdered sugar glaze and added fresh orange juice and orange zest and some nutmeg to it -- it was the *perfect* accompaniment to the subtley flavored cookies and everyone loved it! Consider this recipe as a basic foundation, and be creative to suit your own tastes.
This recipe was very good. I did take the advice of a previous review and increase the cinnamon to a tablespoon and add 1 tsp allspice. Friends have been asking for more! My husband likes it because the cookies are soft not crunchy.
I made this recipe last night and the first pan was gone before the second came out of the oven! I used real butter. I am not a fan of shortening in cookies. I rolled out the dough on plastic wrap and did not use flour. the dough was easy to work with and nothing seemed dry at all! Thanks Kim!
This is a very mild gingerbread recipe but tastes good. My husband, the expert cookie dough roller in the house, said the dough is more crumbly than the sugar cookie dough he makes and you have to roll this dough out gently, at least until it warms up, but he said it's pretty easy to work with. My middle son wanted gingerbread cookies for his Royal Rangers class Christmas party so my husband looked for and found this recipe to try. We'll likely make these every Christmas now! They're just as fun to make and decorate as the sugar cookies he makes. We're wondering if anyone has ever frozen the dough, though.
I'm pretty sure that anyone who liked these has never had good gingerbread cookies. I have been making them since I was 5 and while studying abroad I decided to make some but didn't have my own recipe with me so I found this one. I went against all its bad reviews and made it anyway and now I regret it so much. I gave it a star because it makes great play-dough since its texture is incredibly soft, but the end result is completely flavorless. Great dog biscuits too.
This recipe turned out pretty awfully. It was dry and tasteless. Frosting them made them only slightly better. We chose this recipe because of its high rating, but were disappointed with the results, to say the least. You're better off frosting cardboard!
my first time making gingerbread cookies from scratch, and it was EVEN EASIER than using a mix! great great flavor, and easy to work with. thanks for the terrific recipe.
The first taste impression from these cookies is that of shortening. The ginger is a distant second. Rats! Still searching for a good gingerbread recipe.
I did all that work and the taste was awful! 1 cup of mollasses?! The cookie tasted like mollasses!
No losing with this one. Just good ingredients and they turn out perfect. Anyone have ideas for an interesting frosting other than the plain white icing? Anyhow, I've made these many many times and they're just plain good.
I followed the direction step by step...awful! The dough ended up crumbling when taken out of the fridge and it also tasted terrible.
I read all the bad reviews and regretfully made them anyways...even worse I made 2 batches before tasting the first. They are not to my liking (both batches) they are dry and tasteless. They were very difficult to roll also. I made all the recomended changes but I do not care for the taste.
The recipe looked good, but when made the taste was off- the spices need to be adjusted. There is too much flour in this recipe and will need to be adjusted as well- the dough was so thick that it was virtually impossible to roll out – the dough kept crumbling.
I'm convinced that being part of a good cook is making slight adjustments to a recipe as you go along based on your culinary intuition. It's very possible that a good cook could have made the necessary slight adjustments to this recipe to make it delicious - certainly enough people have given it high marks to suggest this. I've never claimed to be a good cook, but I did follow this recipe to a T, and they came out tasting pretty awful - not nearly sweet enough. They were still fun to make, but even with plenty of icing only two got eaten (by me). Disappointing.
I was really disappointed in this recipe waste of time tasted like cardboard sorry never again without ready reviews maybe good for hanging on christmas tree one star for that only
I made a batch and they did turn out good but tasted more like pumpkin cookies then gingerbread and my cooking time was 20 min not 10-12 min as it said.
This was not to my liking. The proportions liquid per dry ingredients were way off, the cookies weren't spicy, and no matter how thinly I rolled the dough, when cooked, they were still super thick.
When I first took the dough out of the fridge it was dry and stiff. I heated it in the microwave to warm it a little and then it was great. I don't think this dough needs to be refridgerated like the recipe calls for. If the dough seems hard to work with I suggest warming it a little first. The cookies turned out great!
If you are looking for a soft gingerbread cookie, after baking, this is the recipe for you. Dough cuts and handles nicely, feel the spices should have been more intense. I will frost these with lemon flavored icing, hope it redeems them!
I've followed the instructions 100% and it tastes bad, and the dough is sooooo crummy that you can't rolls it. It falls apart.
Was very easy and quick to make (for a rolled cookie). I haven't frosted them yet, but I was a bit disappointed in the taste - a bit bland. I noticed that the recipe did not include any salt. I wonder if this would affect their taste. I think also that I would increase the amount of cinnamon. Overall, though, a very nice cookie.
I added more cinnamon and other spices the second time I made it. I thought the dough rolled out GREAT and they were moist (2 things that have been lacking in other gingerbread cookie recipes I've tried) but they needed a pinch more flavor!
This was a good cookie recipe but it did seem to be a tad bit bland at the first bite but leaves a wonderful lingering flavor on the taste buds. I did increase the ginger and cinnamon. It is a great dough to work with though and produces as wonderful, chewy texture. My kids flipped over them especially after I iced some with the Gingerbread Cookie Frosting (also on this site).
I have been looking for a SOFT gingerbread cookie and THIS IS IT! It is perfect. I wouldn't add or take away anything. Kids will scarf them down right away....THANKS!!
This recipe is very good for making gingerbread houses as it is a large quantity and also very dense. This is a very flavorful gingerbread.
This recipe was EXCELLENT!!!! Bravo!! I have never made gingerbread cookies that didnt come in a box! Thought it was too difficult. The only thing I did different is instead of refidgerating it I used my cookie press and they worked wonderfully. I had a box of mix and made that and then made this and \i will tell you I WILL NEVER BUY IT THAT WAY AGAIN!!! BRAVO I SAY!!!!
This is soooo good!!! I made a couple of batches, so I could have some gingerbread men and a gingerbread house. It is very soft and chewy, which is good for the men, bad for the house. I cooked the house pieces a little longer though, and it worked out perfectly. THANK YOU!!
VERY disappointing!! waste of ingredients & time :( not sweet at all, just a spicy biscuit type deal...& i LOVE ginger. was hoping to have for my party tomorrow...frustrating.
This year I had my neices, nephews and sisters out for a cookie baking party. We had a blast. This is the recipe I used. The first batch we didn't get even close to the number of cookies we were suppose. Then we realized we were making them too thick. Next time I might add some more molasses, cinnamon and allspice. I plan to make this my recipe every year. Thanks.
I read reviews after I had already adjusted and made up dough from recipe to make 3 dozen cookies and was concerned about the taste when baked but the cookies were delicious and the dough was so easy to manipulate to move from counter to cookie sheet. I will definitely make this recipe again.
Make a couple days in advance. I followed the recipe with the exception that i ommitted 1/2 cup flour as I knew I would add some when working with the dough. Intially I was really dissapointed in the flavor. I made them two days in advance of using them. When I went to decorate two days later, the flavors had infused and the cookies were soft and delicious. I used very little icing because I didn't want to overpower the spiciness with sweet. Yummy!
Really good recipe. The 1 tbs cinnamon instead of teaspoon and extra teaspoon of Ginger really kicked them up a notch. I added an extra egg and that made it even easier to work with, no need for flour when rollin out the dough only a stretch of wax paper instead. My husband absolutely loves them and can't stop eating them!
The dough was pretty easy to work with,if you like your gingerbread cookies soft and chewy this is the recipe for you.Next time I might switch up the spices, the flavor was not that great and I had to add some icing but they were ok.
Saben riquisimas estas galletas...PERO las trate de cortar en forma de Gingerbread men y la masa estaba demasiado pegostiosa. Cuando finalmente pude hacer algunos monitos, al salir del horno algunas se quedaban medias crudas y aunque las dejaba mas tiempo comoquiera seguian crudas....si tuviera paciencia las volveria a hacer...pero neee
Great Recipe! i even used 1 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon :-) PS: Due to unavailability of some ingredients in my country, i replaced the shortening with unslated butter and the molasses with melted sugar*. I melted 1 cup of sugar with drops of lemon juice and continuous stirring.
the mixed reviews surprised me, this is a simple recipe that really works. i tried it yesterday and we all had a cookie frenzy in the evening after enjoyable colorful icing process. even before it was baked the dough was very delicious. i did not have some of the ingredients so i used margarine instead of shortening and skipped vanilla extract. it took more flour than recipe. i put less molasses, just above 3/4 cup. i am allergic to nutmeg to i replaced it with simple ground nuts. although i altered the recipe a lot, the end result was very tasteful. this gives you half soft cookies not all crunchy and hard ones. i recomend it.
Loved how easy it was to make and the cookies came out perfect. Will be adding this recipe to our holiday box for future use.
I made the recipe using just 3/4 cup of molasses and it seems to be doing good. Letting it chill now. My girls are anxious to roll it out and use cookie cutters. The dough was easy to make.
This is a great recipe. I found it very straight-forward and the dough wasn't hard to work with at all. The cookies were delicious! The best home-made gingerbread I have ever had.
I was a little skeptical at first, I never made a gingerbread recipe that wasn't as hard as a brick, but this one really changed my mind! The cookies were soft, moist, and not too sweet. Not to mention the dough was incredibly easy to work with. Got a winner here!
i just made the dough it is in the fridge right now though following others opnions i made my own changes. i upped each spice to 1T and after seeing somone complain about the taste of the shortening i cut that to 1/2 a cup with a half a cup of melted butter to make up the difference. with the additional spices and butter the dough tasted pretty good but i'll update after i roll it and make the cookies
Easy and full of what makes gingerbread good - molasses and ginger. Perfect for cutting into you favourite shapes for icing. Hard enough that they keep their shape, but soft enough to be enjoyed.
Really disappointing. I've baked gingerbread several years in a row now, and I like it savory, sweet and spicy. This recipe entirely failed in all those respects. The texture was fine, and I added more spices, but the baked cooked came out very bland despite that, with only an aftertaste of real spiciness. I think it might have been helped by more brown sugar and more molasses, but at that point, it's not worth changing the entire recipe to make it worth the effort.
This is the BEST gingerbread cookie recipe I have tried in years!!! The taste is very mild so children love it. I made large gingerbread men and the dough handled well and was very smooth. This is great to make the dough ahead and keep in the refrigerator. Just perfect!
I bake cookies for the past 12years. I am sorry there is something missing in this recipe. It never worked out. Wouldnt recommended it.
Super easy and delicious recipe. Didn't over-rise in the oven so my gingerbread men and women were beautiful. Quick to whip up - will replace my old recipe. Thanks!
The flavor is WONDERFUL, and they cook up nice and crisp. However, don't chill TOO long because the dough gets REALLY hard.
These were fairly bland tasting, even after I did what others recommended and doubled the ginger. The dough was also very difficult to work with.
This recipe tastes fine but it is the most difficult dough I have ever worked with. I could not pick these up after cutting. I eventually had to put the dough on the cookie sheet, roll and pick out the excess.
I did not care for this gingerbread recipe. Poor texture, not tasty, very disappointing!! I've been making gingerbread cookies for years, and thought I would try a new recipe. Do not try them!!!
This is the first time I have ever written a review. These were so bad I thought I would take the time. Sorry but these were so flavorless and not sweet enough at all. I double checked my ingredients thinking I must have overlooked something, but I didn't. The dough rolled out easily and it was simple to do, but I didn't care for the flavor. Sorry, can't believe so many wrote in that they loved these. They must have a fantastic frosting recipe is all I can say. We are planning on smothering these in frosting and hoping my son's classmates can stomach them. Very spicey.
I wish I would have read more of the reviews before I wasted a ton of ingredients on them! I agree with all of you who describe these as "dog biscuity". They are dry and very bland. Not what I was expecting at all.
I read many reviews first before making these cookies. I halved the recipe since 6 cups of flour seemed like a lot of cookies & used 1/3 c oj instead of water and used a whole egg. I also used half shortening and half butter. I didn't refrigerate the dough which didn't seem to matter. My cookies were nice and soft. I did find them a bit bland. I remade the cookies as above and doubled the spices (tripled the cinnamon)-much better tasting!
I was really disappointed with this recipe. The cookies turned out to be not very sweet and a bit cardboard-like.
My goldchild is fond of Gingerbread men and she loves these ones!! They're so easy to bake and all my house smells so good when they're baking.
I followed the review and added double the ginger and cloves, and less molasses. The cookies still came out tasting too much like molasses, and nothing much else.
I'm sorry to give a bad review, but my husband even said they taste like cardboard with some spices. I wish I only tried half a recipe.
I have made this recipe as written and made it with half the spices for my preschool class. Both ways they are fantastic cookies.
I made these cookies for the first time but not the last they are great turned out perfect.
Excellent recipe! I'm only 14 and before these cookies, my cooking experience was limited to popping a lean cuisine meal into the microwave. The recipe was very easy, and the cookies came out great. Now whenever I could something and ask for a reaction from my family, they always say, "Good, but not as good as those gingerbread cookies - those were great!" I definately recommend this recipe.
I knew I should have added different spices! These cookies taste okay, but if you cook them even just a little too long, they end up tasting terrible. Add allspice.
This is not gingerbread. what a disappointment. I made this recipe because it makes so many cookies, not really realizing my usual recipe that makes less than half the cookies has the same amount of spices. Do not make this recipe. Make the Good Housekeeping cookies.
I halved the recipe (with the exception of the egg, kept that whole), and had plenty of cookies. I would use this recipe again, though I can see why someone thought they tasted dog-biscuity. Here's what I found: the first batch in the oven were kept in a tad bit too long, and they just weren't that great. I was a little disappointed until I pulled out the second batch, and they were perfect! Tasted great, not too dry, and were very tasty. I would try this recipe again, though watch that they don't get overbaked as it can ruin the taste.
I honestly don't know how this recipe has any bad reviews. I followed it exactly and was really happy with the results. I chilled my dough for about 8 hours to make it easier to work with, and I like them soft so I only baked them for 8 minutes, but I was very happy with the outcome! Ignore the bad reviews and try it for yourself..
I followed this recipe exactly and was not at all pleased with the results. I can't tell if it was too much ginger or too much molasses, but it was just not at all what I was hoping to get out of a gingerbread recipe.
Great cookies! First time ever making gingerbread cookies. They turned out more moist than dry, so I was a happy camper.
This was the first time I have made Gingerbread cookies, and I was quite disappointed in the taste. They are spicy but not sweet at all. I agree with another review that referred to them as "dog biscuits." Not worth all the trouble of that dough, and it was all wasted! sorry.
This is a great recipe and it held together well! I made a large gingerbread house and used it for that. It baked well and did not lose its shape.
This was not the best gingerbread cookie recipe I've used. They ended up tasting like Molasses cookies, and NOT like nice, spicy gingerbread cookies. Overall, I'm sure they would be wonderful if the molasses amount was cut.
I was disappointed in this recipe for gingerbread. My family gets together for baking Christmas cookies and we were disappointed in the taste. I did change the cinnamon to a tablespoon and cut back on the molasses but apparently it did not help. I would not recommend this cookie.
I found them fairly easy to make. I doubled the ginger and still did not find them as flavourful as they should be. Maybe some fresh grated ginger next time.
These were great! Me and my amily loved them! I used a teensy less molasses since I am not a huge fan and they were great! I also added a bit more cinnamon since its one of my favorite spices. These were not too sweet and not too spicy, just right!! I would definitly recommend them to anyone! I will definitly be making these again next holiday season!
I made these cookies just as the recipe is listed. The dough was easy to make using a stand mixer. After the three hours of refridgeration time the dough was soft but had a tendancy to crack and break when rolling out. The cut outs held their shape in the oven. Unfortunately, my family and I found the taste bland and not at all sweet. I would not recommend these cookies for eating. However, they make great christmas tree decorations.
I made this exactly according to the recipe. It's good, and makes very soft gingerbread cookies. That is my complaint, they're too soft. Almost too soft to decorate. The spice was good but I wanted it spicier, so if I were to make this recipe again, I would use more ginger. This recipe makes a LOT of cookies!
There isn't enuff ginger. I put 2 teaspoons instead of 1. They don't need to be in the fridge for 3 hours. 30 minutes worked well. They are good with sugar cookie icing that DRIES. They aren't always the amount you want. 24 doesnt make 24 cookies. It says 3/8 of an egg. You can do 1 of 2 things: mix it in a bowl and use half or use just the whites. Both are good. Ive made these at least 5 times. They're great! (with some changes) ps. I use butter instead of shortening. Still works great!
I halved the recipe, maybe that is where my problem lies... but I didn't like these cookies one bit. They were more like clove-bread cookies than ginger. They were oddly puffy, rather than dense. I think that they would probably taste a whole lot better if one used butter instead of shortening. The vegetable fat has a weird flavor in this context. Another recipe might be a little more satisfying if you are looking for a traditional gingerbread.
I give it 3 stars just because I am hard to please, I made those cookies prior reading the reviews, when I was done with the dough, I thought i messed it all up, and the strong smell worried me, but put it in the fridge anyways, they came out great, I like it even though I am not a ginger bread kind of person, I was worried my sons would not like them because the flavor was really strong, I think next time I would hold on the clove, not my favorite flavor... whoever messed up this recipe, I don' t know what to say... I am not a cook at all, and followed directions by the letter, dough was easy to make, pretty easy to work with ( easier though with smaller cookie cutters) and crispy on the outside soft on the inside. Not like cardboard at all, did not taste like dog cookies at all, but hey everyone is entitled to there opinions. IF MY FAMILY LIKED IT, THEN I' M HAPPY.
WASN'T HARD TO MAKE. WAITING TO TAKE IT OUT OF THE REFRIDGE. WAS THE HARDEST PART. DOUGH MADE UP NICELY. I LEFT THE EGG OUT AND IT WAS PRETTY GOOD!!
