McCormick® Gingerbread Men Cookies

Rating: 4.6 stars
517 Ratings
  • 5 star values: 374
  • 4 star values: 103
  • 3 star values: 21
  • 2 star values: 12
  • 1 star values: 7

These Gingerbread Men Cookies are as cute as can be. If desired, decorate with raisins, currants or cinnamon red hot candies for eyes and buttons.

By McCormick Spice

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Recipe Summary

prep:
20 mins
cook:
10 mins
additional:
4 hrs
total:
4 hrs 30 mins
Servings:
24
Yield:
24 (1 cookie) servings
Nutrition Info
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Ingredients

24
Original recipe yields 24 servings
The ingredient list now reflects the servings specified

Directions

  • Mix flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt in large bowl. Beat butter and brown sugar in another large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add molasses, egg and vanilla; beat well. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed. Press dough into a thick flat disk. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

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  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness on lightly floured work surface. Cut into gingerbread men shapes with 5-inch cookie cutter. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets.

  • Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges of cookies are set and just begin to brown. Cool on baking sheets 1 to 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks; cool completely. Decorate cooled cookies as desired. Store cookies in airtight container up to 5 days.

Gingerbread Cookie Variations:

White Chocolate Kissed Gingerbread Cookies: Prepare and refrigerate dough as directed. Shape into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake in preheated 350 degrees F oven 8 to 10 minutes or until edges of cookies just begin to brown. Immediately press a white and milk chocolate swirled kiss-shaped candy into center of each cookie. Remove to wire racks; cool completely. Makes 5 dozen.

Gingerbread Whoopie Pies with Lemon Creme: Prepare and refrigerate dough as directed. Shape into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake in preheated 350 degrees F oven 8 to 10 minutes or until edges of cookies just begin to brown. Remove to wire racks; cool completely. For the Lemon Creme, mix 1 jar (7 ounces) marshmallow cream, 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened, 4 ounces cream cheese, softened, and 1 teaspoon McCormick(R) Pure Lemon Extract in medium bowl until well blended. To assemble whoopie pies, place about 1 tablespoon filling on the flat side of 1 cookie. Top with a second cookie, pressing gently to spread the filling. Roll edge of whoopie pie in 1 cup crushed peppermint candy. Repeat with remaining cookies, filling and candy. Store whoopie pies between layers of wax paper in airtight container in refrigerator up to 5 days. Makes 2 1/2 dozen.

Caramel Pecan Gingerbread Thumbprints: Prepare and refrigerate dough as directed. Shape into 1-inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake in preheated 350 degrees F oven 8 to 10 minutes or until edges of cookies just begin to brown. Immediately press a pecan half into center of each cookie. Top each with 1/4 teaspoon of caramel topping. Remove to wire racks; cool completely. Drizzle cookies with 2 ounces semi-sweet baking chocolate, melted. Let stand until chocolate is set. Makes 5 dozen.

Almond Gingerbread Cookies: Prepare and refrigerate dough as directed. Shape into 1-inch balls. Roll in 1 1/3 cups sliced almonds, pressing almonds into dough. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake in preheated 350 degrees F oven 8 to 10 minutes or until edges of cookies just begin to brown. Remove to wire racks; cool completely. Makes 5 dozen.

Nutrition Facts

Per Serving:
158 calories; protein 2g; carbohydrates 24g; fat 6.1g; cholesterol 23mg; sodium 125.3mg. Full Nutrition
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Reviews (388)

Read More Reviews

Most helpful positive review

Dan K
Rating: 5 stars
12/01/2009
Made these for the Thanksgiving get together with family and everyone loved it. Followed recipe exactly, except not necessarily McCormick brand spices. Left dough in frig overnight. Did not ice/decorate as everyone liked it as is. Baked only the minimum 8 mins. and they came out nice and soft. I only got 17-18 gingerbread men but might have made them alittle thicker. Longer bake time may make them crispier if you like that way. Family asked me to make more so started a new batch on this day after Thanksgiving. Will maybe freeze some for longer storage. 2nd batch-rolled dough a bit thinner-1/4 inch or less. Got 26 cookies. Tried baking a few for 10 minutes and turned out too crisp after cooling. Recommend 8 minutes but may vary with ovens. Read More
Helpful
(227)

Most helpful critical review

Lilli
Rating: 3 stars
11/22/2010
If I could have I would have given this recipe 2 1/2 stars. It's not terrible but I found them to be a bit bland. The consistency was good but overall the flavor was mediocre. Maybe use salted butter or increase salt a little add cloves and use more ginger. Read More
Helpful
(12)
517 Ratings
  • 5 star values: 374
  • 4 star values: 103
  • 3 star values: 21
  • 2 star values: 12
  • 1 star values: 7
Reviews:
Most Helpful Most Positive Least Positive Newest
Dan K
Rating: 5 stars
11/30/2009
Made these for the Thanksgiving get together with family and everyone loved it. Followed recipe exactly, except not necessarily McCormick brand spices. Left dough in frig overnight. Did not ice/decorate as everyone liked it as is. Baked only the minimum 8 mins. and they came out nice and soft. I only got 17-18 gingerbread men but might have made them alittle thicker. Longer bake time may make them crispier if you like that way. Family asked me to make more so started a new batch on this day after Thanksgiving. Will maybe freeze some for longer storage. 2nd batch-rolled dough a bit thinner-1/4 inch or less. Got 26 cookies. Tried baking a few for 10 minutes and turned out too crisp after cooling. Recommend 8 minutes but may vary with ovens. Read More
Helpful
(227)
Kristyj20
Rating: 5 stars
12/04/2009
Ok so this was my first time making gingerbread, this recipe is AWESOME!! followed to a T and it came out perfect! chilled overnight. the cookies came out fantastic and everyone loved them!!!! Read More
Helpful
(62)
Jenny
Rating: 5 stars
12/11/2009
When I first baked these cookies I did not like them. I thought that they were very bland. Because I could not decide what to do with them, I wrapped them up and stuck them in my freezer. I took a couple out last night and WOW are they good. The flavors all came out and they are excellent. Also they seemed to be softer after freeezing. I am so happy that I didn't throw them away! Read More
Helpful
(61)
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kimlynn
Rating: 5 stars
12/14/2009
This is an excellent recipe - I made these for a Christmas cookie decorating party and was really pleased with the results. I would recommend rolling the dough out as instructed (to 1/4" thickness). I first rolled the dough out too thick and my first couple of cookies were too puffy and cake-y. After rolling the dough to 1/4" they turned out perfectly. Read More
Helpful
(49)
Country Cook
Rating: 5 stars
11/23/2009
I am so sorry my 14 year old niece made these while I was at work yesterday she probably did not measure the spices correctly. And then she left the review before I came home. Again I am sorry I can't figure out how to take it off. Read More
Helpful
(37)
strange_wings
Rating: 4 stars
12/14/2009
I got ahold of an electric mixer and I'm glad I did...the reviewer who suggested I needed one for this recipe was absolutely right! Anyway now that I've made these cookies I can finally put in my two cents--having never made gingerbread before I really didn't know what to expect but this was quite a painless recipe! My dough was a little on the crumbly side but I suspect it was an error on my part. Additionally they taste more like molasses than ginger but maybe that's because I used Black Strap which has a very obvious flavour! Anyway I will definitely make these again. Thanks for sharing the recipe! Read More
Helpful
(34)
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Lorrie
Rating: 4 stars
10/29/2010
These were ok but I would have preferred to have an extra TSP of ginger in there. Also these are more of a soft cookie even when rolled out thinner and left in the oven a little longer. TRICKS to easy rolling. If you are in a rush put the dough in the freezer to harden. Then roll out right on the parchment paper. Cut out your shapes leaving space between each cookie so you can just lift off the excess around the cut outs and place directly in the oven. No "bent / out of shape" cookies. Cookies swell when cooking so if 2 are stuck together don't pull (you could pull and arm or a leg off!!! oh no!!) just use a sharp thin knife to push through the area and seperate gently. Voila! Great cookies.:) Read More
Helpful
(27)
Kali Durga
Rating: 5 stars
12/02/2009
Very nice cookies. We didn't notice the 4 hour chill time though so weren't able to make them until the next day. The dough was way too hard coming out of the fridge so had to wait a bit for it to warm up. Very crispy and delicious! Will definitely put these in Christmas cookie rotation. Read More
Helpful
(25)
Beth Woerter Fournier
Rating: 5 stars
12/10/2009
This was an amazing recipe! So easy, had all the ingredients on hand and it made tons of cookies! This is definately my "go to" gingerbread man recipe! Read More
Helpful
(18)
Lilli
Rating: 3 stars
11/22/2010
If I could have I would have given this recipe 2 1/2 stars. It's not terrible but I found them to be a bit bland. The consistency was good but overall the flavor was mediocre. Maybe use salted butter or increase salt a little add cloves and use more ginger. Read More
Helpful
(12)
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