Gingerbread Cookies

I love this recipe even more so because it has NO diary--they just don't spoil and they last forever. If you don't like to eat gingerbread, decorate with them (they smell terrific) you can hang on your tree and when your hungry pick one and eat it. I got this recipe from my mother-in-law about 23 years ago. Been making it ever sice(except I don't use chocolate frosting nor any frosting). I give them as gifts and people LOVE them. The house smells incredible while I'm baking them. My kids and husband LOVE them!!! You can make them so many different ways, if you want a crunchy cookie make sure you roll the dough about an 1/8th of an inch (I prefer them that way--YUMMY!)--if you want a puffy soft cookie (like my son)roll dough 1/4 of an inch. These are the BEST gingerbread cookies. Don't know what that other person was talking about it being the worse gingerbread cookie--they are VERY wrong!!! TIP: use exactly 7 cups of flour and 2/3rds of water--no more--when rolling out dough make sure you flour your hands and dough a bit--it works PERFECT. Don't use water on your hands or on the dough-- when you bake then--ROCK hard cookies. Yikes! Follow the directions exactly--and you will be fine.

I subsituted butter for the shortening and took them out of the oven a little early (I like very soft cookies) and they were perfect!

This is a very tasty recipe. I had a hard time w/ the dough at first, a little dry, I just wet my hands with a little water while needing, until the dough became rollable, then it was great. Careful not too overbake, or they will become rock hard! But when they are baked just right, these where very very tasy!

There is something wrong with this recipe! No eggs? I'm not certain, but it tasted so bad, I threw out the entire batter, after only baking 1 tray of the cookies! Martha Stewart has a great one - using eggs and black pepper.

I followed the recipe but substituted the molasses with golden syrup (I didnt have any molasses)and shortening with butter - the cookies turned out great and have a lovely taste! This is the second time Ive made gingerbread in my short time spent cooking and I was impressed at how well they turned out! This is the recipe Im definately going to use whenever I make gingerbread! Thank you!

Delicious recipe! Makes a whole lot of cookies. I rolled the dough into logs and cut them up into little circular cookies. You could probably roll jelly into the dough if you do this, though you'll want to chill them longer than two hours if you do, to make sure they stay firm while you're cutting them. You can substitute butter or margarine for shortening. You can also use maple syrup instead of molasses for a more subtle taste, and brush a thin sweet mixture of confectioners sugar and water over these cookies when you're done instead of using store-bought frosting, for a more authentic taste. =)

This is a long-time favorite in my family - I had it scribbled on the back of a 4-yr-old receipt, and searched to see if it had been published by anyone else and here it is. BUT the chocolate frosting is not included in my recipe (I would never add that, but that's just my preference). Instead, we glaze it with a confectioner's sugar and lemon juice/rind glaze.

Followed this recipie to the letter and my husband says they are the most incredible gingerbread cookies he's ever had.

These were pretty good cookies. I didn't have any trouble rolling them out and they had a nice, but strong taste. The one problem I had was that I had turned my brain off and added the cold water to the shortening, molasses and sugar without creaming it. I was able to save the mixture but remember to cream the shortening before adding the water.

This was my first try at Gingerbread. I have always enjoyed eating it in the past, so I thought it would be fun to make. This dough was very easy to work with and the cookies came out beautifully, but they didn't taste good at all. I wish I had taken some of the other advise and tasted some of the first ones baked and saved the work. WAY to much Molasses.

I have received rave reviews from other gingerbread fans this Christmas

This recipe is nearly identical to the one that my family has been making for the last 3 generations. A few helpful tips that we've incorporated into our routine: 1) DO NOT OVERMIX. The more you mix, the stickier it gets. 2) Combine the flour+spices first and set aside so that it can be added quickly to the mix. 3) Don't add the cold water until right before you're ready to add the flour+spices. If it sits around and starts warming up, the dough will be stickier. 4) Use only 6.5 cups of flour in the dough and then cover your work surface with flour when you go to roll/cut. It helps keep the dough from sticking to you and your rolling pin.

Delicious! And it's great that it's already vegan without having to make substitutions =) One note though: I think the preparation of the dough should be moved to the beginning since it has to be refrigerated for 2 hours prior to baking.

The taste was wonderful! But what an awful time rolling the dough out... I added a considerable amount of flour and that mostly did the trick. I also should have kept the dough in the fridge longer I think. However it made for great laughs with my mom whom I was baking with that day! Dough everywhere!! Hehe!

i made these cookies and they were the BEST!!!!! i decorated them with cream cheese icing and everyone loved them!!!

This recipe is great! It has the perfect flavor and an amazing scent fills up the kitchen! My mother, who normally isn't a big fan of gingerbread cookies, loved them as well. Make sure to flour your surface well each time you roll out the dough, as it can be VERY sticky. :)

This is a great recipe. It's from the 1963 Betty Crocker's Cooky Book and I've been using it for years. It makes lots of cookies and everyone loves them!

One more recipe in my quest for the perfect gingerbread man recipe. These were great. They were fairly easy to cut out (I always cut out cookies after rolling between two sheets of wax paper) and they puffed up nicely. They made a dense and tasty cookie. Not the best recipe I've used, but pretty darn good.

Tasty cookies. Made great Christmas tree ornaments as well. They stay pretty true to size after baking so less than 2" space between is okay.

These are awesome cookies! They're the typical gingerbread cookies with a very festive, holiday flavor.

Maybe I did something wrong, but these cookies were dry and tasteless. I felt like I was eating flour. Looks like I'll be buying my gingerbread men at the grocery store this year!

I wanted to add something on to my previous review. Let these cookies sit overnight in an air tight container with a slice of bread to help keep moist. Their taste improves overnight and I find they are even tastier after a few days. I just change out the slice of bread every two days to help keep them moist. They are not supposed to be a sweet cookie... that is why the glaze/frosting is used... oops my previous review didn't post... I used 1 1/2 cups robust mollasses. I also doubled all spices. I rolled them a wee bit thick and they were perfect. watch the oven times as they go from done to burned in about 30 seconds.

Followed recipe exactly. Molasses stinks and I have never used before so I thought the cookies would be nasty I was soo wrong! I didn't experiance any of the problems other people did. I used grandmothers molasses don't know if that matters though and butter flavored crisco.

A little strong on the ginger, I should have taken previous reviewers advice and used just half. On the plus side they hold their shape very well.

Ok, to be fair? I have never made gingerbread cookies before. So maybe they are supposed to be impossible? I successfully made batch after batch of cookies and then attempted these. Dough was so very very dry. It was all crumbly. Even wetting hands you could only work with a tiny bit of dough at a time and it would break, etc. I managed to make one pan of little men. I made sure to take them out early. Really dry and floury. Which sticks because I had to buy the molasses, ginger, cloves and allspice... over $20 for those alone...

Why would I pre heat the oven for 2 hours before I bake these cookies? You should change the number of the steps around. #4 should say Pre heat oven to 350. Then #5 roll out cookie dough

Cute and good! I was happy to share them with family last year during the holiday season. They are just so fun to bake and decorate.

These are excellent! This was my first attempt at gingerbread cookies, and I love how soft and tasty these turned out. Word to the wise: doubling the recipe resulted in something like 8 or 9 dozen cutouts - way more than I had expected. But, more to distribute to neighbors and friends!

This is now officially my favourite gingerbread recipe ever! To all my fellow bakers in Ireland (and the UK), do not fret if you can't find molasses: I use golden syrup and it tastes lovely - quite a sweet, almost toffeeish taste, but lovely all the same. Also, don't overcook. I'm a terrible for looking at them after the prescribed time and thinking 'Jayze they're a bit pale!' and whacking them back in for an extra five minutes but AVOID THAT TEMPTATION! It makes them tooth-shatteringly crunchy. Even if they look underdone, take them out of the oven after the given time. Other than that, they're perfect =D

I made this recipe as written. I bumped up the spices because I like spicy gingerbread cookies. The dough was super sticky, very difficult to roll and cut out. I ended up making drop cookies instead. They turned out great. I liked the flavor and soft, chewy texture. Next time I have to remember to cream the shortening and sugar before adding the other wet ingredients. I think that'll help with the stickiness and difficulty working with the dough.

I followed recipe & they were perfect. I made mini gingerbread people, as some suggested I left them a little thick & coated with a glaze & cut up marshmallows. Did not last long on Christmas Eve!!! But I will say this; gingerbread dough is a pain in the *** to work with. Cut the recipe in half! T'was a difficult task with ALL THAT DOUGH!

This is an awesome recipe. I brought them in to work and everyone raved that they were the best gingerbread cookie they have ever had. I used butter instead of shortening. Thank you, I have found a new holiday tradition.

This is the same recipe I've been using for about 30 years! Kneading the dough is a "workout" - and that's part of the process. It's always been a big hit for presentation, and nobody has ever complained about the taste or texture. I used to make them with cookie cutters that were about 7" tall, decorated with Red Hots and white piped icing. The extra touch was to write names with icing, wrap in plastic wrap and red curling ribbon, and use them as "place cards" at the table.

I made this recipe specifically b/c it didn't have eggs (my daughter is allergic to eggs). I have made many Gingerbread cookies and houses in my lifetime that tasted wonderful. I wish I had written one of those recipes down. This recipe is NOT one of the good ones! Dough was very dry and crumbly. The first batch, which was fresh out of the oven, tasted stale. So bad, dry, and tasteless. I urge you to try another recipe and skip this one!

OH MY GOSH!!! THE COOKIES TURNED OUT WONDERFUL!!! The dough was moldable even after 1 hour, so I don't think that you need to refrigerate the dough for 2 hours...... also the gingerbread guys got fatter in the oven (sorry.....) but thats probably my mistake of cutting them too thick. But never the less.... GREAT RECIPE!!

I agree, there is obviously something missing from this recipe. I added egg and more liquid but still don't think it will work! Very expensive, time consuming waste.

These turned out great! Tasted wonderful warmed in the micro with a glass of milk. I hid them in the oven, and the next day I was preheating the oven, and could smell something burning. Yep, it was my cookies! I will make them again this christmas!

I followed the recipe and suggestions but it ended up far too thick and virtually tasteless...won't be using this recipe again - sorry

dead tasty

This is soooo good! I just love all the spices and how they blend together so perfectly!

I used this recipe BUT I mixed in two large eggs to bind it all. Even then I had to really knead the dough. Rolling it out was much tougher than sugar cookie dough because it is so much more dense. (but the good news is it doesn't stick like sugar cookie dough!!) Decent enough but the eggs are a MUST!!!!!!

I made a gingerbread house out of this. It made nice thick, soft walls and tasted great. I love that it has no dairy, so the kids can eat the house 2 weeks later. Instead of the frosting, I used 2 egg whites and 5 cups powdered sugar for the 'mortar' of the house. It made clay-like icing that I rolled into ropes to hold the sides together. I wouldn't decorate with it, since it is too thick to pipe, but it is great for holding the house together, and especially good for kids because it isn't sticky at all, but more like clay.

I have had many people request this recipe. As with most cookie recipes it needed a little tweaking to get the right consistancy (a little water on your hands while kneading does the trick)but it is a great recipe.

I'm happy to have found this recipe - my son is allergic to eggs and dairy, so finding one without is great! It turned out well, except that I prefer my gingerbread with a bit more spice. I'll definitely use the recipe again, though next time I'll try adding a tsp of nutmeg and maybe 3 tsp of ginger and see if that suites my tastes.

This was sort of a hit and miss--depending on the tastes of the reviewer! My mother wasn't fond of the flavor, but my husband, who doesn't like sweets, gobbled these down. The cookie was less of a cookie and more of a cracker in some ways--subtle flavors, not sweet. We chose not to go with the chocolate pre-bought frosting, though, and made powdered sugar chocolate frosting, instead. Still, chocolate didn't seem like the best add-on, so we went with the white powdered sugar frosting instead--it added the extra sweet that was missing. Loved the simple circle shape for these, though. Easy to decorate & a filling snack cookie--not too shameful to hand off to my toddler for a treat. Just don't expect sweet!

I thought this recipe was amazingly good. It reminded me of the ones I ate as a kid at sanas village in jefferson newhampshire. A few additions made it perfect for me. I didn't use allspice but beefed up on the ginger, cloves and cinnamon. I doubled the asked for amount. And instead of shortening, I used real butter. Also, I rolled the dough out a little thicker. They puffed up great and are still soft and chewy days later.

I thought these were really great cookies! They tasted great, baked well, and it was fun decorating them. Thanks for sharing. =)

I made these cookies for our club's christmas party and they were a hit! I don't usually enjoy gingerbread, but I found I ate a lot of these! I rolled mine out to about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick and they got nice and puffy. I had to bake them at 400 because we were making sugar cookies too and they held up fine (I had to reduce baking time to 8 minutes).

This is the best gingerbread recipe I've used. The dough held up, the cookies turned out firm but soft, and tasted great.

My son is in Kindergarten and they have been making and learning about gingerbread cookies. He was so excited when I made these and unfortunatly, he has not learned to say mine are better than the ones at school! It's all good though. I found the cookies very good and the dough was very easy to work with. It's a keeper!

It was a great hit at the Christmas decorating party. Based on the other reviews I tweaked the recipe a bit. Instead of all the shortening I mixed it with half unsalted butter and shortening. Used 1 1/4 cup of molasses. And added a little over a teaspoon of ground cinnamon.

Perfect!

These were great at a recent holiday party. I cut them with star cutters and frosted them with a thin coat of frosting, just enough to hold gold sugar sprinkles on the tops. They were stunningly beautiful and got raves from our guests for their flavor and texture. Also kept well in a tight tin. Definitely a holiday standard now!

It's nice to find egg-free recipes, as my daughter is allergic. We made these today. Since I live in a dry, higher-altitude climate I only added 6 1/2 cups of flour, but it was too much for my KitchenAid mixer (never had that happen before!) and it was quite dry. Six cups would have been plenty. I added a fair amount of water until the dough would hold together, then refrigerated it. It rolled out quite well, and we had fun making 36 gingerbread men. I baked them 10 minutes and they're still soft. However, the taste is somewhat lacking. I hope adding icing and candy will help with that. Real butter instead of shortening might have helped as well. Overall, I don't know if I'll make this recipe again or not.

An ok recipe. I more than doubled the spice amount and still found it a bit bland - I'll likely quadruple next time. It's not overly sweet which I like. I found that I had to add a little extra water to get the right consistency (next time I'll try a bit more shortening). For those that complained of stickiness, I had to flour my rolling pin and table well to prevent sticking, but then didn't find it too problematic.

Mmh! The more I ate them the better they tasted. I do better next year on decorations.

I was able to roll these out and make some great shapes,,, i even frosted some. They had no distinct flavor. =( disappointing. The ones i put frosting on.. just tasted like frosting.

Lol sounds like a delicious recipe, I just hopw everyone reads the entire recipe before beginning, because you really don't have to preheat the oven two hours early.

The ONLY recipe I use now for Gingerbread Men - a hit every time.

I think these taste pretty good, been awhile since I have had gingerbread. Love them a little thicker so that they are nice and moist at a later date. Yum Yum.

Bland. Dough hard to work with. Not the best.

Best recipe ever!!! I used a stone, baked them for 10 min and then let the cookies sit for 2 min before moving them to a cooling rack. It's my first time making gingerbread cookies and they have a perfect mix of crunchy and soft. I will absolutely use this recipe again.

This was the best! I just made them and I also made a few changes: Instead of shortening I used Coconut Oil and in place of the dark molasses I used Maple Syrup and I doubled up on the cinnamon, because I couldn't resist adding more! These came out awesome. Thanks!

We made this last night and you can barely taste the spices. I would double or tripple. the spices in this recipe. It tasted like molasses/flour cookies.

this is such an easy recipe to make!! The final product is delish!

I did not like this at all. I do not blame the recipe. I just did not realize how bad molassus smells and therefore taste.

These tasted OK but the texture was not what I expected - don't think I'll use this recipe again. I've had much better gingerbread cookies.

I tried this cookie recipe 2 days ago and was rather dissappointed. The cookies were dry and I had trouble working with the dough. I made the recipe exact according to directions. I have had better flavor in other recipes but could not put my finger on the recipe I used so tried this new one but won't use it again.

I was unable to even roll it out so I ended up making a few dozen ginger snaps & some gingerbread "biscotti". I would recommend adding a few eggs to this recipe or else it crumbles.

Made this with my 8 year old son, and while it was a great activity, most of the Gingerbread people looked handicapped because the dough was so sticky arms, legs, and heads were coming off left and right. Maybe it was because of the humidity, not sure. The cookie it's self had a good flavor, though I was not a fan of the texture. It was just... odd. Can't see myself making this one again.

This recipe was delicious and easy. The dough was very easy to work with and you don't have to double it to make a large batch of cookies. I rolled them thicker and baked them for 11 minutes and they had that initial crunch when you bit into them then were nice and chewy. I will make these again for sure. I made no changes.

I realized I used a self rising flour with baking soda and salt and I didn't add any baking soda as I figured that would do it. I should have read the other recipes first.Yes something wrong with the recipe, never have I had a bad recipe from all recipes...maybe less molasses?? Something isn't right. Really bad :(

These were delicious, probably the best gingerbread cookies I have ever tasted. I substituted Earth Balance Buttery Sticks for the shortening and they turned out great. I used a little flour while rolling out to 1/4 inch, baked for 10 min... perfection! My daughter has dairy and egg allergy and this recipe is by far the best gingerbread recipe we have every tried.

Great recipe, and simple. I doubled this and rolled 1/2 inch thick for a softer cookie. I will never use another. This one rocks! Thanks much!

I've never liked gingerbread before, but this recipe has made me love them! My family and friends can't get enough of these delicious cookies. :) It's become a tradition to bake them for my friends abroad!

In 2016, its surprising that someone is still using shortening... There are way better ingredients available that make better cookies with more natural ingredients

mine came out a little hard - maybe I cooked to long? I did not care for them sorry!

I feel like the molasses overpowers the rest of the flavors. I cut the servings down to 12 (which would probably make more like 2 dozen if I had used it all for cookies), which calls for about 1/2 cup molasses and 1/3 cup brown sugar, and I added an additional 1/3 cup stevia and doubled the ginger and it still came out merely okay. I made about a half-dozen cookies out of it, then I used the rest of the dough for cinnamon rolls and actually, THAT came out really good. It's a good recipe for a really different-tasting cinnamon roll, but not a great recipe for gingerbread cookies. Next time, I'll try it with more brown sugar instead of molasses, then maybe triple the ginger and double the cinnamon.

Followed recipe spot on. No substitutions. Cookies came out like hockey pucks. Even dropped one on the floor and it didn't break. Dissapointed in spending so much time making and baking only to have inedible cookies. Not very flavorful either.

This recipe was very good but if you make it you have to make sure not to roll out the dough to thin or else the cookies will cook for a different amount of time than the recipe says and even if the dough is thick you would probably need to cook it 5 min on top and 5on bottom.

I have made this recipe stock standard for years. Roll the dough no less than a quarter of an inch and put them in an airtight container; they will stay moist for weeks. If you want them sweeter, frost them with royal icing. 'Nuff said.

Definitely would not make this again. Cookies really don't taste like anything.

The worst gingerbread I've ever made in my entire life! Molasses was way too much!

I was searching for a recipe I used last year for gingerbread cookies and thought this one was it. As I started going along, I realized it wasn't but I am still very glad I tried it! Even though I honestly feel like the recipe I used last year was better, this was still a fun recipe to try. It makes a very traditional gingerbread cookie, both in flavor and texture. I followed the recipe exactly (other than I only chilled the dough for 1 hour, not 2) and baked the cookies for 10 minutes. They were not melt-in-your-mouth soft and chewy, but not crispy either. A little dense, but not heavy. Flavor and spice tasted great to me and it sure made the kitchen smell like Christmas! In addition to making good cookies, I think this recipe will be even better for making a gingerbread house, and plan to try that in a few months!

I followed the recipe exactly as written and the cookies turned out great. I rolled mine out to about 1/4 inch thickness and they made nice, soft cookies that we can't stop eating. I decorated with the icing from the "Royal Icing I" recipe (I left out the lemon extract) and it was perfect. We also made gingerbread houses with the two recipes and they were super strong and easy to decorate. Great recipe! If I change anything at all next time, it might be to cut back a bit on the cloves, but that's just personal preference. :)

The recipe turned out great! I only took a small amount out of the chilled bowl at a time to roll out and cut. The rest stayed in the fridge. That helped a lot.

This recipe is heavenly! They last a very long time and the aroma stays with them :) I would reccommed these to anyone who dose not have time to spend more than 3 hours in the kitchen.

How long does your oven take to reach 350? You might want to preheat the oven when you take the dough out of the fridge after 2 hours and not 2&1/2 hours before that.

This was okay - I wish they would've been more sweet. Other than that they were great. Dough was very workable and made soft but stable cookies. They were easy to decorate - check out the recipe called Decorator's Frosting by P. Oakes - yummy!

Super easy kid tested and approved ????

very nice cookie but definitely needs some more sugar.....or sweetener of some sort

I really liked this recipe. I followed directions exactly as written. I had some on a cooling rach and my baby climbed up and took a bite of each one.

The cookies have a great flavor to them. Easy to make. If you don't want them to be quite so hard, though, I would take a little bit of time off the baking time. I only baked mine 8 minutes. I know Gingerbread is supposed to be crispy but I don't want it to break my teeth.

I followed this exactly with the help of my son and these cookies are a hit! I used homemade vanilla frosting instead. But these cookies are great! Thanks!

i have tried this recipe with the all natural sweetener Natvia to make a 100% guilt free delicacy!

I love this recipe! I have made it every year since I found it on this site. No eggs - no problem! These cookies stay soft and keep forever. They taste sooo good! The batter if very thick. I use my Kitchenaid Mixer then put the dough into a sealed container and refrigerate at least 2 hours - sometimes 2 days - until I can get back to it. I then only work with a quarter of the dough at a time and keep the rest in the fridge until I'm ready for it. Roll it out with flour and bake. The thinner the cookie, the crunchier it will be. The thicker - the softer.

Excellent taste!!! Easy to follow instructions!!! I have never made gingerbread before - I will definitely make these again.

I took a batch to work the vegans and meat eaters loved them. great recipe , good yield as well

I have made this recipe several times now, over several years. I have used it for gingerbread houses, and gingerbread men cookies. I like the fact that it has no eggs, and is pretty simple to make. I use butter instead of shortening, out of preference, so I then cut back just a little on the water. I find that the dough is easy to work with after coming out of the fridge. I usually portion it into quarters to roll it out to make it easier. This year, for some reason, it worked exceptionally well! I baked the cookies for 10 minutes in my convection oven, and they came out perfect. Just a little crunch, but not overdone. Definitely a recipe I'll come back to again and again! Somewhere it says it makes 2 1/2 dozen cookies; I ended up with over 5 dozen! May halve the recipe next time, unless I'm giving some away!