Gingerbread Cookies are incredibly simple and super delicious shortcrust pastry cookies with spices. Check out my tested recipe for cookies without honey or cream.
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Dough cooling time: 1 hour about 45 pieces 50 in 1 cookieCalorie value kcal:Number of servings: 24 minutes
Total baking time:
Ingredients for gingerbread cookies [ more
- 240 g all-purpose wheat flour (about 1.5 cups)
- 120 g real butter (a little more than half a cube weighing 200 g)
- 4 tablespoons of powdered sugar – about 80 g
- 1 large egg – about 60g after cracking
- 2 tablespoons gingerbread spice – about 20 g
- 1 tablespoon cocoa – about 8 g (can be omitted)
- 1 level teaspoon baking soda
Ingredients for sweet glaze
- 20 ml of water – 2 tablespoons
- 20 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice – 2 tablespoons
- 80 g powdered sugar (about 4 heaped tablespoons)
Ginger cookies
Step 1:
Melt the butter with the spices
Place 120 grams of butter in a pot. Add two tablespoons of good quality gingerbread spice (no flour or sugar) and one level tablespoon of cocoa. Heat everything over low heat until the dough becomes uniform, that is, until the butter is completely melted. Do not let the mixture boil. Set the pot aside to cool.
Tip: You can omit the cocoa or add the same amount of carob powder or add a little more cinnamon.
Step 2:
Mix the flour with the icing sugar and baking soda
Pour 240 grams of all-purpose wheat or cake flour into a larger container. Also add 80 grams of powdered sugar and a level teaspoon of baking soda. Mix everything well, for example with a kitchen whisk, or sift it into another container.
Step 3:
Add the egg and cooled mixture to the dry ingredients.
Add a large egg to the dry ingredients. While gently stirring in the bowl, also pour in the cooled butter and spice mixture (it may still be slightly warm). After a while, it becomes more convenient to mix the dough by hand. Knead until uniform and smooth. It must be plastic and compact.
Step 4:
Set the dough aside to cool for 1 hour
Cover the finished dough with aluminum foil and refrigerate for at least an hour (or overnight). The cooled dough will harden a little and become more plastic.
Step 5:
Cut out and bake gingerbread
Place the dough on a pastry board or clean countertop. The countertop should also be sprinkled with flour. Stretch the dough until it reaches a minimum thickness of 4 mm. Use any cookie cutter with a Christmas pattern to cut out the cookies.
Line a thin baking sheet with baking paper. Place the cut gingerbread cookies side by side on a baking sheet. Leave a lot of distance between the cookies because they are still rising in the oven. After cutting the first cookies, knead the leftover dough, add a piece of fresh dough and roll out again. Cut another batch of gingerbread cookies. This way, you use all the dough.
Step 6:
Cover the cookies with the glaze
This is not a necessary step, but you can dip the cookies in the sweet glaze and let them dry completely. Place 20 ml of water and freshly squeezed lemon juice in a bowl. Pour 80 grams of powdered sugar. Mix everything until you obtain a thin and uniform icing. Dip the gingerbread cookies in it. Place each piece on a rack to dry. You can speed up this process by placing the cookie rack in an oven preheated to 50-60 degrees.
Tip: The more powdered sugar you add, the thicker the frosting will be. It will be more visible and dry faster.
Step 7:
Make additional decorations
If the icing is not completely dry yet, you can stick colored sprinkles or edible sugar icing to the cookies.
If the gingerbread cookies are not eaten on the day of baking, after cooling and decorating if necessary, wrap them loosely in breakfast paper and then in a regular bag or breakfast bags and store, for For example, in a backpack or in a kitchen cabinet. However, it is best to place them in a special box/tin for storing baked goods. They will stay fresh for at least a week, maybe even longer.
Enjoy your food.