If you’ve never made homemade gingerbread cookies, your holiday season is about to change. These classic Christmas treats are often made just because they’re the pinnacle of festive cuteness. But, we think these Christmas cookies are pretty delicious too. Soft and full of warm spice, these cookies are the perfect way to ring in the season. Plus, if you’re looking for homemade gifts this year, they’re great treats to share with friends, family, and neighbors. We tested this recipe over and over (and over again) until we had the perfect gingerbread—here’s everything you need to know about making this holiday tradition at home.
The type of molasses you use can make a BIG difference.
When we ran out of Grandma’s Molasses in our test kitchen and used Wholesome (a brand we found at Whole Foods), the cookies came out many shades darker. They still tasted amazing and looked very cute, but the difference was surprising, especially considering that they looked very similar in the jar.
You can change the amount of spices.
For me, gingerbread should have a lot of ground ginger, a bit of cinnamon, and a tiny amount of cloves. It’s the perfect Christmas formula. But if you don’t have cloves (or really loathe them), you can just leave them out. As for the ginger, it’s necessary but negotiable. Feel free to use less.
Don’t skip the chill time.
Even if the dough seems rollable after mixing, DO NOT skip refrigerating it. If you roll the dough out before it’s really firm, the gingerbread people won’t keep their shape in the oven. Be patient and wait at least 3 hours.
You can make the dough and cookies ahead of time.
The dough will stay good in the fridge for about 2 days wrapped in plastic wrap. If the disc feels super stiff, just let it be on your counter for a bit until it’s more pliable. If you want to plan ahead of time, you can bake and decorate the cookies completely. Just keep them in an airtight container, separated by wax paper, until ready to serve. If you want to bake the cookies ahead of time, but leave the decorating for later, let the cookies cool completely before freezing them.
Gingerbread cookies will stay good for up to one week.
If you store them in an airtight container at room temperature, they’ll stay amazing and soft for up to one week. Although it’s very doubtful that they’ll last longer than 10 minutes once they’re on a platter.
Made them? Let us know how it went in the comment section below!