These Gingerbread Cookies are everything! They have the perfect crunch with that all-important chew, a nice kick of spice and are decorated with a simple two ingredient icing and M&M’s. Does it get any cuter? I just LOVE gingerbread.
Last year I made an awesome gingerbread house but it looked so good that we just kept looking at it and forgot to eat it, so this year I am sticking to the gingerbread men. Honestly, these cookies are really easy and they turn out perfect every time. The dough can be rolled and cut into any shape you like – a great activity for the kids!
Without a doubt, one of my favourite Christmas treats is gingerbread! I can eat it by the handful and last year I posted my favourite Gingerbread Cookie recipe, both regular and chocolate. Then in a sad twist, I found out American’s don’t have access to one of the main ingredients – golden syrup! Wah!
As the resident ‘American’ foodie around here, I had to do something stat. Well, it’s been a year but finally I’m back with a new Gingerbread Cookie recipe, this time using (hopefully) all American friendly ingredients – woohoo!
These gorgeous cookies are made using molasses instead of golden syrup and I also adjusted the spices, as I found out ‘mixed spice’ is not necessarily available in other countries either. So with a little ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, I found just the right mix for a perfectly spiced Gingerbread Man.
Word to the wise, if you like quite a kick, pump up the ginger to a full tablespoon. I LOVE them like this but if you are sharing with the kids, take it down to half a tablespoon. Each to their own!
Spiced Gingerbread Men
Crunchy chewy gingerbread cookies decorated with a simple two ingredient icing and M&M’s.
- Yield: Makes 16 cookies
Ingredients
Gingerbread cookies
- 115 grams (1/2 cup or 1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 135 grams (3/4 cup) brown sugar
- 160 grams (1/2 cup) molasses
- 1 egg yolk
- 315 grams (2 and 1/4 cup) plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 – 1 tablespoon ground ginger*
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Easy icing
- 125 grams (1 cup) icing or powdered sugar
- 1-2 tablespoon warm water
- Handful of red and green M&M’s
Instructions
In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until combined. Add the molasses and the egg yolk. Beat again to form a creamy mixture. Sift in the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Stir using a wooden spoon until dough starts to come together. Sprinkle your bench with some extra flour and then knead the dough for a short time, just until it comes together to form a smooth ball. Wrap the dough in plastic and pop in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees (360 F). Line two cookie or oven trays with baking paper. Generously flour your bench and roll out your dough using a rolling pin. Dust your rolling pin as you go to prevent the dough from sticking. Cut out shapes using cookie cutters and gently place the cookies onto the prepared trays. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Once the cookies are completely cool, place the icing sugar in a small bowl and add the water, one tablespoon at a time, and stir until it forms a smooth paste. Add the icing into a small disposable piping bag fitted with a small nozzle or use a plastic sandwich bag if you don’t have a piping bag. Decorate your gingerbread men with icing and add a few M&M’s on top. Leave each cookie for about 10 minutes for the icing to set.
Notes
*I like my gingerbread cookies on the spicy side so I add a tablespoon of ground ginger but if you are sharing with the kids, I recommend just 1/2 tablespoon.
These are adorable, Jess! I love that you kept the chewy factor in these as so many times gingerbread cookies end up way too crisp. You’ve also decorated them with such a fun and yummy twist with the m&ms – love it!
Using M&M’s to decorate the gingerbread men is brilliant! These spiced holiday cookies look so festive and gorgeous!
Thanks so much Melanie! 🙂
I can’t seem to find the right gingerbread guy cookie cutter anywhere! I guess they all sold out here! I love these gingerbread men! So cute and look oh so delicious! 🙂
Oh no, what a shame! I could never find one either so I always just made gingerbread cookies in every kind of shape! haha Then I got this one free with a magazine once – bonus! 🙂
These guys are so cute! I love gingerbread and decorating is half the fun!
Thanks Kathy, I totally agree! 🙂
Oh my goodness these are ADORABLE, Jess! I am a gingerbread fanatic too – love the suggestion to bump up the ginger. YUM! (GORGEOUS photos, too!!!)
Aww thanks Leah!! I love a zesty bite of ginger! 🙂
Oh my goodness, these are so adorable, Jess! I love the way you decorated them! You’ve definitely got me craving cookies and milk right now! 😉
Thanks Sarah! Ah milk and cookies is the best! 🙂
Totally adorable Jess! And I’m sure quite tasty as well!
Thanks Mary Ann!
Oh how I love gingerbread biscuits! I actually made some for my own blog last week to go up next week, so I’m in full-on gingerbread mode! My partner doesn’t like gingerbread so I’ve been giving them away as fast as I possibly can to avoid having to eat the entire batch by myself! Not that I would mind, of course! I always like seeing other bloggers’ gingerbread recipes, too, because there are so many variations out there.
Oh great minds Lisa! I hear you, I had to get mine out of the house too because I seriously eat them by the handful. This weeks problem is oodles of rocky road! Help! haha
Teehee! I feel for you, Jess!! Keep calm and step back from the rocky road! #thebloggerlife
I’m with you! I love the kick the ginger adds! These are so cute!
Thanks Annie! 🙂
Interesting that there’s no golden syrup in America! These look yum and fun to make, I’m kind of tempted to get shopping for gingerbread men cutters now. Ginger is one of my favourite flavours so I’d be in the whole-tablespoon camp.
Thanks Robyn! Yes grab your gingerbread man cutter now, even for next year. They seem to disappear after Christmas! 🙂
So adorable! I love that you adapted these for us Americans. Thanks, Jess! And your m&m buttons are really cute! Happy, smiley, colorful gingermen!
Aww you are so welcome Lynn! They are cute hey, so smiley!
These are so cute, I love their decorations 🙂 Thanks for linking up with us for Fabulous Foodie Fridays 🙂
Thanks Lauren!
Oh, I love these, so so cute! I grew up making gingerbread men with my mom, so these are so Christmasy to me! Pinning!
Me too Meghan! Thanks so much for pin!
I need to make these with my 5 year old this Holiday. I love how you decorated them too! So cute!
Thanks Johlene! I hope you get a chance to try them!
No treat says "Christmas" to me quite like gingerbread men. I have fond memories of making these when I was a kid, and still try to make them every year. I love that molasses flavor. These are too adorable!
I totally agree Amanda, it’s a Christmas staple around here for sure!
These are so adorable! I’ve only made gingerbread cookies once, but they weren’t a traditional recipe like this one (they we’re orange-gingerbread cookies and while me and my immediate family gobbled them up, they weren’t exactly the first cookies to go come Christmas day.) Anyway, I’ve been looking for a great gingerbread cookie recipe and these look absolutely perfect! A little note to anyone wondering about Golden Syrup: it’s surprisingly easy to find in the US, (most of us just don’t know of it’s delicious existence) most big chain grocery stores carry it. If your store has an international aisle, it’s probably there! I use it all the time to make homemade flapjacks (not pancakes, but soft granola bars for my American friends). So good! 🙂
Thank you so much Stephanie! And that is SO good to know about the golden syrup because I get asked that all the time! Plus I have an awesome caramel fudge recipe that uses it and I haven’t found a substitute yet. Golden syrup is pretty great! 🙂
Yummy! Gingerbread is one of my favorite things! I should try this recipe next time! 🙂
Mine too Medeja! 🙂
These are so festive and perfect for Christmas! My son is obsessed with gingerbread men and we make them every year and he’ll love yours 🙂 They’re so so adorable!
Thanks Kelly! He has good taste, I think gingerbread is the best too! 🙂
So cute! I have to buy myself this cutter!
Aw thank you!
Sweet babies! These are so cute!!
Aw thanks Ruby! 🙂
Your gingerbread men look perfect! I love the last picture of you holding one in your hand, that’s so cute 🙂 What a festive cookie!
Aww thank you so much Melanie, that’s so kind!
WOW! They look so cute and perfect!
Thank you! 🙂
These are some seriously cute and perfect looking gingerbread men! I love a little extra ginger in my gingerbread cookies too – bring on the spice!
Amen to that! I love a little extra spice too! 😉
I LOVE gingerbread men/biscuits, and these look super cute! Gotta try these for Christmas!
Me too Martha! I hope you get to try them!
This fellows are just delightful Jess! While I love golden syrup in my spice cookies, molasses has it’s own special flavours to share! These are just gorgeous, and all that ginger – delicious! But, you already know that I’m partial to a ginger(bread) man 😉
Thanks Amy! That’s it, I think everyone needs access to golden syrup but I was surprised how similar these tasted using the rich dark flavours of molasses!
OOOH YUM! We used to make these when I was a kid, too. I love all the spices you have in here! I totally want to make these now! (What is golden syrup, by the way?)
Thanks Melissa! Oh golden syrup is the best! It’s a sugar syrup, similar to treacle but its light and sweet. Next time you visit Australia, you’ll have to pop some in your suitcase!