This easy gingerbread cookie recipe has a super decorating trick that will save you hours of time.
Ingredients
1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (180g) brown sugar
1 tablespoon (7g) ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon (5g) ground ginger
½ teaspoon (1g) ground cloves
¾ cup (175g) molasses
1 large egg
4 cups (530g) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon (6g) baking soda
1 teaspoon (5g) salt
Sprinkles or powered sugar, as needed
Instructions
Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or a hand-mixer, cream the softened butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Use a spatola to scrape down the sides of the bowl then beat in the molasses and the egg.
In a separate bowl mix together the flour, baking soda and salt then slowly add it to the butter mixture while the mixer is on low speed. Once the mixture is ¾ combined, stop the mixer and stir the rest by hand. It should be the consistency of play-dough. If it isn’t add a spoonful of flour at a time until it is.
Divide the dough into three pieces and form each one like a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour (or up to 12 hours if preparing ahead.)
When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350°F (176°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Place the racks in the middle and lower-middle position.
Sprinkle your workplace and rolling pin with flour. Roll out one disk of dough at a time to ¼-inch think. Cut out as many cookies as you can and place them on the cookie sheet. Gather the scraps together, put a little more flour on the workspace and rolling pin, and re-roll the dough. Continue rolling and cutting the cookies until the cookie sheets are full and you have no more dough. At this point, you can add sprinkles to the top of the cookies or bake them plain to cover them with powered sugar after baking.
Bake for 8-10 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack for a few minutes until cool enough to touch then lay them out on a clean workplace. Using a flour sifter pour in a small amount of powered sugar and lightly dust the top of the cookies. Alternatively, wait until they are completely cooled, then frost them, if preferred.