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Gingerbread Cookies

Decorated gingerbread cookies on a lined baking tray with a bowl of ground cinnamon
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A gingerbread cookies recipe built to hold its shape. Low bicarbonate of soda, a high flour ratio and a second chill after cutting give clean sharp edges, a deep bronze colour and a cookie firm enough to ice, stack and post.

Ingredients

Units Scale

Gingerbread dough

  • 420 g (3 1/3 cups) plain (all purpose) flour, plus extra for rolling
  • 2 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
  • 1/2 tsp fine salt
  • 170 g (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
  • 150 g (3/4 cup, packed) brown sugar
  • 160 g (1/2 cup) unsulphured molasses or treacle
  • 1 large egg, at room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Royal icing

  • 250 g (2 cups) icing (powdered) sugar, sifted
  • 1 1/2 tbsp meringue powder, or 1 large pasteurised egg white
  • 3 to 4 tbsp warm water

Instructions

  1. Whisk the flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, bicarbonate of soda and salt together in a bowl and set aside. Note how little bicarbonate there is for this much flour. That is deliberate and it is the main reason these cookies keep a sharp edge instead of puffing.
  2. Beat the softened butter and brown sugar together with an electric mixer on medium for 2 to 3 minutes, until lighter and fluffy.
  3. Add the molasses, egg and vanilla and beat until combined. The mixture will look curdled and split at this point. That is normal and it comes back together once the flour goes in.
  4. Add the dry ingredients in two batches on low speed, mixing only until the last streaks of flour disappear. Overmixing here builds gluten and makes the cookies tough.
  5. Divide the dough in two, flatten each half into a thick disc, wrap and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight. The dough is sticky before chilling and firm and workable after it.
  6. Heat the oven to 175 C (350 F) and line three baking trays with parchment.
  7. Roll one disc out to an even 6 mm (1/4 in) thick between two sheets of parchment. Rolling between parchment rather than onto a floured bench means you add no extra flour, which keeps the cookies tender. Keep the second disc in the fridge while you work.
  8. Cut out your shapes and lift each one onto the tray with a thin palette knife rather than your fingers, which stretches the dough and distorts the shape. Gather and re roll the scraps once only, a second re roll makes tough cookies.
  9. Chill the cut shapes on their trays for 15 minutes before baking. This second chill is the step most recipes leave out and it is what guarantees clean edges: cold cookies set before the butter can melt and pull the shape outwards.
  10. Bake one tray at a time for 9 to 11 minutes, until the edges look dry and set and the centres are just firm to a light touch. For a softer cookie pull them at 9 minutes, for a crisper snap go to 11. They will firm up considerably as they cool, so do not wait for them to look fully baked.
  11. Cool on the tray for 5 minutes, then move to a rack and cool completely. The cookies must be stone cold before icing or the royal icing will slide off and go transparent.
  12. For the royal icing, whisk the sifted icing sugar and meringue powder together, then add 3 tbsp of the warm water. Beat on low to combine, then on medium for 2 to 3 minutes until smooth and glossy and it holds a soft peak. Add the last tablespoon of water a few drops at a time only if needed: you want it thick enough to hold a piped line without spreading.
  13. Transfer to a piping bag with a small plain nozzle and decorate the cooled cookies. Leave to set at room temperature for at least 2 hours, or until the icing is hard and matte, before stacking or packing.

Notes

  • Molasses: unsulphured molasses gives the classic flavour. Treacle works and is slightly more bitter. Do not use blackstrap, it is harsh and overpowers the spice. Golden syrup gives a much milder, paler cookie.
  • Egg free icing: mix the icing sugar with 2 to 3 tbsp milk and a little lemon juice. It sets firm enough to stack, though not quite as hard.
  • A warmer version: add 1/4 tsp ground black pepper or a pinch of cayenne with the spices.
  • Make ahead: the dough keeps wrapped in the fridge for 4 days and freezes for 3 months. Thaw frozen dough in the fridge overnight before rolling. Cut, unbaked shapes can be frozen flat on a tray and baked straight from the freezer with 1 to 2 minutes added.
  • Storage: baked, undecorated cookies keep in an airtight tin for 2 weeks. Decorated cookies keep for a week and post well.
  • Shapes spreading: the dough was too warm, or the second chill was skipped. The 15 minute tray chill in step 9 fixes both.
  • Tough cookies: the dough was overmixed, or too much flour went in during rolling, so roll between parchment.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://zhangcatherine.com/gingerbread-cookies/