14 Ginger Cookie Recipes for Celebrating the Holidays (2024)

Bring home the holidays with these ginger cookies that are sweetened with molasses and flavored with warm spices. We’ll show you how to make gingerbread cookies including classic cutouts. We have ginger cookies decorated with white icing for a classic look and whimsical designs decorated with colorful icing for a pop of color on your holiday cookie platter. These ginger cookie recipes are perfect for the holidays.

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Gingerbread Cutouts

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Here’s the recipe to make a gingerbread man for a holiday cookie tray or your holiday decor. This classic gingerbread cookie recipe’s spices and molasses bake together to form a perfect combination of spicy and sweet flavor. Pipe simple white lines and dots with royal icing or powdered sugar icing on the baked cutout cookies for a traditional decorative touch.

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Gingerbread Cookie Bars

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There's no need to roll and cut out an entire tray of ginger cookies! This big-batch gingerbread bar recipe makes 24 squares and is flavored with molasses, cinnamon, and powdered ginger.

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Cardamom Gingerbread Trees

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Use this ginger cookie recipe to create gingerbread decor, a complete design scheme in your home. Turn the cookies into 3-D trees to add dimension to a dessert buffet or fireplace mantel. If you want to focus on enjoying the cookies’ distinct flavor, keep it simple and make flat cookies decorated with royal icing.

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Triple-Ginger Cookies

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Homemade ginger sugar, ground ginger, and crystallized ginger combine to make this flavorful ginger cookie. Once you know the secret to peeling fresh ginger, you’ll find it easy to add to this recipe and all of your favorite recipes. Roll this drop cookie in ginger sugar for a beautiful cookie with a crackled appearance.

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Scalloped Wreath Gingerbread Cookies

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It takes two cookie cutters to make these wreath cookies. Simply cut out the dough with the flower-shaped cookie cutter and use a round cookie cutter to cut a circle from the center of each cookie. Tint portions of royal icing using three colors—light green for the cookie outline and branches, dark green for the wreath shape, and red for the berries.

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Wheel of Candy Canes Cookies

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A swirl of melted candy canes gives these ginger cookies a refreshing flavor. Use a candy cane-shaped cookie cutter to cut four candy canes from each round cutout, then bake, decorate, and attach the candy cane cookies with royal icing to round cookies. Pipe stripes of white royal icing on the red-tinted icing to make this cookie’s vibrant design.

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Gluten-Free Giant Ginger Cookies

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Stir together our gluten-free flour mix and use it to make one of our favorite gluten-free dessert recipes. A quarter cup of cookie dough is used to make each cookie. If you’d rather make smaller cookies, make the recipe’s variation for mini ginger cookies.

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Gingersnap Logs

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Think outside the box and create ginger cookie logs using crushed gingersnaps and white chocolate. Add colorful red sprinkles for a Christmas-ready touch.

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Gingersnap-Blondie Brookies

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Each bite of these chewy gingersnap cookie bars is a decadent combination of blondies and ginger cookies. Start with a blondie layer and top with a rich spiced ginger cookie layer. Finish the bars with a generous sprinkle of coarse sugar.

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Ombre Reindeer Cookies

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Ginger, cinnamon, and molasses give this classic reindeer cookie its toasty brown color. Try making marbled icing for a beautiful ombre effect. Melt semisweet chocolate to decorate the deer’s antlers and nose.

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Spice Snowball Cookies (Lemon-Ginger Snowballs)

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Rather than relying on dried spices, these spiced cookies are flavored with lemon-ginger tea. Chopped crystallized ginger and rolled coconut add texture to the buttery cookies. If you're not a fan of coconut, roll them in a homemade glaze and powdered sugar.

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Gingerbread-Espresso Spirals

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Espresso powder is known for enhancing the flavor of baked goods. Here, store-bought gingerbread cookie dough and sugar cookie dough combine with expresso powder for two-tone treats that pack a punch. For a chocolatey option, try the recipe’s variation for Mocha Spirals.

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Cinnamon-Ginger Madeleines

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Ginger combines with cinnamon and molasses to make this spice-flavored cookie that has a cakelike texture. The classic shell shape of these cookies comes from the fluted madeleine pan that they are baked in. Look for metal, nonstick, or silicone madeleine pans at kitchen supply stores or online. If the holidays have you in the mood to decorate madeleines, try making our Santa Madeleines.

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Traditional Tree Gingerbread Cutouts

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Brighten up your holiday cookie exchange plate with these gingerbread cookies. The recipe makes three to four dozen cookies so you’ll have plenty to share. Simply pipe dots of royal icing in rows using a small leaf tip. Decorate branches with white pearl candies and candy-coated chocolate pieces.

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14 Ginger Cookie Recipes for Celebrating the Holidays (2024)

FAQs

What are the different types of gingerbread? ›

The three distinct types of gingerbread are brown gingerbread, wafer-based gingerbread and honey gingerbread.

What are the names of ginger cookies? ›

A gingersnap, ginger snap, ginger nut, or ginger biscuit is a biscuit flavored with ginger. Ginger snaps are flavored with powdered ginger and a variety of other spices, most commonly cinnamon, molasses and clove.

How long are ginger cookies good for? ›

Remove to an airtight container and store in the freezer for up to 2 weeks. Bake from frozen, reducing the temperature to 325°F and adding a couple minutes onto the baking time. You can also store baked Crispy Gingersnap Cookies in the freezer, in an airtight container or freezer bag, for up to 1 month.

What compliments gingerbread? ›

Needing to be foiled, gingerbread loves whipped cream. But it also takes to tart winter fruits like a shortcake to strawberries. Poached or broiled pineapple sings alongside gingerbread, as do a few spoonfuls of pomelo curd, garnished with candied pomelo peel.

What is the best gingerbread in the world? ›

Victorian cook Sarah Nelson invented Grasmere Gingerbread® in 1854 in the English Lake District village from where it gets its name. A unique, spicy-sweet cross between a biscuit and cake, its reputation quickly spread and it is now enjoyed by food lovers all over the world.

What's the difference between gingerbread cookies and ginger cookies? ›

While molasses cookies and gingersnaps are rolled into dough balls and then baked, gingerbread is rolled flat then use cookie cutters to cut your desired shape. This Gingerbread Cookie recipe is foolproof and SO easy to make.

Why are my ginger cookies so hard? ›

“There are some gingerbread recipes that are hard right after baking and need to sit for a few days to soften. Molasses and honey hardens gingerbread, but as the sugar absorbs moisture, it will get softer.”

Why don't my ginger cookies crackle on the top? ›

Not enough leavening (it needs to be strong enough to crack the top once it's set) Using a single-acting baking powder (double acting gives extra rise when it gets heated) Not creaming the fat long enough (creaming cuts little air pockets into the fat, which means the leavening has to do less work)

What kind of molasses for gingerbread cookies? ›

Dark Molasses

How to use it: It can generally be used in place of light molasses and is what gives gingerbread cookies their distinct color and flavor.

What fruit goes with ginger? ›

Try one of these:
  • Apple: The natural sweetness and tartness of apple complements the spicy warmth of ginger. ...
  • Berries: Strawberry, raspberry, and blueberry add a fruity sweetness to ginger beverages. ...
  • Citrus: Fruits like lemon, lime, and orange complement the zesty and slightly spicy flavor of ginger.
Feb 19, 2024

What kind of candy do you use for gingerbread? ›

M&M's. Whether you use the classic candy or the mini baking bits, M&M's are a must-have for any gingerbread house. Use them to line your roof or scatter 'em through the yard — a Christmas bag of red, white and green candies will keep your house feeling festive.

What ice cream goes best with gingerbread? ›

There are few desserts that symbolize the holiday season more than gingerbread cookies. I love the combination of warm, comforting spices. The only way to make these sweet treats even more festive is by pairing them with peppermint ice cream, specifically, Hudsonville's Limited Edition Peppermint Stick ice cream.

What is Victorian gingerbread? ›

gingerbread, in architecture and design, elaborately detailed embellishment, either lavish or superfluous. Although the term is occasionally applied to highly detailed and decorative styles, it is more often applied specifically to the work of American designers of the late 1860s and '70s.

What is soft vs hard gingerbread? ›

Should gingerbread cookies be hard or soft? Soft gingerbread biscuits are ideal. They ought to be flexible. However, they should still be somewhat elastic, and if you hold them too firmly because you're so excited to eat them, you might even be able to leave your fingerprints on the cookie!

What is the main flavor of gingerbread? ›

Gingerbread refers to a broad category of baked goods, typically flavored with ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon and sweetened with honey, sugar, or molasses.

Why is it called gingerbread when there is no ginger? ›

In Medieval England, the term gingerbread simply meant “preserved ginger” and wasn't applied to the desserts we are familiar with until the 15th century. The term is now broadly used to describe any type of sweet treat that combines ginger with honey, treacle or molasses.

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