Gingerbread Cut-Out Cookies (Egg-Free)
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Serves: 2-3 dozen cookies, depending on the shape and size of your cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • ¾ cup packed dark brown sugar
  • ¾ teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons ground ginger
  • ½ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ½ teaspoon ground allspice
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 12 tablespoons (1 and ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened to cool room temperature
  • ¾ cup molasses
  • 2 tablespoons milk
Icing
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
Cookies
  1. In a large bowl (or the bowl of your stand mixer), add the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, spices and salt. Mix together until combined using a hand mixer or your stand mixer.
  2. Cut the butter into tablespoon-size pieces and add it to the flour mixture. Mix again until the butter incorporates into the flour and the mixture resembles sand, about 1-2 minutes. With the mixer running, slowly add the molasses and milk. Mix to combine thoroughly.
  3. Divide the dough in half and place each half on a sheet of wax paper or parchment paper. Place an second sheet of wax paper or parchment on top of each dough half. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to about ¼ inch in thickness. Place both sheets of rolled-out dough on a cookie sheet or cutting board that will fit in your fridge or freezer. Place the dough in the freezer for about 20 minutes, or in the fridge for at least 2 hours, until the dough firms up.
  4. When you're ready to cut and bake your cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat baking liner.
  5. Take the dough out of the freezer or fridge and peel off the top layer of paper. Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes. Then use a large spatula to lift the cookies onto your baking sheet, leaving about 1 inch of space in between the cookies to allow for any spreading.
  6. Bake the cookies for 8-9 minutes, depending on the size of your cookies. The standard 5-inch gingerbread man shape takes 9 minutes in my oven. The mini-size cookies take about 7 minutes.
  7. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then move them gently to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
  8. Gather the scraps of dough, re-roll (using the wax or parchment on top and bottom again) and cut more shapes for baking. You can do this as many times as needed to use all of the dough. If your dough gets too soft, roll it out between paper and put it back in the freezer for 5-10 minutes before cutting out your shapes. This is important because if the dough is too soft, it will be difficult to move the dough shapes to the baking sheet and your cookies will spread a lot.
  9. Let cookies cool completely before decorating.
Icing
  1. In a small bowl, mix the powdered sugar and milk together. Spoon into a small ziploc bag and snip off one small corner to use it as a piping bag. You could also put the icing in a small squeeze bottle, or just use a butter knife to spread the icing on your cookies.
Recipe by Sweet Peas and ABCs at https://www.sweetpeasandabcs.com/gingerbread-cut-out-cookies/