Iced gingerbread men are soft, delicious and easy to make. Included with this recipe is a pattern for a gingerbread house.
I’m excited to post this recipe today. Gingerbread men and gingerbread houses made from real gingerbread are a tradition in my house. The gingerbread men are so soft, sweet and full of the flavor of the Christmas holiday. These are a cookie that need to be made a day in advance to give the icing time to soak in and slightly soften these little men to perfection. Gingerbread houses however can be put together and decorated as soon as the pieces are cool. I’ve been asked many times if gingerbread is difficult to make. Gingerbread is not any harder to make than roll out sugar cookies. So read on and try something new this year!
After mixing up the gingerbread dough roll it out to a 1/4 inch thickness and cut out your gingerbread men. I usually get about 4 dozen gingerbread men out of one batch. Bake your gingerbread men on greased baking sheets at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes.
Make the icing while the cookies are baking. I prefer to ice these while they are just slightly still warm. I ice them using the back of a spoon. After they are iced I let the cookies sit on my countertop for an hour or so to let the icing set up. Then I store them in an airtight container with wax paper separating the layers of cookies and allow them to sit overnight before taking them to friends and neighbors.
If you are wanting to make gingerbread houses just make the gingerbread dough as you would for cookies, but roll it out between 1/4 inch and 1/2 inch thick. Years back I found this pattern in a magazine. I use these measurements to create templates on some cardstock paper. I lay the templates on the rolled out dough and use a sharp knife to cut along the template edges.
Since you want your gingerbread house pieces hard and not soft, over-bake the pieces at 350 degrees for 20 -25 minutes. Cool completely and put together your house using royal icing. I will put the royal icing recipe I use after the gingerbread recipe. One and a half batches of gingerbread dough will be enough for two gingerbread houses. Check out my kids masterpieces below! Each house is sitting on an eight inch cake board.
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Iced gingerbread men are soft, delicious and easy to make. Included with this recipe is a pattern for a gingerbread house.
Makes 4 dozen
Ingredients
Gingerbread Dough
- 1 Cup Shortening (don’t sub butter)
- 1 Cup Sugar
- 1 Cup Molasses
- 2 Tbs. Vinegar
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 2 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/4 tsp Cloves
- 5 Cups Flour
- 1/3 Cup Warm Water
Icing
- 1 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar
- 1 tsp Clear vanilla (regular vanilla is fine but your icing won’t be as white)
- Milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare baking sheets by lining with parchment paper or lightly spraying with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a mixing bowl, cream the shortening and sugar. Add the molasses, vinegar, and vanilla. Mix well.
- Add the baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and cloves. Mix well.
- Stir in 3 cups of the flour. Add the water; mix well. Add the 2 remaining cups of flour.
- Turn the cookie dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thick. You can sprinkle the dough with a little flour if it is sticking to your rolling pin.
- Cut out the gingerbread men and place them on prepared baking sheets.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes.
- Make icing by whisking the vanilla and milk a little at a time into the powdered sugar until desired consistency is reached. It should have a consistency a little thicker than syrup.
- Ice the gingerbread men a while they are still just slightly warm. Leave them on your countertop until the icing is set. This will take an hour to two hours. Test by lightly touching the icing top. It should not be soft or squishy.
- Store the cookies in an airtight container with wax paper in between the layers. Allow the cookies to sit overnight for best flavor and maximum softness.
Description
PLEASE SEE MY POST FOR PATTERN AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR GINGERBREAD HOUSES. THE FOLLOWING IS THE RECIPE I USE FOR THE ROYAL ICING TO “GLUE” OUR HOUSES TOGETHER.
Ingredients
- 3 Tbs. Meringue Powder
- 4 Cups sifted Powdered Sugar (about 1 lb.)
- 6 Tbs. Water
Instructions
- First of all, you have probably noticed there are no egg whites in this recipe, but there is some weird stuff called meringue powder. You can buy meringue powder at any kitchen specialty store as well as WalMart (with the cake decorating supplies). The reason I use meringue powder is because with it I will always get the same results when it comes to the end product. Egg whites vary in quality for various reasons therefore making the consistency and quality of the royal icing vary.
- When making royal icing it is preferable to use a stand mixer simply because royal icing is tough stuff and can be hard on a hand mixer. If you are going to use a hand mixer do not make a double batch. You will burn out your hand mixer’s motor.
- Always make sure the bowl and mixer attachments are completely clean. Any grease, even the tiniest bit will ruin royal icing.
- Beat all the ingredients together at a medium speed for 7 to 10 minutes. Icing should form stiff peaks and will have lost it’s sheen.
- It is recommended to use disposable frosting bags when using royal icing. Fill frosting bags and cover any remaining icing in the bowl with a damp towel to prevent hardening.
- One batch makes 3 cups which is enough for 2 gingerbread houses.
The cookies are great! The times are a little misleading; it took my husband and I 2 hours total to get to the point where we were waiting for the icing to cool off before we could store them and go to bed. We needed to do 3 batches, and I iced the completed ones while my husband finished off cutting the cookies and baking them. The cookies taste good though, I even added some red gel dye to the icing to be extra festive. Will probably make these again next year, just make them in the afternoon and not after dinner.
I apologize for the misleading times. It appears that the last time I updated my recipe card software it filled in those time slots itself!?!?!?!? It does take a good hour or more for the icing to set up enough to package. Thanks for bringing that to my attention. I will fix that today.