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Home » Cookie Recipes

Soft Iced Gingerbread Men

Published: Dec 5, 2022 · Modified: Jan 3, 2023 by Mindee · This post contains affiliate links and as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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Pinnable image 6 for gingerbread men.
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Pinnable image 1 gingerbread men.

You have to try these soft gingerbread cut out cookies full of warm spices and topped with a simple icing! They are nothing like the crispy, stale gingerbread cookies from a bag from the store. They're so addictive you'll make them every Christmas!

Gingerbread men side by side on a doily.
Gingerbread man cookies iced with a simple sweet icing!
Jump to:
  • Why You'll Love This Recipe
  • Ingredient Notes...
  • Things You'll Need for this Recipe
  • Step by Step Instructions
  • Recipe FAQs and Expert Tips:
  • More Christmas Cookie Recipes
  • Iced Gingerbread Men Recipe

Why You'll Love This Recipe

  • Just as easy to make as any sugar cookie recipe!
  • Full of flavor, soft, and irresistible.
  • Soft gingerbread men cookies, not hard or crunchy!
  • Great recipe for the whole family to make together this holiday season!
  • Bonus!!!...This recipe is egg free!!!

Ingredient Notes...

  • Shortening - DO NOT substitute butter for the shortening. The shortening is what stops these cookies from spreading. You could substitute a very solid coconut oil however you may need to increase the flour a little and chill the dough for 20 minutes before rolling out.
  • Molasses - There are different types of molasses. I recommend going with the strength of flavor you like best. If you like dark molasses or blackstrap molasses that's fine. I personally like a lighter version. I like Grandma's Brand best.
  • No Ginger? - No, this recipe does not call for ground ginger. You really don't need it.
  • Vinegar - I use white distilled, however, if what you've got is apple cider vinegar that's fine too!
  • Flour - Use all purpose flour, never self rising flour.
  • Icing - The icing used in this recipe is a simple icing. It does set up but it not royal icing. If you wanted to use a royal icing instead you may. You can get my Royal Icing recipe here!
Ingredients to make gingerbread men.
Everything you need to make the best gingerbread cookies!

Things You'll Need for this Recipe

Step by Step Instructions

  • Pre heat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Line a couple baking sheets with parchment paper or lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray.
  • In a large bowl with hand beaters or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream the shortening and the sugar.
  • Add the molasses, vanilla extract and vinegar.
  • Mix well at a medium speed.
Creaming of the shortening and sugar, adding the molasse, vanilla, and vinegar.
Cream the wet ingredients before adding the dry ingredients to the cookie dough!
  • Add the baking soda, cinnamon, salt, cloves and 3 cups of the flour.
  • Add the water. Mix well.
  • Add the rest of the flour mixing at a low speed.
  • After mixing up the gingerbread dough either chill to use later or roll out the room temperature cookie dough to a ¼ inch thickness on a lightly floured work surface with a rolling pin.
  • Cut out your gingerbread men with a gingerbread man cookie cutter.
  • I usually get about 4 dozen gingerbread men out of one batch.
  • Place the gingerbread cut outs on a prepared cookie sheet spacing them a couple inches apart. I usually get 12 to a pan.
  • Bake your gingerbread men at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes.
  • NOTE- If you do find that your gingerbread people are spreading too much when baking. Chill the cut outs in the fridge for 15 minutes before baking. I live in a colder, dryer area so I've never had a problem with them spreading however, if you live in a hot, humid area you may want to test bake a cookie first to see if you need to chill them first.
  • They will look puffy, but not have browned edges. You don't want to overbake these little guys.
  • Let sit on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool.
Adding of the spices, flour and water. Then gingerbread dough rolled out.
Finish mixing up the dough and get out a gingerbread man cutter!
  • To make the icing, simply beat the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla extract together in a small bowl until perfectly smooth.
  • For best results, ice the little gingerbread men while they are still slightly warm. Not hot, just a little warm.
  • I find that coating the back of a spoon with icing and icing the tops of the cookies with the back of the spoon works better than using a traditional frosting knife. The way the spoon guides the icing makes it the easiest way.
  • Place the iced cookies on a sheet of wax paper or parchment paper to allow the icing to set up.
  • This will take an hour or two.
  • Then layer the cookies between sheets of wax paper in an airtight container to keep them fresh and soft.
  • While these Christmas cookies are ready to eat right now, letting them sit in the airtight container overnight will soften them perfectly.
Gingerbread men iced with icing.
These easy gingerbread cookies make great gifts for friends and neighbors!

Recipe FAQs and Expert Tips:

How do you know when gingerbread cookies are cooked?

The cookies should be puffy, not shiny and uniform color. As they bake they go from a dark brown color to a lighter brown color.

What to do if you end up over baking your gingerbread men...

If you're cookies got a little overcooked and are a little crisp go ahead and ice them. Once the icing is set, pack them up in an airtight container and leave them overnight. The icing will soften them considerably overnight.

Can I use this recipe to make a gingerbread house?

Yes, and no.  For a gingerbread house please, click on over to my DIY Gingerbread Houses .  I've modified this recipe and included a printable pattern for them.  They're so fun to make and my kids look forward to making them every year.  You'll also need my No Fail Royal Icing recipe for your gingerbread houses.

More Christmas Cookie Recipes

  • Oatmeal Jam Thumbprints
  • Candy Cane Cookies
  • Peppermint Meltaways
  • Spiced Raspberry Linzer Cookies
  • Stamped Brown Sugar Shortbread Cookies
  • Pignoli Cookies

Have you tried this recipe? If so, leave me a rating and a comment below! And don't forget to subscribe to my newsletter to get my latest recipes sent right to your email! You can also follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram!

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Gingerbread med side by side.

Iced Gingerbread Men Recipe

★★★★ 4 from 2 reviews
  • Author: Mindee
  • Prep Time: 30 minutes (plus a couple hours for the icing to set)
  • Cook Time: 12 minutes (per batch)
  • Total Time: 42 minutes
  • Yield: 4 Dozen Cookies 1x
  • Category: Cookie
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American
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Description

You have to try these soft gingerbread cut out cookies with icing!  They are nothing like the crispy, stale gingerbread cookies from a bag from the store.  They're so addictive you'll make them every Christmas!


Ingredients

Units Scale

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
  • ½ tsp Salt
  • ¼ tsp Cloves
  • 5 cups Flour
  • ⅓ cup Warm Water

Icing

  • 1 ½ cups Powdered Sugar
  • 1 tsp Clear vanilla (regular vanilla is fine but your icing won't be as white)
  • Milk

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Prepare baking sheets by lining with parchment paper or lightly spraying with non-stick cooking spray.
  3. In a mixing bowl, cream the shortening and sugar.
  4. Add the molasses, vinegar, and vanilla. Mix well.
  5. Add the baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and cloves. Mix well.
  6. Stir in 3 cups of the flour.
  7. Add the water; mix well.
  8. Add the 2 remaining cups of flour.
  9. Turn the cookie dough out onto a lightly floured surface.
  10. Roll the dough out to ¼ inch thick. You can sprinkle the dough with a little flour if it is sticking to your rolling pin.
  11. Cut out the gingerbread men and place them on prepared baking sheets.
  12. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes.
  13. Make icing by beating a little vanilla and milk into the powdered sugar a little at a time until it's perfectly smooth with a consistency a little thicker than syrup.
  14. Ice the gingerbread men a while they are still just slightly warm.
  15. Leave them on your countertop until the icing is set. This will take an hour to two hours. 
  16. Test by lightly touching the icing top. It should not be soft or squishy.
  17. Store the cookies in an airtight container with wax paper in between the layers.  

Notes

  • If you do find that your gingerbread people are spreading too much when baking.  Chill the cut outs in the fridge for 15 minutes before baking.  I live in a colder, dryer area so I've never had a problem with them spreading however, if you live in a hot, humid area you may want to test bake a cookie first to see if you need to chill them first.
  • Shortening - DO NOT substitute butter for the shortening. The shortening is what stops these cookies from spreading. You could substitute a very solid coconut oil however you may need to increase the flour a little and chill the dough for 20 minutes before rolling out.
  • Molasses - I recommend going with the strength of flavor you like best. If you like dark molasses or blackstrap molasses that's fine. I personally like a lighter version. I like Grandma's Brand best.  
  • Don't overcook or these cookies won't be soft.
  • If you do happen to overcook them go ahead and ice them like normal.  Store them overnight in an airtight container.  The icing will soften them up.
  • Ice cookies when they are still a little warm.  It makes the icing spread easier.

Keywords: gingerbread men, soft gingerbread cookies, classic gingerbread cookies, soft gingerbread cut out cookies

Did you make this recipe?

Tag me on Instagram @mindeescooking and hashtag it #mindeescookingobsession

Thanks for stopping by! Before you go, be sure to check out a few of my most popular recipes!

  • Easy Lemon Bundt Cake
  • Black Tie Mousse Cake
  • Soft Crumbl Oreo Cookies
  • Coconut Pecan Frosting
  • 90 Minute Dinner Rolls

Any nutritional analysis on this Site is based on an estimate, calculated by Nurtifox plugin (or other third-party source) from the individual ingredients in each recipe. Variations may occur for various reasons, including product availability and food preparation. We make no representation or warranty of the accuracy of this information.

More Cookie Recipes

  • Candy Cane Cookies aka Peppermint Chocolate Chip
  • Oatmeal Jam Thumbprint Cookies
  • Peppermint Melt Away Cookies
  • Homemade Twix Bars Cookie Recipe

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kristen

    December 03, 2017 at 7:44 pm

    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.

    ★★★★

    Reply
    • mindeescookingobsession

      December 04, 2017 at 10:28 am

      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.

      Reply
    • Gracie Haines

      December 17, 2020 at 9:55 am

      I see there's no ginger in these gingerbread cookies. Should there be snd can I add it?

      Reply
      • Mindee

        December 17, 2020 at 2:13 pm

        Nope, there's not ginger in them. If you want to add it you could.

        Reply
      • Donna

        November 13, 2021 at 7:08 pm

        Can you use butter flavored Crisco to get a somewhat buttery flavor?

        ★★★★

        Reply
        • Mindee

          November 15, 2021 at 6:13 am

          You could. I'm not sure how much the buttery flavor would come though but you could try it.

          Reply

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Hi! I'm Mindee! Not only do I love to try and create all kinds of recipes, I LOVE to share them! Teaching others how to be successful in cooking in their own kitchens is one of my favorite things to do! Learn more about me or jump right in and check out my recipes!

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