The aroma that will fill your kitchen is reason enough to make adorable and festive homemade Gingerbread Men this holiday season! Made with molasses, brown sugar, and warm spices, it's the perfect classic cookie to add to any dessert tray!
In a large mixing bowl, add the brown sugar, melted butter, and molasses and whisk until combined.
½ cup brown sugar, ½ cup unsalted butter, ⅓ cup unsulphured molasses
Then, add the egg and vanilla extract and mix in completely.
1 large egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a separate medium bowl, add the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt.
2 ½ cups all purpose flour, 1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves, ⅛ teaspoon salt
Then add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until no flour is remaining.
Divide the dough into two halves and shape each half into a 1 inch thick round disc. Wrap the discs in plastic wrap and place them in the refrigerator and chill for at least 2 hours (you can leave it in the refrigerator overnight as well).
After the dough has chilled, and working with one disc at a time, place it on a lightly floured flat surface like a counter or cutting board. (don't use too much flour it will show on the gingerbread men).
Roll the dough out until it's ⅛” thick.
Cut out gingerbread with your desired cutters and carefully place them on a parchment lined baking sheet. (these are 3 inches tall).
Place the baking sheet in the freezer and chill the cut-out cookies for 15 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350° F while they are chilling.
Repeat with the second disc of dough.
Bake the chilled cookies for 10-12 minutes for soft and chewy cookie. Or bake for 13-15 minutes for crunchier cookies.
Remove from the oven and cool them for 5 minutes on the pan then transfer them to a wire cooling rack and cool completely before decorating.
Notes
Store any leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.You can skip the second chill time after cutting the cookies but they will spread slightly. Do not skip chilling the dough after mixing the dough.Use white sugar if desired but brown sugar makes a softer cookie. Make sure to measure the flour using the spoon and level method or use a food scale.