Search form

Soft and Chewy Gingerbread People

Share this content.

a family of gingerbread people
Prep Time: 
45 minutes + 90 minutes chill and cool time
Number of Servings: 
20 cookies
Recipe Source: 
The Complete Autumn & Winter Cookbook by America's Test Kitchen

Ingredients

  • 3 cups (15 oz) all-purpose flour
  • 3⁄4 cup packed (5 1⁄4 oz) dark brown sugar
  • 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 Tbsp ground ginger
  • 3⁄4 tsp baking soda
  • 1⁄2 tsp ground cloves
  • 1⁄2 tsp table salt
  • 12 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
  • 3⁄4 cup light molasses
  • 2 Tbsp milk

Directions

  1. Process flour, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, cloves, and salt in a food processor until combined, about 10 seconds. Add melted butter, molasses, and milk. Process until a soft dough forms and no streaks of flour remain, about 20 seconds, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
  2. Spray counter lightly with a baking spray with flour, transfer dough to counter, and knead until dough forms a cohesive ball, about 20 seconds. Divide dough in half. Form each half into a 5-inch disk, wrap disks tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.
  3. Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower middle positions and heat oven to 350º. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Working with 1 disk of dough at a time, roll 1⁄4-inch thick between 2 large sheets of parchment. (Keep second disk of dough refrigerated while rolling out first.) Remove top piece of parchment. Using a 3 1⁄4-inch cookie cutter, cut dough into shapes. Peel away scraps from around cookies and space shapes 3⁄4-inch apart on prepared sheets. Repeat rolling and cutting steps with dough scraps.
  4. Bake cookies until puffy and just set around edges, 9 to 11 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking. Let cookies cool on sheets for 10 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack. Let cookies cool completely before serving. (Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature, with a sheet of parchment or waxed paper between each layer, for up to 3 days.)

Notes

  • These cookies are soft, not crunchy, and brimming with the flavors of ginger and molasses.
  • Depending on your cookie cutter dimensions, all of the cookies may not fit on the sheets and a second round of baking may be required.
  • You can decorate these cookies with your favorite icing, if desired.
Nutrition Info: 
Per serving (1 cookie without icing): 188 Calories, 2 g Protein, 30 g Carbohydrates, 15 g Total sugars (15 g Added sugars), 1 g Fiber, 7 g Total fat (4 g sat), 110 mg Sodium, ★ Vitamin B1 (thiamine), Folate, Iron, Magnesium

Share this content.

Contributor

America's Test Kitchen

Cook with test kitchen recipes and resources and become a better cook, guaranteed. Learn how and why recipes work, and get all the secrets for easier cooking and great flavor and save money and time on shopping and food prep.

You Might Also Like...

Ginger Snap Crinkle Cookies

a plate of freshly-baked ginger snap cookies

Baci di Dama

delicate cookie sandwiches with chocolate filling

Cinnamon Roll Cookies

a plate of cookies that look like cinnamon rolls
Taste for Life
155 Washington St. First Floor
Keene, NH 03431
About Us
Advertise with us!

Don't know where to find Taste for Life magazine? Click here!

Want to offer Taste For Life or Remedies magazine in your store? Contact us today.

Read our print archives online!

Want the latest stories e-mailed to you each week? Sign up for our newsletter!

Privacy Policy

Article content Copyright © 1998-2024 Taste For Life except where otherwise noted. This site primarily features images licensed from Dreamstime.

§These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.