Gingerbread Cookies Recipe

I have tweaked this recipe, after a few attempts, to perfection (for my tastes). First of all, I think the variances in dough texture people are having is in the way they measure their flour. I am one of those bakers that measures flour by spooning it into the measuring cup lightly and using a knife to level off. The first time I made these(exactly as the recipe states) the dough was like mush. I ended up working in an extra cup of flour with my hands. I rolled in between two pieces of parchment because of the toughness extra flour always adds to cut-outs. The cookies were tasty but to floury with a cardboard texture. I finally ended up using 1 and 1/2 cups flour. I substituted 3/4 c brown sugar for the white sugar, because I thought they needed to be sweeter as well, and I thought the brown sugar would help to keep them moist. I used a 3 inch gingerbread cutter and cooked for 7 minutes. Delicious, soft and chewy. The spices are perfect, it is a spicy cookie just as the recipe says. I used white chocolate to pipe on the features, buttons, bowties, and scarfs. Not only are they adorable, they are out-of-this-world tasting. I will try to upload a picture later today. Thanks Eileen, at last, a gingerbread man I can actually eat!!!

Love these spicy, chewy cookies! I added a teaspoon of white pepper for something extra, and followed the suggestions from DarlingDash. My cookie dough was a bit too soft and sticky to roll, so I will try by chilling over night then rolling as she suggests between 2 sheets of parchment paper. After that, I will add a bit of flour until I get it just right. UPDATE: Made again following the menu with 2 cups of flour, then I chilled it over night. When I rolled it out between sheets of parchment paper it was workable without added flour. Everyone loves the "kick" the white pepper gives these extra-spicy gingerbread men.

Mixed & stuck in freezer for 1/2 hour. Used butter not margerine. Rolled into 1-2 inch balls and sprinkled with green Xmas sugar. Amazing. Chewy rich spice taste. Baked for suggested time. A fast easy recipe for year round use. Can't attest to how easy it is to roll but makes an outstanding drop cookie.

I make these during the holidays season. I would give them 4.5 stars if I could. I've found you can add 25-75g of WPC (whey protein concentrate) to make them less sticky if you don't want to chill them. I only do 8 minutes in the oven. You can reduce the sugar by about 1/3rd before you start to notice the cookies becoming bland; you won't notice if you add m&m's as decoration.

This recipe makes tasty ninjabread men. I did make some changes as suggested by others. I used softened butter instead of margarine. I used 3/4 cup brown sugar instead of white sugar. I halved the cloves and doubled the other spices. Next time I will chill the pan of cut-out men so they don't blob. We used the Sugar Coookie Icing recipe here.

These are so good! Added 1/4 cup more flour, tossed in some diced crystalized ginger and rolled the dough into little balls. I then flattened them out a little bit in some raw sugar, and baked for 7-8 minutes. They were delicious. Thanks again for the recipe!

Just couldn't keep these delicious cookies in the house over the Holidays. Made several batches with different shapes and decorations, with each batch being devoured in a matter of days. Tried them rolled out thinly for a crisp cookie and rolled out thicker for a more chewy texture. Either way was a hit with everyone. I preferred the crispier version. It was unanimous that this spicy gingerbread recipe is much more tasty than the usual bland molassesy versions, and closer to the traditional rich complex British/Caribbean flavour we're used to! For best results: keep the dough refrigerated in small balls ( 4 or so) until ready to roll out and work quickly; be generous with all the spices, including the ground cloves; a few pinches of freshly ground mace really enhances the flavour; and easy on the molasses. Best gingerbread cookie recipe!!

I absolutely love this recipe. I made it with spelt and had to substitute extra baking powder for the baking soda and they turned out perfectly! The best gingerbread cookies I've ever made. However the dough is really tough to work with it it far to sticky to roll easily. With a little experimentation I found that freezing the dough before rolling makes it far easier and using baking paper AND flour to make sure things don't stick. Freezing after the cookies are cut into shapes makes them keep their shape better while baking and they won't spread too much.

The only change I made was cut sugar in half which I do to every recipe now. These were still delicious. Nummy. Great mix of spices and flavours with none being too much. Soft and easy to make.

Awesome recipe. Based on other reviews, I doubled all spices except cloves and substituted brown sugar for the white. Make sure to sift your flour. Everyone raves about these! Delicious!!

Liked it, but would punch up the spices even more. I like my hermits spicy! I added a 1/4 tsp of ginger, and some chopped candied ginger, I would do that again.

The whole family loved it, I did a little change halved the amount of sugar and molasses, added a full cup of flour and doubled the ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Made this for a small gathering, and it was gone before I knew it. Delicious, easy, and perfectly balanced — everyone asked for the recipe. I’ll be keeping this in my weekly rotation.

The whole family loved these. We made them Christmas Day and they were gone by New Year’s Eve. Next time I’m going to skip using the cookie cutters. The dough got too warm too quick (I’m in FL).

Absolutely wonderful really! I added orange zest to half the recipe

This recipe actually makes me enjoy cooking.

These are fantastic! I can see from the reviews, etc that everyone does the spices different. I myself am not a big fan of clove and nutmeg so I did one full tsp of cinnamon and ginger. Everyone loved them and they’ll be a new tradition for Christmas!

We’ve been using this recipe for over 20 years, since it was called Eileen’s Spicy Gingerbread Men. We like them spicy so we triple the amount of ground ginger. We always use salted butter and omit the added salt.

These were amazing! I used 3/4 cup brown sugar instead of the sugar. I added 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. I used 1/4 teaspoon each of baking soda and baking powder. I used 1 1/2 teaspoon each of cinnamon, cloves, and ginger, and 1 teaspoon of nutmeg. These were highly flavored cookies and absolutely delicious! I used the recommended amount of flour. I put the dough in the refrigerator over night. When I pulled it out, it was so hard it was impossible to roll out! So I let it warm to room temp, then it rolled easily. I rolled it out between 2 pieces of parchment paper, which really helped A LOT! I got 2 dozen small gingerbread men. After 7 minutes they didn't look done, so I cooked them 8 minutes. When cooled, they were quite hard, so next time I'll stop at 7 minutes. So good! Thank you!

Been making these since the mid 2000's. Great recipe, just adjust the spice to what you prefer. Why did they change the name of this recipe? It used to be Eileens spicy gingerbread cookies.