‘Tis the season, friends! But not the season for firm, crisp, dryish gingerbread that you can literally build tiny houses from. This season, let’s make some soft pillowy gingerbread with sunken centers and slightly crisped edges and open crackly crags of gingery spice and rich, but not overwhelming, molasses. Let’s roll them in sugar, get them baked to perfection, and dip them in a mapley glaze. Yes? Yes.

The hallmark flavors of gingerbread are molasses and ginger, so once we’ve got those going on in all the right proportions, who says that gingerbread cookies can’t be a textural wonder of soft and chewy and crackly and tender-buttery-crisp all in one glorious bite? 2021 is the year to reinvent “gingerbread” into a cookie that we really, truly love.

No gingerbread men splat flat on a pan. Go all out this year. Get your Christmas music playing, your cozy candles lit, get your tried and true baking sheets, your favorite mixing bowls, and your holiday spirit at the ready. Let’s do this.

Deliciously SOFT Gingerbread Cookies

It’s hard to describe just how good these are, these spicy-sweet little gingerbread pillows. There’s certainly a time and a place for the darker, more crisp peppery gingerbread, but that is not this. These cookies are suuuuper soft, light and coppery, almost melty in their ginger spice, with the slightest crunch from the edges and little sugar sprinkles.

And if your family has always gathered round a floured surface, armed with rolling pins and cookie cutters, fear not! Sure you may not be stamping out little shapes or battling with royal icing, making sure the gingerbread people don’t look like sorta scary clowns with drippy icing smiles, all while making sure your toddler isn’t eating too much dough…but will you miss that part? (Okay fine, maybe…these are the beautiful chaotic memories we cherish).

But there are memories to be made around these as well. Gently rolling the soft gingerdough balls in the snowy sugar. Getting the perfect half dip of creamy maple glaze once they’re out of the oven. Going a little extra and piping tiny little holly leaves and berries on them or maybe just a few festive sprinkles. Gathering round the oven to see who can smell the warm sweet ginger bake first.

Also, can we talk about that maple glaze? Subtle, sweet, and smooth taking these just one notch above magnificent. Just…come on.

Gingerbread cookies with icing and holly sprinkles on a sheet pan

Key Ingredients For Gingerbread Cookies

For these truly remarkable gingerbread cookies, you’ll need the staples — flour, sugar, butter, eggs, and salt. There’s a little extra baking soda in there to ensure a good spread, so they go wider and flatter in the oven. This is key to their positively clutch texture. Beyond that, let’s round up this delicious list, shall we?

molasses
ground ginger
extra sugar for rolling
maple syrup
confectioner’s sugar
lil’ holly sprinkles if you’re extra (so cute, so fun, so merry)

How To Make Gingerbread Cookies From Scratch

Once your ingredients are assembled and your heart is ready and your kitchen windows are fogged from the heat of your oven, it’s cookie-baking time, and is there any other better time on this planet?

Make your dough. Cream butter and sugar, and then incorporate egg and molasses. Add your dry ingredients and mix until you have a soft dough. Pinch off a piece because it’s the holidays, but also don’t eat raw dough, and also merry everyday to you.
Roll and bake. Scoop dough into small balls and then take one teeny extra step to gently roll them in sugar until they literally sparkle. Line your sheet and bake.
Maple glaze. Whisk together your glaze ingredients until smooth. Dip one side of your slightly cooled, slightly flattened cookies in to coat. Now’s the time to add sprinkles if you’re feeling it.

There is already so much joy in cookies and these are big-time joy-bringers. There’s just something so special about gingerbread, with all its cozy and merry and bright. So fill your jars, your holiday platters, your care packages and gift boxes, your kiddos’ eager hands. Leave them on your plates for Santa and sneak them in the night like magic.

We hope your holidays are filled with all the best things this year, like family and friends and gingerbread.

Gingerbread cookies with a bite out of them

Soft Gingerbread Cookies: FAQs

How should I store these cookies?

Store these cookies in a sealed container at room temp for 3-5 days (if they even last that long in your house).

Are there any substitutes for molasses?

It won’t taste exactly the same, but maple syrup can work in a pinch.

Can you freeze these cookies?

Yes! Just bake ’em up and freeze any leftovers in an air-tight container.

Soft Gingerbread Cookies with Maple Glaze

Author: Eman @ Pinch of Yum
Total Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 24 cookies

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Description

Let’s make Soft Gingerbread Cookies this holiday season! Soft, pillowy gingerbread with sunken centers and slightly crisped edges, plus little nooks and crannies packed with ginger spice and molasses. These are SO GOOD!

Ingredients

Units

Gingerbread Cookies

3/4 cup salted butter, softened (1 1/2 sticks)
1 cup white sugar
1 large egg
1/3 cup molasses
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1–2 teaspoons ginger
Granulated sugar for rolling

Maple Glaze

2 tablespoons melted butter
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
3/4 to 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
pinch of salt, to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and molasses; mix until incorporated.
Add flour, baking soda, salt, and ginger. Mix until a soft dough forms.
Scoop into small balls (a little smaller than the size of a golf ball) and roll in sugar. Bake for 8-10 minutes; remove from pan so the cookies can flatten slightly as they cool.
Whisk maple glaze ingredients together until smooth. Dip one side of the baked cookies into the maple glaze and add a few festive sprinkles.