Gingerbread men recipe (2024)

Recipe Tips

You can freeze the gingerbread dough, double wrapped in cling film, for up to 3 months. Defrost, roll and bake!

The baked gingerbread men can also be frozen before icing.

You can make a pipeable icing by mixing together 100g/3½oz sifted icing sugar with 4 teaspoons lemon juice. Add the lemon juice to the sugar gradually and adjust to get a good piping consistency. A sandwich bag with the corner snipped off makes a decent piping bag for kids to use to decorate your gingerbread men.

Gingerbread men recipe (2024)

FAQs

Should gingerbread men be soft or crunchy? ›

Don't overbake them.

The cookies should still be slightly soft when you take them out of the oven. Most regular-sized gingerbread cookies will take 9-10 minutes, but you might need a little more or less time depending on whether your cookie cutters are small or extra large.

Why are my gingerbread men so hard? ›

“There are some gingerbread recipes that are hard right after baking and need to sit for a few days to soften. Molasses and honey hardens gingerbread, but as the sugar absorbs moisture, it will get softer.”

What are gingerbread men called now? ›

Why is it called gingerbread when it's not really a bread? Some bakeries are now calling gingerbread men by the gender neutral term “gingerbread people.” Do you agree with the change? I couldn't care less if they called them “gingerbread cookies.”

Do gingerbread men harden when cooling? ›

Bake for 12 minutes for light golden and mostly soft (though slightly crisp on edges), or 14 minutes for deeper golden and crisp. The gingerbread men will be soft out of the oven but will firm up as they cool. Note however even crisp gingerbread men soften the next day.

What is the point of gingerbread men? ›

Taking their lead from the Queen, gingerbread men were often handed out by folk medicine practitioners (often known as magicians and witches). These gingerbread men were created as “love tokens” for young women. The idea was to get the man you'd like to marry to eat the gingerbread man! Tadah!

What part of the gingerbread man do you eat first? ›

According to the results, nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of survey respondents start at the top by eating the head of the gingerbread cookie first. Twenty percent go straight for the gingerbread man's legs, while only 16% of cookie eaters begin with a farewell to the arms.

How to make gingerbread harder? ›

The longer you bake the gingerbread, the harder and browner it will get. I like to overbake mine a little.

What happens if you add too much molasses to cookies? ›

Doubling up on molasses softened the cookies significantly.

Molasses is a thick, goopy ingredient, so it wasn't a surprise that my dough came out on the stickier end of the texture spectrum when I used too much molasses.

How do you keep gingerbread from spreading men? ›

Chill and Bring to Room Temperature: Chill the dough for at least two hours or overnight, but make sure to bring it back to room temperature before rolling and cutting. Space Out on Baking Sheet: Leave enough space between each cookie on the baking sheet to prevent them from spreading into each other.

What is the politically correct gingerbread man? ›

Who knew gingerbread had genitals? The Tannery cafe in New Zealand has taken the sex out of gingerbread men, instead offering customers the redundantly titled “GingerBread Gender Neutral Person” cookies this holiday season.

What is gingerbread slang for? ›

slang. Money. Also in †to have the gingerbread (obsolete)…

What are the three types of gingerbread? ›

The three distinct types of gingerbread are brown gingerbread, wafer-based gingerbread and honey gingerbread.
  • BROWN GINGERBREAD.
  • WAFER GINGERBREAD.
  • HONEY GINGERBREAD.

Which molasses is best for gingerbread? ›

Medium Or Dark Molasses

“It adds enough bold flavor and sweet notes with a hint of bitterness to any recipe, which is exactly what you want for making gingerbread cookies.” Bourdon added that it's also versatile and can be used for marinades, baked beans, sauces, breads and recipes for other foods.

How to know when gingerbread men are done? ›

So how do you know that they're done? Here's how to tell if gingerbread cookies are done: They'll be firmly set. They'll be a lovely medium-brown color.

What happens if a gingerbread man gets wet? ›

Haugh's Kindergarten students worked like scientists to predict what would happen if the Gingerbread Man did get wet, then conducted an experiment and reached conclusions based on their results. They learned that cookies get soggy in water and fall apart!

Does gingerbread go hard or soft? ›

Gingerbread biscuits can be hard or soft, so if you want to make decorations, you'll need a recipe that will set hard and be very dry. The drier the biscuit is, the longer the icing will keep its original colour and stay hard. If the biscuits are soft, the icing will start to suck up moisture and colour over time.

Why is my gingerbread crunchy? ›

Keep in mind that the longer the cookies bake, the harder and crunchier they'll be. For soft gingerbread cookies, follow my suggested bake times. Allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet.

Do people like crunchy or soft cookies better? ›

There are two schools of thought when it comes to cookies—soft or crispy. Some people like them soft and chewy, while others prefer them crispy and crunchy.

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