Make these gingerbread men for the holiday season. Soft and warmly spiced with a gingerbread blend, they are finished with simple royal icing for a festive touch.
If you enjoy spiced holiday cookies and making treats with kids, you’ll love this gingerbread men recipe. The dough is a tender cookie base scented with a gingerbread spice mix—cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and clove—that gives delightful flavor to these little figures.
These gingerbread men are softer than plain shortbread. They are cut with a gingerbread man cookie cutter and decorated with an easy homemade royal icing.
Put on your apron and bake these cute cookies to decorate with family, give as holiday gifts, or simply enjoy with a warm drink.
Want more holiday cookie ideas? Try: Spritz chocolate cookies, gingerbread cookies, spiced snowflake cookies, gingerbread layer cake, gingerbread village cake, candy cane cookies, decorated shortbread, or gingerbread-flavored cookies.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Below is an overview of the ingredients and possible substitutions. Scroll to the recipe card for exact quantities.
Spiced Cookie Dough
- Butter: Use unsalted butter at room temperature. You can soften it briefly in the microwave if needed.
- Sugar: Preferably brown sugar such as light or dark brown sugar for deep flavor.
- Eggs: Use at room temperature.
- Molasses: Key for classic gingerbread flavor. Substitute with a mix of honey and maple syrup or golden syrup if needed.
- Flour: All-purpose wheat flour (T45/T55). You can substitute with a gluten-free flour blend if required.
- Leavening: Baking soda or baking powder to keep cookies slightly soft.
- Spices: Gingerbread mix or a combination of cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg and ground cloves.
- Vanilla and salt: Pure vanilla extract or vanilla sugar and a pinch of salt to enhance flavor.
Optional: Replace up to 1/4 of the flour with unsweetened cocoa powder for a chocolate-tinged dough. You can also add almond extract, citrus zest or a splash of citrus juice for variation.
Royal Icing
Royal icing is a white icing ideal for decorating cookies with a piping bag. It’s quick to make and easy to color with gel food coloring if desired.
Sifted powdered sugar is mixed with a small amount of liquid—usually water—until you achieve a thick but slightly fluid consistency for piping.
Note: See the recipe card at the end of the page for exact amounts and detailed instructions.
How to Make Gingerbread Men
1 – Cream the Butter
- Place softened butter and brown sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer or paddle attachment until creamy and homogeneous.
- Add the egg, vanilla and molasses (or honey/maple mix) and beat again to combine.
2 – Add Dry Ingredients
- Stir in the flour, salt, baking soda and spices—about 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp ground ginger, plus a pinch of nutmeg and ground cloves.
- Mix at medium speed until the dough comes together.
- Gather the dough with your hands and form a smooth ball.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes.
Tip: To speed up, roll the dough between two sheets of parchment paper and freeze for 10 minutes before cutting.
4 – Cut Out the Gingerbread Men
- Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface to about 3 mm thickness.
- Use a gingerbread man cutter to cut shapes and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Tip: For cleaner shapes, chill the sheet of cut dough in the freezer for a few minutes before trimming.
5 – Bake
- Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F). Bake the cookies for about 8–10 minutes, until slightly puffed and golden at the edges.
- Remove the baking sheet and let the cookies rest briefly on the tray, then transfer carefully to a wire rack to cool completely.
Note: Cookies are soft when they come out of the oven and will firm up as they cool.
Royal Icing
Place sifted powdered sugar in a bowl with water and beat with an electric whisk for about 5 minutes until the icing is thick but slightly flowing.
Divide the icing into small bowls to add color if desired, using gel food coloring for best results.
Fill a piping bag fitted with a round tip (or snip a small corner) and pipe the icing onto the cookies. Add sprinkles or sugar decorations immediately before the icing sets.
Allow the decorated cookies to dry for about 1 hour before serving.
Storage
Store gingerbread men at room temperature in an airtight container away from humidity.
You can also prepare the cookies in advance and freeze them (without icing) for up to 3 months.
More Holiday Cookies
- Snickerdoodle cinnamon cookies
- Chocolate crinkle cookies
- Jam-filled shortbread
- Spritz cookies (Viennese)
- Mini gingerbread houses
- Spiced snowflake cookies
- Nutella-filled shortbread
- White chocolate–filled cookies
More Holiday Recipes
- Chocolate rocher yule log
- Praline rolled cake
- Red fruit pavlova
Did you try this recipe? Please rate it and leave a comment! Tag @sweetlycakes on Instagram to share your creations.
Gingerbread Men
- Author: Fadela
- Total Time: 28 minutes
- Yield: 20
Description
Soft gingerbread men flavored with a gingerbread spice blend and decorated with royal icing. Makes about 20 cookies.
Ingredients
Cookie Dough
- 153 g unsalted butter, softened
- 135 g brown sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 150 g molasses (or honey and maple syrup)
- 450 g all-purpose flour (T55)
- 1 tsp baking soda (or baking powder)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 pinch ground nutmeg
- 1 pinch ground cloves
- 1 pinch salt
Royal Icing
- 200 g sifted powdered sugar
- 23 g water (adjust to reach desired consistency)
Instructions
Cookie Dough
- In a bowl, beat softened butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer for 2–3 minutes until creamy.
- Add the egg, vanilla and molasses and beat for 1 minute to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients—flour, spices, salt and baking soda—and mix just until combined.
- Form the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic and chill at least 20 minutes.
- Roll the dough on a floured surface and cut with a gingerbread man cookie cutter.
- Place the cut cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet and chill briefly while the oven preheats.
Baking
- Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F). Bake for 8–10 minutes until slightly puffed and golden.
- Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Decoration
- Whisk sifted powdered sugar and water until thick and slightly fluid, about 5 minutes. Adjust with more sugar or water as needed.
- Fill a piping bag with a round tip (or snip a small corner) and pipe the icing onto the cookies.
- Decorate immediately with sprinkles or sugar decorations before the icing sets.
- Allow decorated cookies to dry about 1 hour before serving.
Notes
Storage: Keep at room temperature for 1–2 weeks in an airtight container. Freeze uniced cookies for up to 3 months.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 minutes