Shortbread Gingerbread Cookies
Super easy gingerbread men made with a shortbread base!
Ingredients
Shortbread Gingerbread Dough
- 113 g unsalted butter room temperature (½ c.)
- 50 g dark brown sugar (¼ c.)
- 2 tbsp. molasses
- 180 g all purpose flour (1 ½ c.)
- ¼ tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. ground ginger
- ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp. ground cloves
Frosting
- 160 g powdered sugar (1 ⅓ c.)
- 1 - 2 tbsp. milk
Instructions
Shortbread Gingerbread Dough
- Beat the softened butter with the dark brown sugar and molasses just until fully combined.
- Add in the flour, salt, and gingerbread spices. Mix together until a cohesive dough forms.
- Lightly flour a clean working surface and place your cookie dough on top of it, then lightly flour the top of the cookie dough. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough until it's about 1/4" thick.
- Cut out your gingerbread men (I used a 1.5" cookie cutter), then re-roll out the dough and cut out as many more as you can. Repeat this process 1 more time. You should end up with ~40 small gingerbread men, less if you are using a larger cutter!
- Transfer all of the cookies to the lined baking sheet, and place them in the freezer for 10 minutes to firm up.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C.
- Evenly space the cookies out on the cookie sheet, leaving at least 1/2" between each cookie. Bake for 8 minutes. (If using a larger cookie cutter, bake for 10 minutes)
Frosting
- In a small bowl, add the powdered sugar. Mix in 1/2 tbsp. of milk at a time, until you have a super thick but pipeable frosting.
- Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a small round tip (I used Wilton #3) Pipe the frosting on to each gingerbread man however you desire!
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
I've removed the servings from this recipe because it will vary with how big your cookie cutter is! You can expect to get at least 20 (medium) gingerbread cookies from this, and up to 40 (mini) gingerbread cookies.