Description
This ultimate easy gingerbread recipe delivers soft, flavorful gingerbread cookies perfect for holiday celebrations or cozy treats. Made with warming spices, dark muscovado sugar, and golden syrup, these festive cookies are rolled out, cut into shapes, baked until crisp-edged yet tender, and decorated with smooth, sweet royal icing for a joyful finishing touch.
Ingredients
Scale
Main Ingredients
- 100g salted butter
- 3 tbsp golden syrup
- 100g dark muscovado sugar
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tbsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 225g plain flour
- 50g icing sugar
- 1–2 tbsp water (for icing)
Instructions
- Heat Butter Mixture: In a small pan, gently heat the salted butter, golden syrup, and dark muscovado sugar together, stirring occasionally until fully melted and combined. Remove from heat and let the mixture cool slightly to prevent cooking the dough prematurely.
- Mix Dry Ingredients and Combine: In a large bowl, whisk together the bicarbonate of soda, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, and plain flour. Pour in the cooled buttery syrup mixture and stir with a spoon, then use your hands to knead briefly to form a soft dough. The dough will initially be soft but will firm up once chilled.
- Roll Out and Chill Dough: Place the dough between two sheets of baking parchment and roll it out evenly to about ½ cm thickness. Transfer the dough with the parchment onto a baking sheet to keep its shape flat, then chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour to firm up and make it easier to handle.
- Preheat Oven and Prepare Baking Sheet: Preheat your oven to 190°C (170°C fan)/gas mark 5. Line a large baking sheet with fresh baking parchment to prevent sticking during baking.
- Cut Shapes: Remove the chilled dough from the fridge and peel off the top parchment. Use cookie cutters—9 cm stars are suggested but choose any shape you like—to cut out shapes from the dough. Optionally, cut smaller shapes out of the center for decorative hanging ornaments. Transfer the cut shapes carefully onto the lined baking sheet, spacing them apart to allow for slight expansion.
- Bake Cookies: Bake in the preheated oven for 10–12 minutes, watching closely as baking times may vary depending on cookie size. The cookies should be lightly firm with slightly crisp edges when done. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely on the baking sheet to set.
- Prepare Icing: While cookies cool, mix the icing sugar with 1 to 2 tablespoons of water to achieve a thick, pipeable consistency that is not too runny. Adjust thickness by adding water gradually.
- Decorate Cookies: Transfer the icing into a piping bag fitted with a thin nozzle. Decorate the cooled gingerbread cookies with icing as desired. Allow the icing to set before storing or serving.
Notes
- Use dark muscovado sugar for a rich molasses flavor; light brown sugar is a suitable substitute if needed.
- Chilling the dough is essential for easier rolling and cleaner cookie cutter shapes.
- Cookie cutters with different shapes add festive variety, and small cutouts can be used to hang cookies as decorations.
- Adjust icing consistency carefully: too thin and it will run off, too thick and it will be hard to pipe.
- Store decorated gingerbread cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: British
Keywords: gingerbread, gingerbread cookies, holiday cookies, Christmas cookies, easy gingerbread, festive baking, spiced cookies, muscovado sugar cookies
