Soft, chewy, and covered in a sweet glaze – this recipe for Frosted Gingerbread Cookies is the Christmas cookie of your dreams. These classic gingerbread cookies are topped with a sweet cookie cookie glaze to create the perfect combination of chewy, spicy, and sweet.
If you are looking for more holiday cookie recipes, check out my Hot Chocolate Cookies, Christmas Shortbread Cookies, or my Eggless Spritz Cookies.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
This is one of my all time favorite cookie recipes, and it’s in my book Cookies for Everyone! These soft and chewy gingerbread cookies with icing just transport you right to Christmas, no matter where you are or what time of year it is.
But there’s no better time than now to make the best soft gingerbread cookies with icing. These Frosted Gingerbread Cookies are a must for the holidays. If you’re only going to make one gingerbread cookie – these soft and chewy gingerbread cookies with icing are definitely what you should choose!
I covet these cookies when I make them. My close friends all know how special these are, and they all want some whenever I make them! If you are looking for an easy and festive Christmas cookie, then these Frosted Gingerbread Cookies are it!
I believe gingerbread only needs three spices: cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. I call it the magic trio, and that combined with molasses, dark brown sugar, and the right combination of butter and flour make magic happen in the kitchen!
These are the best soft gingerbread cookies with icing – like ever! I can’t tell you how excited I am to share this recipe for my Frosted Gingerbread Cookies. If you love soft and chewy gingerbread cookies with icing, you will be in heaven with this recipe. Try out the recipe below and see for yourself!
Plus, there are so many other amazing cookie recipes in my book Cookies for Everyone! It makes the best Christmas gift too.
FAQ's
Can I use light brown sugar in place of dark brown sugar?
The short answer is yes. The long answer is no. While light brown sugar and dark brown sugar are interchangeable in a recipe – meaning they will not mess up or break the recipe if you use one or the other. But dark brown sugar contains more molasses than light brown. Therefore, the flavor of dark brown sugar is richer and more intense.
So, if a recipe calls for dark brown sugar, it probably has a lot to do with the flavor. If you use light brown in its place, that recipe won’t be as dark, rich, or flavorful. Don’t skimp! Use dark brown sugar! And if you don’t have any, you can easily make your own with my Homemade Dark Brown Sugar recipe.
How should I store Frosted Gingerbread Cookies?
These Frosted Gingerbread Cookies are soft and chewy, so they need to be stored in an airtight container. But, because these have an icing or cookie glaze, they need to set before you can store them. This is the most challenging thing with this recipe.
I advise doing one of two things. The first being, put all the cookies onto one cookie sheet (make sure they are not on top of each other!), and then wrap that cookie sheet in plastic wrap. This will allow the cookies to set overnight, and the icing to harden. Then, the following day you can store them in an airtight container, and you can stack them and they won’t drastically stick together. You can also place a piece of parchment paper between them to ensure they do not stick together!
The second option is to place your cookie sheet in the freezer. This is more eco-friendly, as you’re not wasting plastic wrap. Something I hate about baking, but sometimes it is necessary to achieve baked goods perfection. The freezer has a good seal, so it acts like a Tupperware, and it allows the cookie glaze to set there. Then, the next day you can remove them and store. You can still put a piece of parchment paper in between each one to ensure they don’t stick together!
Can I roll out this cookie dough and use a cutter?
Yes, if your little heart desires you can roll out this cookie dough and use a cutter. If you choose to do this, you may need a little extra flour, so the cookie dough doesn’t stick. It’s okay to add more flour, but the more you add, the less chewy and soft the cookies become, and they will become crisper.
Another option is to refrigerate the cookie dough before rolling, this will hopefully help prevent having to add extra flour and keep the cookies soft and chewy!
Ingredients for Frosted Gingerbread Cookies
Costco Kirkland Organic Cane Sugar
Homemade Organic Dark Brown Sugar
Simply Organic Vanilla Extract
Wholesome Organic Blackstrap Molasses
Cairnspring Mills Organic All Purpose Flour
Frontier Co-Op Organic Korintje Cinnamon
Wholesome Organic Powdered Sugar
Why Organic
Why use organic ingredients in this recipe? You all know I’m a huge organic advocate, and I bet you may be thinking sometimes, Why would I even bother to use organic ingredients in something that is so sweet and indulgent? But, that is the exact reason why you should use organic ingredients! Sweet things need to have flavor in order to be good, otherwise they are just sweet and they don’t taste like much else. Organic ingredients are more pure than conventional ones, therefore they actually have more flavor than the non organic options. Say it with me, organic means more flavor! And not just more flavor but a more true and pure flavor. And organic ingredients are much healthier for you to eat in general as they do not contain GMOs or anything artificial. Plus, you are being environmentally friendly when you choose organic ingredients!
So, I highly recommend that you buy the best organic ingredients for this recipe! You can also shop my Amazon Storefront for all my favorite organic ingredients here. Tip – hover over each ingredient to see the name. And if you want to learn more about organic foods and the difference, read my post here on Food Labels and What They Mean.
The best soft gingerbread cookies with icing you'll ever have. That's all.
Ingredients
- Dough
1/2 cup (113 grams) organic salted butter, softened
113 grams (1/2 cup) organic cane sugar
113 grams (1/2 cup) packed organic dark brown sugar
85 grams (1/4 cup) organic blackstrap molasses
1 teaspoon organic vanilla extract
2 organic large eggs
340 grams (2 1/2 cups plus 3 tablespoons) organic all purpose flour
1 teaspoon organic cinnamon
1 teaspoon organic ginger
1 teaspoon organic cloves
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- Icing
340 grams (2 1/3 cups) organic powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 cup organic milk
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- To make the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle at¬tachment, add the butter, cane sugar, dark brown sugar, molasses, and vanilla extract. Mix on low until combined and there are no chunks of butter.
- Add the eggs and mix slightly, enough to break the yolks.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, gin¬ger, cloves, baking soda, and sea salt. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, and mix on low until a stiff dough forms.
- Using your hands, form the dough into 24 balls and place them on the prepared cookie sheets, leaving 1 inch between them (12 should fit on each cookie sheet). Flatten each ball slightly. They should look like disks that are about 2 1/4-inches in diameter.
- Bake for 11 minutes, or until the cookies look puffed and cracked on top. Let cool completely on the cookie sheets.
- To make the icing: In a medium bowl, add the powdered sugar and milk and whisk until a smooth glaze forms.
- Using a butter knife or a small spatula, spread the cookie glaze on top of each cookie.
- Using plastic wrap, cover the cookies on the sheets so no air gets in (or stick trays in the freezer). Allow to set overnight before stacking or storing cookies, this allows the glaze to set and prevents cookies from sticking to each other!
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 7 days.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Gluten Free—Replace the all-purpose flour with 354 grams ( 2 1/4 cups plus 1 teaspoon) organic gluten free flour blend.
- High Altitude—Bake at 375°f for 8 minutes, or until the cookies look puffed and cracked on top.
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