Reinvent Your Holiday Baking with These Gingerbread Cookie Recipes (2024)

FAQs

Why do people eat gingerbread cookies on Christmas? ›

Many also decorated their Christmas trees with gingerbread men or houses, leading to an increase in their popularity. Others however, believe gingerbread was eaten due to the calming influence of ginger – a key ingredient amidst the festive feasting!

Molasses and honey hardens gingerbread, but as the sugar absorbs moisture, it will get softer.” Cookbook author and ”Great American Baking Show” winner Vallery Lomas likes a gingerbread cookie that's packed with flavor. “I want to taste a lot of the spices ― especially ginger,” she said.

Let baked gingerbread cookies cool completely before you decorate them. A simple glaze of confectioners' sugar and milk works well for decorating cookies.

The baked gingerbread cookies will store up to a week at room temperature in an airtight container, so they can easily be made ahead. Freeze the baked cookies. If you want to freeze the baked cookies themselves, you can also do this - I personally prefer them freshly baked, but you can freeze them if you like!

Nuremberg was recognized as the "Gingerbread Capital of the World" when in the 1600s the guild started to employ master bakers and skilled workers to create complicated works of art from gingerbread. Medieval bakers used carved boards to create elaborate designs.

In the late 17th century, gingerbread became associated with Christmas. Russian bakers prepared gingerbread men and women, usually as replicas of those people attending parties. Gingerbread houses were introduced about 200 years later, when the Grimm brothers wrote Hansel and Gretel. A new holiday tradition was born.

Needing to be foiled, gingerbread loves whipped cream. But it also takes to tart winter fruits like a shortcake to strawberries. Poached or broiled pineapple sings alongside gingerbread, as do a few spoonfuls of pomelo curd, garnished with candied pomelo peel.

Golden syrup, also known as "light treacle," is made from the evaporation of sugarcane, which creates a light, golden syrup very reminiscent of honey. Lyle's is a popular brand of golden syrup. Try using 1 cup golden syrup for every 1 cup molasses in a recipe.

Maple Syrup Cookies are very similar to gingerbread cookies, except I replace the molasses with maple syrup and honey. The result is a soft texture with a lighter ginger maple flavor. Honestly, I prefer a softer gingerbread to a crispier one. Eat them plain or decorate with white cookie icing and sprinkle with sugar.

Timing is the key to achieving the crispy edges and chewy centers of a perfect gingerbread cookie. Due to gingerbread's dark color, it can be tricky to tell when they're done baking—look for puffed up, just-set centers. Gingerbread cookies will collapse as they cool, delivering that chewy cookie texture.

Should you chill gingerbread dough before baking? ›

Chilling it for at least two hours or overnight gives the ingredients a chance to absorb one another, making it a whole lot easier to roll out the dough without it cracking. Follow this tip: Let the dough chill in the refrigerator, well-wrapped, for at least two hours or overnight before rolling it out.

Bake gingerbread until dry to the touch and golden brown, about 25 minutes. Immediately cut along pre-scored lines with a sharp knife or pizza wheel. Cool completely in pan, then transfer cutouts to a safe place. Scraps can be nibbled, or ground in a food processor to use in recipes that call for cookie crumbs.

The general rule of thumb is a couple of weeks. It depends how its prepared and if you used a lot of icing. Also, gingerbread like any other bread turns stale quite fast. Eating it after 1–2 week with tea shouldn't be a problem.

Shortbread, biscotti, gingerbread, and drop cookies like chocolate chip or oatmeal are all examples of sturdy cookies that hold up well once frozen. "They can stand up to the cold temperatures and won't be damaged when you mindlessly rummage through your freezer," says Jason Schreiber, baker and cookbook author.

After you have baked your gingerbread cookies and they are decorated perfectly, they will last for 4-6 weeks.

One theory holds that since the "men" are really more toddler-shaped than adult, they came to represent the baby Jesus at Christmas. And the spices involved are sometimes thought to represent the exotic gifts of the Magi.

Today, the ultimate Christmas gingerbread incarnation is of course the gingerbread house. It has been suggested that these edible structures originated in Germany between the 16th and 18th centuries. The trend for gingerbread houses must have spread to Britain at some point during the nineteenth century.

By the 15th century, ginger was found in kitchens throughout Europe, lending dishes exotic and aromatic flavors. One of the spice's most popular uses, to make beloved holiday treats, has its roots in 16th century Europe, where traditions around gingerbread houses and cookies first developed.

Gingerbread houses in Germany originated from bakers interpreting the description of a house from the story Hansel and Gretel. The story is about two siblings who encounter a witch living in a gingerbread, cake, and candy house. Bakers would apply and try to craft their versions of this house.