Celebrate the holidays or winter with these Snowflake Gingerbread Cookies decorated with Royal Icing and sugar pearls, dusted with luster dust.
This post originally contained Truffle Tips for dipping homemade truffles. I have moved that content to my Oreo Truffles post HERE.
As a child, I always thought Gingerbread Cookies, specifically Gingerbread "people" were so cool, probably because we didn't make gingerbread cookies as part of our Christmas baking tradition. One year, my sister and I convinced my mom to buy a box mix of gingerbread, and we made the cookies. We loved them and had so much fun decorating them.
Gingerbread is one of those cookies that I never considered making from scratch, that is until I saw them two years ago on the blog Good Things Catered. Katie made such beautiful snowflakes that I promptly saved the recipe and planned to make them the next year. Seeing them featured on Annie's Eats last December reminded me about this recipe that I had forgotten, and I made a point to remember this year!
I had so much fun decorating these because they are so pretty! I used my go to recipe for Royal Icing and then sparkly sugar, sugar pearls, and even some edible shimmer dust. For the shimmer dust, I applied it using a food grade paint brush. I had my favorite kitchen helper, my sister Lisa, who did the majority of decorating.
This recipe makes a TON of cookies! I served them at the Holiday Open House, took some to work, and froze a bunch for later. Some people commented that they were too pretty to eat but were glad when they did because they're delicious! This Gingerbread Cookie dough can be rolled and cut into any shape.
Gluten Free Option
I have not tried with this particular recipe, but I have good luck using Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour in place of all purpose flour in baking.
Looking for More Winter Cookies?
Check out these other cookie recipes:
Brown Sugar and Spice Winter Mitten Cookies
Dark Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies
Pastel Christmas Cookies
Christmas Butter Cookies
Chocolate Spritz Cookies
Chewy Oatmeal Cookies
Santa's Whiskers Cookies
Triple Chocolate Biscotti
📖 Recipe
Snowflake Gingerbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1½ teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (16 tablespoons )
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup molasses
- 1 large egg
Decorations (optional):
- Royal Icing (see note)
- Sugar Pearls
- Sanding sugar or cake sparkles
- Edible shimmer
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and spices to combine; set aside.4 cups all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1½ teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1½ teaspoon ground cloves, 2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, 1 cup sugar
- Mix in the molasses and egg until combined. Add in the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated. Cover the bowl and chill the dough for at least one hour.1 cup molasses, 1 large egg
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Roll the dough out on a lightly floured work surface to about ¼-inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters.
- Place the cookie shapes onto the prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking.
- Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and let cool completely.
- To decorate, brush cookie with edible shimmer or leave plain, then use Royal Icing to pipe on designs. Sprinkle with large-grain sugar and/or add sugar pearls, if desired.
Lisa says
Thanks for the props on the gingerbread cookies!
CaSaundraLeigh says
Love the tips--I have always had trouble when it comes to dipping truffles. I'll keep the double boiler hint in mind for next time!
Kerstin says
I made this recipe too and they were so tasty - I'll definitely be making them again! Your truffles look perfect too!