Gingerbread Men

Gingerbread men are the ultimate Christmas cookie. Crisp on the outside and soft on the inside, they will fill your house with the delicious scent of ginger, molasses and cinnamon.

This is my grandmother’s recipe for gingerbread men, and it’s the only recipe I have ever or ever will use. It’s just one of those “it’s not Christmas until…” type recipes and I can’t imagine ever having Christmas without them. These were always the cookies we left out for Santa when I was a kid, and my kids did the same. It calls for Crisco, which is not something I ordinarily use for cookies, but it gives them a wonderful texture and since these are so heavily spiced, nothing is lost in the flavor department by not using butter.

Of course a huge part of making these is having my kids is decorate them. I usually set aside a few to decorate for taking pictures, but I turn the bulk over to then kids who then have a field day 🙂 Somehow they alway wind up looking like they’ve been through the wringer, but they’re delicious no matter what.

I also like to make these a couple of weeks ahead of time and freeze them, so it’s a lot less stressful to pull them out and decorate the closer we get to Christmas.

Enjoy!

Gingerbread Men

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Prep Time 3 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 8 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Ingredients

  

Cookie Ingredients

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 2 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves

Glaze Ingredients

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup

Instructions

 

• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the shortening and sugar, beating until well combined. Add in the egg, molasses, and vinegar, mixing well.
• Sift in the flour, salt, ginger, cinnamon and cloves and mix well.
• Divide dough in two, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least three hours or overnight.
• Heat oven to 375 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Roll chilled dough on well-floured surface to about 1/4 thick. Cut using your favorite cookie cutters and place on lined baking sheets. It helps to use an offset spatula to slide under the cut out shapes, and peel away the excess dough after it's ben cut.
• Bake at 375 degrees for 7-8 minutes or until edges barely begin to turn brown.
• Cool and frost by making a glaze of powdered sugar, milk and corn syrup. Decorate with plenty of sprinkled and colored sugar 🙂