Get your cookie cutters out for this soft and chewy gingerbread cookie recipe!

Every year, my boys and I cannot wait to make gingerbread cookies together. This year we spent a weekend afternoon doing just that. This recipe for chewy gingerbread cookies is a favorite among my family as we prefer a softer cookie.

This year the boys and I spent a cold Sunday afternoon inside making the chewy gingerbread cookie dough, baking, and decorating. I always split my dough in half; one half for the boys to roll out, and the other half for me. This way the boys can get the shapes and decorations they want, and I can do my more decorative versions to bring to various upcoming Christmas parties.

This recipe makes enough gingerbread dough for splitting, and I think we got around 50 gingerbread cookies this year. I prefer to make a royal icing with this recipe as it seems to set better than a basic icing.

The boys enjoy measuring out the ingredients and taking turns cracking the eggs. I would be lying if I said there wasn’t some bickering back and forth over who gets to do what. I don’t mind either way, I just love that they want to spend time learning their way around a kitchen.

This year I made a lot of Christmas trees and snowflakes with my gingerbread cookie dough. The boys chose to do more gingerbread men and candy canes. I helped them pipe on the royal icing and they could shake on whatever sprinkles they wanted. On a somewhat related note, have I ever told you how much I love my Dyson V8 Animal cordless vacuum? IT IS AMAZING. Because boys. And Christmas cookie decorating.

These Gingerbread Cookies keep fresh for a long time

I let the boys eat their chewy gingerbread cookies before the Christmas festivities but was able to save mine until it got closer to the date so that I could bring them to family gatherings. (Shhh, I hit them in a cupboard so they couldn’t find them). This particular recipe for gingerbread cookies stays fresh in a cookie tin and doesn’t lose it’s chewy, soft texture. Total win because even though they were baked a week ago, they taste just as fresh as day 1.

The decor I used this year was decorative sparkling sugar and white nonpareils. The simplicity of that decor with the simple gingerbread cookie was just enough to make an elegant statement.

Before you make chewy gingerbread cookies, there are a couple things to consider:

1.) Make sure you reserve enough time. The dough needs to be cooled for one hour
2.) Have lots of extra flour on hand for rolling these out
3.) When in doubt, bake less time than more. If over-baked, you’ll lose the chewy, soft texture

There’s still time to make some chewy gingerbread cookies before Christmas. So, throw on your apron and some Christmas tunes, and grab your loved ones, and get baking!

If you choose to make these, don’t forget to pin the recipe. If you like these, you’ll also enjoy my Cranberry Orange Bread.  

This recipe was adapted from myrecipeconfessions.com.