Soft gingerbread cookies pressed with cookie stamps and glazed with vanilla icing. These pretty stamped gingerbread cookies are the perfect thing to bake for Christmas.
You might also love these high altitude recipes for gingerbread cake with mascarpone buttercream, gingerbread sheet cake with powdered sugar snowflakes, and baked gingerbread doughnuts.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Perfect for the Holidays. I absolutely love my collection of Christmas cookie stamps, and every winter I make a batch of these stamped gingerbread cookies and stamped chocolate cookies. They’re as pretty as they are delicious. The chocolate are perhaps my favorite, with the gorgeous contrast of the dark cookie and vanilla icing.
Sweet and Spicy. With classic gingerbread flavors like molasses, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves, these cookies have a wonderful balance of sugar and spice.
High Altitude Tested. While today’s recipe will work at any altitude, I test all of my recipes at Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
Cookies
- Flour. All-purpose flour gives the cookies structure and strength.
- Sugar. The fine texture of powdered sugar keeps the cookies soft, while a bit of dark brown sugar adds more depth of flavor to complement the spices.
- Salt. Balances the sweetness and enhances the flavors.
- Spices. A blend of cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg and molasses adds wonderful gingerbread flavor to the cookies. You could even add a little cardamom or allspice. A little instant espresso powder or instant coffee adds more depth of flavor and a richer color.
- Butter. Adds a rich buttery flavor and keeps the cookies tender.
- Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
- Milk. Moistens the dough to bind it together.
Icing
- Powdered Sugar. Sweetens and thickens the icing.
- Cream of Tartar. Adds stability.
- Salt. Balances the sweetness.
- Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
- Milk. Thins the icing to the perfect consistency.
Instructions
Make the cookie dough.
- In your food processor, pulse the flour, powdered sugar, brown sugar, salt and spices until combined. With the processor running, drop in the pieces of butter, one at at time, pulsing a few times until the butter is evenly distributed, and the dough is moistened and crumbly.
- Stir together the milk and espresso powder, then add it to the dough along with the vanilla and molasses. Process until the dough starts to stick together.
- Dump the dough out onto a clean counter and use your hands to finish bringing the dough together, kneading in any stray bits of flour. The dough should be soft, smooth and supple.
- Shape the dough into a flat disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Prepare two baking sheets by lining them with sheets of parchment paper.
Cut the cookies or press the dough with cookie stamps.
- For cutout cookies, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thick, dip your cookie cutters in flour, and cut as many cookies as you can. Gather the scraps, re-roll the dough, and continue cutting cookies.
- For stamped cookies, use a medium cookie scoop (about 2 tablespoons) with a release lever to scoop balls of dough, then roll the balls smooth between your hands. Lightly dust the balls of dough with flour, and dip your cookie stamps in flour, too. Press the cookie stamp straight down onto the dough until the dough squishes just past the edges of the stamp. Lift the stamp off, then use a round cutter to trim the uneven edge. Place the cookies on the baking sheet.
- Place the baking sheets with the cut cookies in the refrigerator and chill for 1 hour – chilling the cut cookies helps to ensure they don’t spread and hold their shape perfectly while baking.
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Bake the chilled cookies on the center oven rack for about 11 1/2 – 12 minutes (for 2 1/2 – 3 inch cookies) or about 9-10 minutes for smaller cookies. The tops should be a very pale golden with no dark browning, and you should see tiny flaky layers around the edges.
- Cool the cookies for 5 minutes on the pan, then very gently transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely. Gingerbread cookies are delicate when warm, so handle with care.
Icing
- In a bowl, stir together the icing ingredients until smooth.
- Use a pastry brush to generously brush the icing over your stamped gingerbread cookies while they’re warm or at room temperature. Let the icing set before storing the cookies.
Recipe Variations
Cutout Cookies
You can use today’s gingerbread dough to make cutout gingerbread people. See my gingerbread cookies recipe for decorating ideas.
Sandwich Cookies
Instead of icing on top of the cookies, leave them plain, and sandwich two cookies together with American buttercream.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I make the gingerbread cookie dough without a food processor?
If you don’t have a food processor, you’ll need a large bowl and a pastry cutter. In the bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Scatter with the cold butter pieces and use the pastry cutter to cut the butter in until very finely cut and evenly distributed. Drizzle with the liquid ingredients, then use your hands to work the liquid into the dry ingredients until it forms into a soft dough.
Can I make the dough in advance and freeze it?
To make the dough in advance, wrap the disks of dough in plastic wrap, label them, and refrigerate for up to 5 days, or freeze for 3-6 months. Frozen dough should be thawed overnight in the refrigerator. Then take the dough out of the fridge about 1 hour before you’re ready to roll out the dough. It should still be cool to the touch when you roll it out, but pliable enough to roll without too much difficulty.
Can I freeze the baked cookies?
Yes, you can freeze your stamped gingerbread cookies, with or without the icing. The icing will turn much whiter with a crystallized look once you freeze it, though. You can also freeze the unbaked cookies and bake them frozen, just adding a couple extra minutes to the bake time.
Where do you get your cookie stamps?
Cookie stamps make really cookies, whether you add the icing or not. I have quite a collection of cast cookie stamps, including these Nordic Ware Holiday Cookie Stamps, Nordic Ware Starry Night Cookie Stamps, Nordic Ware Yuletide Cookie Stamps, and Nordic Ware Snowflake Cookie Stamps.
More questions?
I have LOTS of tips about making stamped cookies in my stamped chocolate cookies post.
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Stamped Gingerbread Cookies
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Food Processor or Pastry Cutter
- Rolling Pin and Cookie Cutters
Ingredients
Cookies
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- â…” cup powdered sugar
- â…“ cup dark brown sugar, loosely packed
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 16 pieces
- 2 tbsp whole milk
- 1 tsp instant espresso powder or instant coffee
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp dark molasses (or blackstrap)
Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ÂĽ tsp cream of tartar
- â…› tsp coarse Kosher salt
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 2 ½ – 3 tbsp whole milk
Instructions
Cookies
- In your food processor, pulse the flour, powdered sugar, brown sugar, salt and spices until combined.With the processor running, drop in the pieces of butter, one at at time, pulsing a few times until the butter is evenly distributed, and the dough is moistened and crumbly.Stir together the milk and espresso powder, then add it to the dough along with the vanilla and molasses. Process until the dough starts to stick together.
- Dump the dough out onto a clean counter and use your hands to finish bringing the dough together, kneading in any stray bits of flour. The dough should be soft, smooth and supple.
- Shape the dough into a flat disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 20 minutes.Prepare two baking sheets by lining them with sheets of parchment paper.
- For cutout cookies, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thick, dip your cookie cutters in flour, and cut as many cookies as you can. Gather the scraps, re-roll the dough, and continue cutting cookies.
- For stamped cookies, use a medium cookie scoop (about 2 tablespoons) with a release lever to scoop balls of dough, then roll the balls smooth between your hands. Lightly dust the balls of dough with flour, and dip your cookie stamps in flour, too.Press the cookie stamp straight down onto the dough until the dough squishes just past the edges of the stamp. Lift the stamp off, then use a round cutter to trim the uneven edge. Place the cookies on the baking sheet.
- Place the baking sheets with the cut cookies in the refrigerator and chill for 1 hour – chilling the cut cookies helps to ensure they don't spread and hold their shape perfectly while baking.
- Preheat the oven to 350F.Bake the chilled cookies on the center oven rack for about 11 1/2 – 12 minutes (for 2 1/2 – 3 inch cookies) or about 9-10 minutes for smaller cookies. The tops should be a very pale golden with no dark browning, and you should see tiny flaky layers around the edges.
- Cool the cookies for 5 minutes on the pan, then very gently transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.Sugar cookies are delicate when warm, so handle with care.
Icing
- In a bowl, stir together the icing ingredients until smooth.
- Use a pastry brush to generously brush the icing over the cookies while they're warm or at room temperature. Let the icing set before storing the cookies.
Notes
- Making the Dough without a Food Processor: If you don’t have a food processor, you’ll need a large bowl and a pastry cutter. In the bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Scatter with the cold butter pieces and use the pastry cutter to cut the butter in until very finely cut and evenly distributed. Drizzle with the liquid ingredients, then use your hands to work the liquid into the dry ingredients until it forms into a soft dough.
- Freezing the Dough: To make the dough in advance, wrap the disks of dough in plastic wrap, label them, and refrigerate for up to 5 days, or freeze for 3-6 months. Frozen dough should be thawed overnight in the refrigerator. Then take the dough out of the fridge about 1 hour before you’re ready to roll out the dough. It should still be cool to the touch when you roll it out, but pliable enough to roll without too much difficulty.
These cookies are stunning! I didn’t have espresso powder or instant coffee and they still have so much flavor! I used a dala horse cookie stamp my husband bought for me at the kitchen supply store in Fort Collins. My cookies look like they came from a Scandinavian Christmas market! Can you freeze them with icing, or should freeze without icing and then ice later? Thank you!
You should freeze them without the icing. In the freezer, the icing can develop a white crystallized appearance, which doesn’t affect the taste at all, but may not look as pretty as when they are freshly iced.
Hi! What is the purpose of the cream of tartar in the glaze? TIA!
It helps to stabilize the sugars in the glaze – I talk about that in more detail in this post: https://curlygirlkitchen.com/stamped-chocolate-shortbread-cookies-coffee-icing/