| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 1 hr 50 min |
| Active: | 45 min |
| Yield: | about 2 dozen 3-inch cookies |
Ingredients
- 3 cups (360 grams) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 1/2 tablespoons ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon white pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 cup (2 sticks/227 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150 grams) dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup organic barley malt syrup or molasses
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger (peel a nub of fresh ginger and use a rasp grater)
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh orange zest
- 4 cups (400 grams) sifted confectioners’ sugar
- 3 tablespoons meringue powder
- 5 to 6 tablespoons warm water
Instructions
- For the cookies: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, white pepper, salt, baking soda, nutmeg and cloves. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, brown sugar and barley malt syrup until smooth. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl. Add the egg and continue to mix until completely incorporated. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl again and add the vanilla, fresh ginger and orange zest.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in the mixer. Mix until just combined. Then, turn the dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap and press into a disk. Cover completely in the plastic wrap and chill for 20 minutes.
- Roll the dough out about 1/4 inch thick between 2 pieces of lightly floured parchment paper. Place the rolled out dough onto parchment on a cookie sheet in the freezer for 15 minutes.
- Cut the dough with cookie cutters and place onto parchment-lined cookie sheets. You can gather scraps together and reroll the dough 1 additional time.
- Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until just beginning to brown around the edges. Allow the cookies to cool completely before decorating.
- For the royal icing: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (see Cook’s Note), add the confectioners’ sugar and meringue powder and beat to combine. Add 4 tablespoons of warm water and beat to combine. Raise the paddle head to check the consistency of the icing; the icing should be thick and smooth, but not dripping from the paddle. Add more water until the desired consistency is reached. (You can add slightly more water to achieve a flooding consistency to completely cover the cookies; use a stiffer consistency to pipe decorations and details.) Immediately transfer the icing to a pastry bag fitted with a small open tip. Decorate the gingerbread cookies.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 24 servings |
| Calories | 243 |
| Total Fat | 8 g |
| Saturated Fat | 5 g |
| Carbohydrates | 41 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Sugar | 28 g |
| Protein | 2 g |
| Cholesterol | 28 mg |
| Sodium | 133 mg |
Reviews
Be warned: if you generally like ginger but don’t like biting into pieces of ginger, go with another recipe. While this one is just slightly sweet and spicy, I found the ginger to be too overpowering to enjoy.
I’ve tried several gingerbread recipes and this one is by far the best! The cookies don’t spread like in other recipes I’ve tried and I love how much spice is used – both ground and fresh ginger! White pepper! This one is going in my annual recipe pile.
Amazing!! My family and I love them!! The dough spreads and puffs up but not in a way to affect ur cut out.
I followed the recipe to a tee and made the dough twice. Both times the dough was so wet I couldn’t make cut-out cookies. Flavor is great but dough is way to wet to cut cookies. Wouldn’t recommend.
These are the best gingerbread cookies I’ve ever tasted! This will be my go to gingerbread cookie recipe from now on. The spiciness is delicious!
These are really the real deal! They remind me of my grandmother’s gingerbread (but better)!