Easy Christmas Gingerbread Cookies Recipe: This classic gingerbread cookie recipe results in sturdy, perfectly spiced cookies to decorate for the holiday season!
In a large mixing bowl using a hand mixer (or a stand mixer bowl), cream together the shortening, sugar and salt on medium speed until smooth.
Next, add the molasses, white vinegar and egg to the bowl and mix well to combine.
Then, in a separate large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground cloves and ground ginger.
Add the dry ingredients, a little at a time, to the wet ingredients, and mix well between each addition. Note: the dough will be thick.
Cover and chill the gingerbread dough in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. The dough needs to be cold to allow it to be rolled out properly.
Cutting Out the Cookie Shapes
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. and line several baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats and set them aside.
Remove the dough from the refrigeratorand keep the dough in 1 big pile.
Cut two squares of parchment paper that are at least 1 inch bigger than the size of the cookies cutters you plan on using. (The cutters seen in this recepe are about 3 inch cookie cutters.)These two sheets of parchment paper are going be used to roll out the dough for each cookie, and for transferring to the baking sheet.
For each cookie, take a 1 inch ball of dough and roll it out on a parchment square to be 1/8 inch thick. Add flour to your rolling pin if it is sticking to the dough.
Press the cookie cutter into the flattened dough and remove the excess dough from around the cookie cutter, leaving the cut out cookie on the parchment square. Remove the cookie cutter.
Take the other parchment square and place it on top of the cut out dough and flip it over. Gently peel off the top piece of the parchment - the cookie will now be upside down.Now, flip the cut out cookie onto the parchment lined baking sheet and peel the top paper off. Now the cookie is right side up again. This ensures the cookie keeps it shape and will bake with clean edges.
Repeat for the remaining dough, spacing the cookies about 1 inches apart.
Baking the Cookies
Bake for 5-6 minutes just until firm. The cookies will become crunchy if they are overbaked, so keep an eye on them in the oven.
Allow the cookies to cool and decorate with icing and candies of your choice.
Notes
When peeling the parchment paper off of the cookie, start from the bottom and peel the paper back nearly horizontally in the opposite direction. This angle will prevent the dough from sticking as much.
If you prefer, you can roll the dough out in a large thicker square and cut out multiple cookies at once and transfer them gently to the baking sheets with a thin offset spatula. The parchment paper method described above just helps the cookies keep their shape better.
While the dough is rolled out relatively thinly, the cookies will puff up nicely in the oven.
You can make the dough ahead of time! Store it in an airtight container and keep it in the refrigerator or up to 3 days.
Store undecorated baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 weeks. After icing or frosting has been applied, store the cookies in an airtight container and eat within a week.