Soft Cut Out Gingerbread Cookies

I’ve been making these soft cut out gingerbread cookies for as long as I can remember now. And let me tell you, they really are the best gingerbread cookies ever!

This recipe makes for a very soft cookie, and not hard gingerbread cookie. I am not a fan of the hard texture that a classic gingerbread cookie recipe typically makes.

Gimme soft and chewy cookies any day though! These would be perfect for cookie exchanges or a holiday cookie tray. Plus, the fun part is that you can decorate them to your heart’s consent!

There is no right or wrong way to decorate Christmas cookies in my opinion. As long as they taste good, and trust me, these cookies definitely do! So keep on reading for the recipe card and try them out for yourself! 

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Ingredients Needed For Soft Gingerbread Cookies

This cookie recipe calls for a secret ingredient that you probably wouldn’t typically guess that’s in gingerbread cookie dough. Usually, you put blackstrap molasses in a gingerbread recipe, but instead for this one, you use butterscotch pudding mix!

I know it may sound weird, but trust me. It’s the secret ingredient for making delicious, soft cut out gingerbread cookies! This really is the best gingerbread cookie recipe because the flavor of all these ingredients listed below really meld well together and taste amazing! Although, I can’t take all the credit for this new addition to a classic recipe. I got the original recipe from Taste of Home!

• 1 cup softened butter
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 packages (3-1/2 ounces each) butterscotch pudding mix (you can use the cook-and-serve kind or the instant kind. I used the instant kind for this recipe and it turned out great!)
• 3 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

How To Make Gingerbread Cookies

The first step in making these homemade gingerbread cookies is to cream the butter and brown sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy. This usually takes anywhere from 5-7 minutes.

Be sure to use the paddle attachment of your electric mixer to make this process easier. Then, beat in the eggs until fully combined. Sift together the flour, pudding mixes, ginger, baking powder, and cinnamon in a large bowl.

Slowly, on low speed, add these dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix well until dough forms. Wrap the bowl in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour before handling. This is a minimum chill time.

You can even chill longer, like overnight if you prefer! Once dough is chilled, now comes the fun part! Cutting out all the gingerbread people! Now, I don’t just make gingerbread men cookies, I use my cookie cutters and cut out several different shapes.

I think it’s more fun when you have more shapes to decorate such as Christmas trees or even gingerbread snowflakes.

But, keep in mind the different sizes and shapes will affect the baking time. I try to keep similar sizes together when baking to make it easier. 

Baking The Cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out with a rolling pin until you achieve 1/4 inch thickness. Place the cookies 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

I always love to use my Caraway Home Baking Sheets for this because my cookies literally never stick to them ever! Bake at 6-8 minutes or until cookies are firm.

Remember, the bake time is affected by how little or big your gingerbread shapes are. Place baked cookies on wire rack to cool completely.

Once cookies are cool, you can decorate them however you want. You can use royal icing, or decorate them how I decorate my Easter sugar cookies or my Halloween cookies.

I always use the same method of icing for both sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies. And all you need for that is powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla or almond extract!

So easy and simple. Store finished cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days. 

Enjoy These Soft Cut Out Gingerbread Cookies! 

If you love soft and chewy gingerbread cookies, then these recipe is definitely for you! Not only are they easy gingerbread cookies, but delicious too! Perfect for the holiday season.

So trust me, you will definitely want to try them out this Christmas. Maybe even leave some out for Santa as well! Once you try these out, I am sure they will be added to your favorite Christmas cookie recipes! So happy baking my friends and have a very merry Christmas this year!