These Gingerbread Cookies are the perfect holiday tradition, especially because everyone can decorate their own gingerbread man. The cookies are perfectly spiced, buttery, chewy, and so delicious. You can use store-bought icing, but it’s easy to make your own. The icing pipes beautifully and hardens perfectly when it dries so you can store the cookies easily.
Sift flour, ginger, cinnamon, soda, cloves, and salt into a medium bowl.
In a separate bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together butter, sugar, and molasses until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes on medium/high speed. Add egg and beat until well incorporated, 1 minute.
Add flour mixture and beat on medium/low speed to combine. The dough will be soft and moist.
Transfer the dough to a well-floured surface. If the dough is too sticky to handle, dust the top of it with flour so you can pat it into a disk. Divide into 3 pieces, flatten each one into a disk, and wrap the dough pieces individually in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour or up to 24 hours.
Preheat the oven to 375 ̊F with a rack in the center. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone liner.
On a well-floured surface, roll out one disk of dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Turn the dough while rolling out to ensure it isn’t sticking to your surface. Using a 4 to 5-inch cookie cutter, cut out as many gingerbread people as you can get. Gather scraps and chill to re-roll.
Set the cookies on a baking sheet at least 1 inch apart and bake until they are barely turning brown at the edges, about 9-10 minutes then transfer to cooling racks. Avoid over-baking if you prefer softer cookies. Repeat with rolling, cutting, and baking the remaining cookie dough. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
How to Make Gingerbread Cookie Icing:
In a medium bowl, stir together the icing ingredients until smooth. To thicken the icing more add powdered sugar, to thin it out, add more milk. Transfer to a piping bag with a small hole, zip bag, or squeeze bottle to decorate the cooled cookies with icing. Let the icing set and harden before storing.