I created this gingerbread cookie recipe, like so many other recipes, out of virtue of necessity.
Every year, since my daughter was 5 years old, I have done a Christmas baking activity with her Sparks, Brownies and Girl Guides groups. Last year I committed to teaching her Girl Guides troop how to make gingerbread and quickly realized none of my recipes would work for time limit I had, nor could I find the right recipe online. I needed a simple gingerbread cookie recipe that was relatively strong, that the girls could mix up, roll, cut, bake and decorate from start to finish in less than 2 hours! And that meant NO CHILL time AND NO STOVE TOP cooking! So say HELLO to my No Chill Gingerbread Cookie recipe....
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Who wants to wait around for cookie dough to chill anyway? Life is too short! Anyway, I had a few different decorating options for the girls to choose from, but what surprised me was the one that the majority of them picked..
These easy gingerbread cookies are ideal for younger kids or when you have limited time because there is no waiting around for cookie dough to chill! And unlike most of the cookies you'll find online, they actually look REAL; like something kids could actually do! That's because they are - they were done by my 10 year old daughter and I think she did an amazing job!
💭 Top tip
And since I was doing this with 25 Girl Guides I needed something practical. I didn't have 25 - #16 tips and couplers to use. We used a ziploc bag with the end cut off to ice and sprinkles and candies to decorate.
And speaking of icing, this royal icing recipe is the one I recommend. I use it for my gingerbread house.
But to be honest, I actually didn't even use it with this recipe. I didn't have time to make it, so I bought vats of royal icing in the baking section of my local grocery store (Calgary Co op) and we used that. It worked great and saved time.
You could use this no chill gingerbread recipe for building a SMALL GINGERBREAD HOUSE. But if you're looking at a large structure, I recommend you use the recipe in my gingerbread house post (above).
🎥 Video
The first option was the dancing gingerbread girl and it was the one that I thought was THE COOLEST of the 3! As well as a gingerbread reindeer and a hugging gingerbread man.
WATCH The Dancing Gingerbread Cookie Girl Video HERE
This gingerbread cookie dough require no chilling - just roll, cut and bake! This is an easy gingerbread cookie recipe that's the ideal gingerbread man recipe for preschoolers, younger kids or when you have limited time because there is no waiting around for cookie dough to chill! And they do not spread!
🍪Why do you chill cookie dough?
I wasn't sure if this recipe would work because not chilling can cause your cookies to spread. If you want to learn more about that, you can read this excellent article: To chill or not to chill - that is the question! However, these cookies have no butter (shortening is used) and use more dry ingredients; a brilliant combination that works to prevent spreading. And although this mixture of ingredients makes them firmer and a little dryer, that's the texture we were going for - strong and sturdy gingerbread!!
When you are decorating with kids, nothing is more heartbreaking than a broken, half decorated cookie. These cookies are TOUGH and that's exactly how you want them to be. A couple of the Girl Guides even dropped their cookies and they didn't break. And even when a girl broke her cookie, it was soo easy to glue back together with the royal icing. Royal icing is strong too! It's very important you use it to decorate these cookies (see my recipe link above). And most importantly, they still taste amazing! And that's what matters. That's the reason these gingerbread cookies are great for kids as young as preschooler.
🔪 Instructions
Because I was making these cookies at another location, they needed to be quick and I didn't want the kids messing around with a stovetop, I made this gingerbread cookie dough recipe microwavable.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/175 degrees C
- In a large bowl, blend together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger.
- In a separate microwave safe bowl, melt shortening (about 1 minute)
- Whisk the sugar, molasses and egg into the melted shortening and continue to whisk until completely incorporated.
- Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients with a spoon until mixture is too stiff to continue using a spoon. Use hands to finish mixing.
- Roll cookie dough out onto lightly floured surface to about ⅛ inch thickness.
- Cut cookies into desired shapes, place on ungreased cookie sheets,
- Bake for 8-10 minutes
- Cool for 3-5 minutes.
- Decorate with royal icing and sprinkles!
👪 Serving size
This recipe makes 20 cookies, so I had the girl guides in groups of 3-4 kids and they all made their own batch of the recipe. They had 3 leaders to support them, but they were 10 years old, so quite capable of mixing and microwaving. We set up an assembly line and leaders were in charge of cookies coming in and out of the oven. *We only had 1 oven and we were able to do all this in 2 hours!
🌡️Storing
You can keep these cookies at room temperature, in a sealed container for about 2- weeks and you can freeze them for up to 6 months. You can read more about storing gingerbread cookies HERE.
This gingerbread man cookie recipe can be made into different designs, even with the same large gingerbread man cookie cutter. Kids can make a gingerbread man or turn it upside down and make a gingerbread reindeer!
📖 Variations
Rudolph the Gingerbread Man
Roll out, cut and bake the gingerbread men. Let cool. Using a ziploc bag with some white frosting, add a dot to where you want to put the nose and add a red candy. Add two dots for the eyes, then add candy eyes. Starting from between his eyes, pipe antlers up the legs of the gingerbread man (see photos).
Hugging Gingerbread Man
Roll the cookie dough out on a well-floured surface. Cut out a few gingerbread men using a large gingerbread man cookie cutter. Place them onto a cookie sheet. Place a peppermint candy on the gingerbread man’s chest, then carefully fold his arms over the candy. Bake in the oven. Let cool and decorate as desired.
Dancing Gingerbread Girl
Roll the cookie dough out on a well-floured surface. Cut out a few gingerbread girls using a large gingerbread girl cookie cutter (affiliate link) then cut off the legs. Cut out two finger sized holes using the back of a pastry tip (see photo) Carefully place them on a cookie sheet and bake. Let cool and decorate as desired.
With all these fun options, I was a little surprised that most of the Girl Guides chose the traditional Christmas gingerbread man! A few chose the hugging gingerbread man and the gingerbread reindeer, but no one chose the dancing gingerbread girl. I was a little disappointed because that's the one I was most excited to show them. But that's the thing with kids, you never really know what they will like. And that's why I always give them options!
But whatever gingerbread cookie you choose and no matter how many kids you are making this with, this simple gingerbread cookie recipe is the perfect gingerbread cookie recipe for kids! And I can definitely see this recipe being super popular for impatient kids (which covers pretty much all kids in existence.)
So, if you have impatient kids or simply agree that life is too short to wait around for cookie dough to chill, then give this recipe a try!
⭐ REVIEWS
Did you make this recipe? Please RATE THE RECIPE below
Here's what others are saying: "These are delicious and really hold the shape of the cookie cutter nicely. What a great thing to not have to wait for the dough to chill. Thanks so much!!!" ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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📋No Chill Gingerbread Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 ¼ cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ tablespoon ginger
- ½ cup vegetable shortening
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ⅔ cup molasses
- 1 egg beaten
Decorations
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/175 degrees C.
- In a large bowl, blend together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger.
- In a separate microwave safe bowl, melt shortening (about 1 minute)
- Whisk the sugar, molasses and egg into the melted shortening and continue to whisk until completely incorporated.
- Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients with a spoon until mixture is too stiff to continue using a spoon. Use hands to finish mixing.
- Roll cookie dough out onto lightly floured surface to about ⅛ inch thickness.
- Cut cookies into desired shapes, place on ungreased cookie sheets,
- Bake for 8-10 minutes
- Cool for 3-5 minutes.
- Decorate with royal icing and sprinkles! See notes for gingerbread variations, as shown in photos!
Video
Notes
Roll out, cut and bake the gingerbread men. Let cool. Using a ziploc bag with some white frosting, add a dot to where you want to put the nose and add a red candy. Add two dots for the eyes, then add candy eyes. Starting from between his eyes, pipe antlers up the legs of the gingerbread man (see photos). Hugging Gingerbread Man
Roll the cookie dough out on a well-floured surface. Cut out a few gingerbread men using a large gingerbread man cookie cutter. Place them onto a cookie sheet. Place a peppermint candy on the gingerbread man’s chest, then carefully fold his arms over the candy. Bake in the oven. Let cool and decorate as desired. Dancing Gingerbread Girl
Roll the cookie dough out on a well-floured surface. Cut out a few gingerbread girls using a large gingerbread girl cookie cutter (affiliate link) then cut off the legs. Cut out two finger sized holes using the back of a pastry tip (see photo) Carefully place them on a cookie sheet and bake. Let cool and decorate as desired. My Amazon recommendations (affiliate links)
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
These are too fun! My niece would have a blast making, decorating (and, of course, eating) these. I love gingerbread with coffee and definitely have to give these a try for the holidays!
Terri Gilson
Thanks, Dawn! I hope you get a chance to make them with your niece!
Sabrina
Fabulous recipe! These are so perfect for decorating with my kids, thank you!
Terri Gilson
Thanks, Sabrina!
Denise from Urb’n’Spice
Gosh! We have another thing in common, Terri! I was a Tawny Owl when my baby sister was a Brownie (I was 16), and then again for my own two daughters. Baking with little girls is a riot! We made bannock once for an Indigenous badge. I must try your gingerbread recipe with my grandchildren. The dancing gingerbread is a really cute idea! Thanks for sharing your story and recipe. ❤️
Terri Gilson
That's really cool, Denise! Bannock is really fun too - I did bannock with my daughter's Grade 4 class as well. I hope your grandchildren enjoy the cookies 🙂
Cathy
Good for you for finding a way to work around the chilling step. The girls must have had a great time making these cookies! I like food that look real, too!
Terri Gilson
Thanks, Cathy! Yes, the girls had a lot of fun making them!
Colleen
These cookies are the cutest, Terri. I too was a Sparks, Brownie, and Guide Leader so I can totally relate to getting every project done in two hours. But you obviously succeeded. Great job!
Leanne | Crumb Top Baking
We always decorate gingerbread cookies for Christmas but I haven't had a chance to make them yet this year! Love this recipe. The 'no-chill' is great!
Terri Gilson
thanks, Leanne! I hope you get a chance to make them!
Julie Stone
These are delicious and really hold the shape of the cookie cutter nicely. What a great thing to not have to wait for the dough to chill. Thanks so much!!!
PS — the recipe should definitely read “1/2 tsp ginger”, NOT 1/2 tbsp.😊
Terri Gilson
Thanks, Julie- glad you liked them! It's pretty spicy, but you can definitely reduce the ginger !
Kim D.
These were awesome. I ended up having to add another egg because the mix was too dry. But it was a great recipe, especially the fact that it had no chill time!
Terri Gilson
I'm glad you liked them, Kim! I'm not sure why the mixture would be too dry? Do you live in a really dry area?
Either way, I'm glad you found a solution that worked!