I created this gingerbread cookie recipe, like so many other recipes, out of virtue of necessity. These No Chill Gingerbread Cookies 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!
This no chill no spread gingerbread cookie recipe is very popular during the holiday season and was inspired by a baking activity I did with my daughter's girl guide group. Who wants to wait around for cookie dough to chill anyway? Life is too short!
🍒Reader Reviews
"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!!!" ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
PINTEREST: "This absolutely worked, and saved the day when we needed these cookies at the last minute for a school event. Thank you!!" ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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Love easy cookie recipes?! Try my whipped shortbread cookies (with cornstarch)!
Since my daughter was 5, I’ve done Christmas baking with her Sparks, Brownies, and Girl Guides groups. One year I decided to teach her Girl Guides troop to make gingerbread, but quickly realized I needed a quick, no-chill, no-stovetop recipe that could be mixed, rolled, cut, baked, and decorated in under two hours!
🥘Ingredient Notes
And because I was making these cookies at another leader's house (with only one stove), they needed to be made without the stovetop, so I made this gingerbread cookie dough recipe microwavable as well
You'll need the following ingredients for the cookies:
- Molasses. You can use light, dark, or blackstrap molasses.
- Brown Sugar. Use dark or light brown sugar - it will only change the color of the cookies slightly.
- Vegetable Shortening. I use whatever I have on hand (Crisco, No Name etc. )
You'll need the following items for Decorations:
- Candy Eyes. You don't have to use candy eyes, but they are easier than other options, especially when working with kids.
- Candies. When choosing candies for the hugging gingerbread man, it's important to use the hard peppermint candies (in the photos) so they won't melt in the oven. They come in a variety of colors.
📖 Variations & Substitutions
- Sprinkles- you can use any color and type of jimmies, nonpareils, dragees (larger ball sprinkles), or sugar pearls.
- String/Ribbon- Either can be used to hang up the decorated gingerbread man.
🔪How to Make No Chill Gingerbread Cookies
This gingerbread cookie dough requires no chilling - you don't even need a hand mixer.
PREP: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/175 degrees C.
MAKE THE DOUGH: In a large bowl, blend together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger. (Image 1). In a separate microwave-safe bowl, melt shortening for 45 seconds to 1 minute (Image 2). Whisk the sugar, molasses, and egg into the melted shortening and continue to whisk until completely incorporated. (Image 3) Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients with a spoon until the mixture is too stiff to continue using a spoon. (Image 4)
ROLL AND CUT THE COOKIES: Use your hands to finish mixing (Image 5 ). Roll cookie dough out onto a lightly floured surface to about ⅛ inch thickness (Image 6). Cut cookies into desired shapes using a regular or large gingerbread boy or girl cookie cutter (Image 7). If you want to be able to hang up your gingerbread man, make a hole with a piping tip (or something similar) (Image 8).
**You need to decide which cookies you are making BEFORE BAKING so you can put the holes in them or add the candy (for the hugging gingerbread man).
MAKE THE CUT OUTS AND PREPARE TO BAKE THE COOKIES: Place cookies on UNGREASED cookie sheet by moving them with a spatula (Image 9). This gingerbread man cookie recipe can be made into different designs, even with the same gingerbread man cookie cutter. Kids can make a gingerbread man or turn it upside down and make a gingerbread reindeer! If you want to make the dancing girl, cut off the legs and make two holes above them (using a large gingerbread girl cookie cutter is ideal, but I used a small one in this photo). If you want to make a hugging gingerbread man, place a candy on the gingerbread man's chest and fold the arms over. *Don't worry if they break, you can simply 'glue' them back on with a little water. No one will notice (mine broke and I had to do that) (Image 10).
BAKE AND COOL THE COOKIES: Bake for 8-10 minutes (Image 11 ) Cool for 3-5 minutes on a cooling rack (Image 12 )
DECORATE THE COOKIES: Decorate baked cookies with royal icing and sprinkles.
Rudolph the Gingerbread Man This is simply a gingerbread man turned upside down! 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 or any color you prefer! Add two dots for the eyes, then add candy eyes. Starting from between his eyes, pipe antlers up the legs of the gingerbread man. (Image 13 )
Hugging Gingerbread Man Cookies
Roll the cookie dough out on a well-floured surface. Cut out a few gingerbread men using a 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. If the arms break, you can "glue" the back on with a little water. Bake in the oven. Let cool and decorate as desired. (Image 14)
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) or use a smaller gingerbread girl cookie cutter. Then cut off the legs. Cut out two finger-sized holes using the back of a piping tip. Carefully place them on a cookie sheet and bake. Let cool and decorate as desired. (Image 15) VIDEO: WATCH The Dancing Gingerbread Cookie Girl Video HERE
Expert Tips
- Cutting cookies cleanly. When cutting cookies with cookie cutters, cut down into the dough, then move it around a little to get a clean cut. If you don't get a clean cut, you can use a small paring knife the cut off the excess dough prior to baking or after baking.
- Dough issues: If your dough is too wet and sticky, gradually add a little more flour until you get the right consistency. If your dough is too dry, gradually add a little more melted shortening until you get the right consistency.
- Use Ziploc bags if you are doing this with a lot of kids. 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 the cookies.
- You can buy royal icing in a tub or right in the piping bag. If you don't have the desire or time to make royal icing, you can buy
- Keep royal icing sealed and the tips/ends of the piping bag damp. Royal icing hardens very quickly. If you're not using all your royal icing at one time, you need to keep the tips damp (wet a paper towel and wrap it around the tips) and put it in a Ziploc bag in the fridge until you are ready to use it again. While you are working with it, keep it damp as well. (I gave all the kids these instructions during the activity).
- Glue cookie pieces back together with royal icing. If a cookie gets dropped on the floor or breaks, it's easy to "glue it back together" with royal icing.
- Fix mistakes easily. If you or a child makes a mistake on a cookie, wipe off the royal icing, then use a damp paper towel to remove the residue, give the cookie a minute to dry and start again. I did this in the photo below.
And speaking of icing, this royal icing recipe is the one I recommend. I use it for my gingerbread house.
You could use this no chill gingerbread recipe for building SMALL gingerbread houses. But if you're looking at a large structure, I recommend you use the gingerbread recipe for a large house in that post.
These tough gingerbread cookies are perfect for decorating with kids because they’re sturdy enough to withstand drops and easy to fix with strong royal icing (see my recipe). They taste amazing too, making them ideal for kids as young as preschoolers!
👪 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!
🌡️Storage
Fridge: You can keep these cookies at room temperature, in an airtight container for about 2- weeks. The dough can be kept in the fridge for a maximum of 2 days.
Freezer: you can freeze them for up to 6 months or you could freeze the dough for up to 3 months. You can read more about storing gingerbread cookies HERE.
❔ Recipe FAQ's
Not chilling can cause your cookies to spread if you are using butter. But these cookies don't contain any butter (shortening/Crisco is used) with more dry ingredients than usual, so that prevents spreading and creates a firmer, dryer cookie that is strong and sturdy!
Yes, these cookies freeze very well for up to 3 months in an airtight container.
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 also 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!
LOVE gingerbread? Try these Gingerbread Almond Snowball Cookies and these Gingerbread Yule Log cookies !
🎄More Easy Christmas Cookie Recipes and treats to make with kids!
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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 ground cinnamon
- ½ tablespoon ground ginger
- ½ cup vegetable shortening
- ½ cup brown sugar *use light or dark brown sugar
- ⅔ cup molasses
- 1 egg beaten
Decorations
- royal icing
- sprinkles
- peppermint candies
- candy eyes
- ribbon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/175 degrees C.
- In a large bowl, blend together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger.3 ¼ cups all purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ½ tablespoon ground ginger
- In a separate microwave safe bowl, melt shortening (about 1 minute)½ cup vegetable shortening
- Whisk the sugar, molasses and egg into the melted shortening and continue to whisk until completely incorporated.½ cup brown sugar, ⅔ cup molasses, 1 egg
- Mix the flour mixture 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 or until lightly browned on the bottom.
- Cool for 3-5 minutes.
- Decorate with royal icing and sprinkles! See notes for gingerbread variations, as shown in photos!royal icing, sprinkles, peppermint candies, candy eyes, ribbon
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. Expert Tips:
-
- Cutting cookies cleanly. When cutting cookies with cookie cutters, cut down into the dough, then move it around a little to get a clean cut. If you don't get a clean cut, you can use a small paring knife the cut off the excess dough prior to baking or after baking.
-
- Dough issues: If your dough is too wet and sticky, gradually add a little more flour until you get the right consistency. If your dough is too dry, gradually add a little more melted shortening until you get the right consistency.
-
- Use Ziploc bags if you are doing this with a lot of kids. 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 the cookies.
-
- You can buy royal icing in a tub or right in the piping bag. If you don't have the desire or time to make royal icing, you can buy
-
- Keep royal icing sealed and the tips/ends of the piping bag damp. Royal icing hardens very quickly. If you're not using all your royal icing at one time, you need to keep the tips damp (wet a paper towel and wrap it around the tips) and put it in a Ziploc bag in the fridge until you are ready to use it again. While you are working with it, keep it damp as well. (I gave all the kids these instructions during the activity).
- Glue cookie pieces back together with royal icing. If a cookie gets dropped on the floor or breaks, it's easy to "glue it back together" with royal icing.
- Fix mistakes easily. If you or a child makes a mistake on a cookie, wipe off the royal icing, then use a damp paper towel to remove the residue, give the cookie a minute to dry and start again. I did this in the photo below.
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!
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 !
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!
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!
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!
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 🙂
Sabrina
Fabulous recipe! These are so perfect for decorating with my kids, thank you!
Terri Gilson
Thanks, Sabrina!
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!