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Home » Recipes » Courses » Desserts » Cookies

NO CHILL Gingerbread Cookies

Published: Dec 3, 2018 by Terri Gilson · Modified: Mar 9, 2023 · As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This post may contain affiliate links · 15 Comments

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kid decorated gingerbread cookies on white board

I created this gingerbread cookie recipe, like so many other recipes, out of virtue of necessity.

3 gingerbread cookies (a reindeer, dancing gingerbread girl and a gingerbread man) on a white faux wooden surface

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....

Jump to:
  • 💭 Top tip
  • 🎥 Video
  • 🍪Why do you chill cookie dough?
  • 🔪 Instructions
  • 👪 Serving size
  • 🌡️Storing
  • 📖 Variations
  • ⭐ REVIEWS
  • 📋No Chill Gingerbread Cookie Recipe
  • 🎄More Easy Christmas Cookies to make with kids!

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.

Gingerbread house - condo

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. 

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/175 degrees C
  2. In a large bowl, blend together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger.
  3. In a separate microwave safe bowl, melt shortening (about 1 minute)
  4. Whisk the sugar, molasses and egg into the melted shortening and continue to whisk until completely incorporated.
  5. 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. 
  6. Roll cookie dough out onto lightly floured surface to about ⅛ inch thickness.
  7. Cut cookies into desired shapes, place on ungreased cookie sheets,
  8. Bake for 8-10 minutes 
  9. Cool for 3-5 minutes.
  10. 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!

gingerbread man cookie (with string at top for decoration) on white faux wood surface

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!!!" ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Please SUBSCRIBE  (get my FREE E-cookbook) and be sure to FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST!

3 gingerbread cookies (a reindeer, dancing gingerbread girl and a gingerbread man) on a white faux wooden surface
Food Meandering Logo

📋No Chill Gingerbread Cookie Recipe

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!
4.84 from 6 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: American, Canadian
Keyword: cookies, easy, gingerbread, no chill
Servings: 20 cookies
Calories: 132kcal
Author: Terri Gilson
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes
Total Time: 18 minutes
Prevent your screen from going dark

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

  • royal icing
  • sprinkles
  • candy eyes
  • ribbon
US Customary - Metric

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

https://foodmeanderings.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/My-Movie-1.mp4

Notes

👪 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.
My Amazon recommendations (affiliate links)

Nutrition Facts
📋No Chill Gingerbread Cookie Recipe
Amount Per Serving
Calories 132 Calories from Fat 36
% Daily Value*
Fat 4g6%
Saturated Fat 1g6%
Cholesterol 6mg2%
Sodium 54mg2%
Potassium 159mg5%
Carbohydrates 21g7%
Sugar 11g12%
Protein 1g2%
Vitamin A 10IU0%
Calcium 27mg3%
Iron 1.1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
 

Nutrition

Calories: 132kcal (7%) | Carbohydrates: 21g (7%) | Protein: 1g (2%) | Fat: 4g (6%) | Saturated Fat: 1g (6%) | Cholesterol: 6mg (2%) | Sodium: 54mg (2%) | Potassium: 159mg (5%) | Sugar: 11g (12%) | Vitamin A: 10IU | Calcium: 27mg (3%) | Iron: 1.1mg (6%)
Did you make this recipe? Please leave a star rating and review below!
Rate this Recipe

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Dawn - Girl Heart Food

    December 10, 2018 at 11:01 am

    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!

    Reply
    • Terri Gilson

      December 12, 2018 at 8:51 am

      Thanks, Dawn! I hope you get a chance to make them with your niece!

      Reply
  2. Sabrina

    December 10, 2018 at 5:18 pm

    Fabulous recipe! These are so perfect for decorating with my kids, thank you!

    Reply
    • Terri Gilson

      December 12, 2018 at 10:31 am

      Thanks, Sabrina!

      Reply
  3. Denise from Urb’n’Spice

    December 11, 2018 at 12:07 am

    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. ❤️

    Reply
    • Terri Gilson

      December 12, 2018 at 10:31 am

      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 🙂

      Reply
  4. Cathy

    December 11, 2018 at 8:46 am

    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!

    Reply
    • Terri Gilson

      December 12, 2018 at 10:29 am

      Thanks, Cathy! Yes, the girls had a lot of fun making them!

      Reply
  5. Colleen

    December 11, 2018 at 9:22 pm

    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!

    Reply
  6. Leanne | Crumb Top Baking

    December 13, 2018 at 4:46 am

    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!

    Reply
    • Terri Gilson

      December 13, 2018 at 2:18 pm

      thanks, Leanne! I hope you get a chance to make them!

      Reply
  7. Julie Stone

    November 26, 2019 at 7:47 am

    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.😊

    Reply
    • Terri Gilson

      November 27, 2019 at 9:05 am

      Thanks, Julie- glad you liked them! It's pretty spicy, but you can definitely reduce the ginger !

      Reply
  8. Kim D.

    December 15, 2019 at 2:32 pm

    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!

    Reply
    • Terri Gilson

      December 16, 2019 at 6:39 am

      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!

      Reply

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I'm Terri, a passionate home cook and baker, an award-winning recipe developer and a busy working mom that is trying to eat healthy and fit everything into not enough hours in a day! My mission is to share not only my recipes, cooking hacks and tips with you, but also my secrets to successful weight maintenance.

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