📋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!
Servings 20 cookies
Calories 132kcal
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
- â…” 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.Â
- Roll cookie dough out onto lightly floured surface to about â…› 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
**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).
📖 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. Expert Tips:
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:
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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
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- 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.
Nutrition
Calories: 132kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 6mg | Sodium: 54mg | Potassium: 159mg | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 10IU | Calcium: 27mg | Iron: 1.1mg
