20 Easy Gingerbread Cookie Recipes To Spice Up Your Holidays (2024)

FAQs

What do gingerbread cookies have to do with Christmas? ›

In the late 17th century, gingerbread became associated with Christmas. Russian bakers prepared gingerbread men and women, usually as replicas of those people attending parties. Gingerbread houses were introduced about 200 years later, when the Grimm brothers wrote Hansel and Gretel. A new holiday tradition was born.

While molasses cookies and gingersnaps are rolled into dough balls and then baked, gingerbread is rolled flat then use cookie cutters to cut your desired shape. This Gingerbread Cookie recipe is foolproof and SO easy to make.

Molasses and honey hardens gingerbread, but as the sugar absorbs moisture, it will get softer.” Cookbook author and ”Great American Baking Show” winner Vallery Lomas likes a gingerbread cookie that's packed with flavor. “I want to taste a lot of the spices ― especially ginger,” she said.

Many also decorated their Christmas trees with gingerbread men or houses, leading to an increase in their popularity. Others however, believe gingerbread was eaten due to the calming influence of ginger – a key ingredient amidst the festive feasting!

The Iced Sugar Cookie takes the top spot, stealing the show as the most favorite Christmas cookie with classic sweetness and festive decorations. Simple, delicious, and a canvas for creativity- it's the “go-to” for holiday bakers.

Gingerbread's delightful combination of flavours and spices isn't just a treat for the taste buds; it's also a potential boon for your health. From its anti-inflammatory properties to its digestive benefits, gingerbread offers an unexpected array of advantages that can complement a well-rounded diet.

Needing to be foiled, gingerbread loves whipped cream. But it also takes to tart winter fruits like a shortcake to strawberries. Poached or broiled pineapple sings alongside gingerbread, as do a few spoonfuls of pomelo curd, garnished with candied pomelo peel.

Golden syrup, also known as "light treacle," is made from the evaporation of sugarcane, which creates a light, golden syrup very reminiscent of honey. Lyle's is a popular brand of golden syrup. Try using 1 cup golden syrup for every 1 cup molasses in a recipe.

Maple syrup

It tastes almost like a mix of malt and caramel, with an even level of sweetness. Like molasses, it comes in a variety of shades. Just note that maple syrup is a lot thinner than molasses, so you might want to use a 3:4 ration in baked goods.

Your gingerbread house is freshly baked and completely edible except for the trees! If you have the gingerbread barn, everything is edible except for the trees and animal figurines.

Who invented gingerbread? ›

Food historians trace the origins of gingerbread back to the ancient Egyptians, who used it for ceremonial purposes. The ancient Greeks followed suit with the first known recipe for gingerbread around 2400 B.C.

Nuremberg was recognized as the "Gingerbread Capital of the World" when in the 1600s the guild started to employ master bakers and skilled workers to create complicated works of art from gingerbread. Medieval bakers used carved boards to create elaborate designs.

Around the same time, there was a belief that if a woman ate a "gingerbread husband" it might lead to her marriage. One theory holds that since the "men" are really more toddler-shaped than adult, they came to represent the baby Jesus at Christmas.

By the 15th century, ginger was found in kitchens throughout Europe, lending dishes exotic and aromatic flavors. One of the spice's most popular uses, to make beloved holiday treats, has its roots in 16th century Europe, where traditions around gingerbread houses and cookies first developed.

In the early 20th century, U.S. merchants were also importing decorated Lebkuchen cookies from Germany to be used as presents. In Canada and the United States, since the 1930s, children have left cookies and milk on a table for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve, though many people simply consume the cookies themselves.

Gingerbread cookies

Santa loves when these cookies are decorated and shaped into a gingerbread family.