These Chocolate Gingerbread cookies are so delicious and very festive! At Christmastime I crave the most authentically Christmas tastes and smells. The warm spices of these cookies fit the bill perfectly. And of course, the fact that you get to use Christmas cookie cutters just puts it over the top for “Christmasy” feels! The addition of the chocolate to the classic gingerbread is a fun twist that I found so delicious! This is a great Christmas cookie recipe to have in your back pocket. It’s classic, yet unique.

I found this recipe to be just the right size, too. This time of year there are treats at every turn. I certainly don’t want to deprive us of treats and goodies – it is the holidays after all! But I try to keep it under control where I can. This recipe gave us just enough for two rounds of a Christmas cookie treat for our family of 6 and one midday snack that we shared with a few friends. And now they’re gone. No more cookies at my fingertips! And that’s for the best with my level of self control around cookies 🙂

What level of difficulty is this cookie recipe?

Easy! And the best part is that the cleanup was a cinch! You roll this dough out between two sheets of wax or parchment paper, chill the dough, and then you’re using your cookie cutter right on the parchment paper. No flour and sticky dough all over your counters!

What is the key to a cookie that’s crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside?

The baking time and the thickness of your cookie. The cookies that I rolled out to about 1/4 inch thickness and only baked 10-12 minutes were softest and chewiest of them all!

How much time do I need for this recipe?

There are a few different chilling times for the dough. It’s broken up into steps, so you’re only ever working for about 15-20 minutes at a time. Overall, the recipe requires about 45 minutes of prep time, an hour of chilling, and 10-14 minutes to bake each batch. I did this with my 4 year old, so it was also great quality time. The big boys joined in for the cookie cutting, and of course, the decorating. Then it became a family event!

Can I make the dough ahead of time?

Yes! After you roll out the dough between parchment paper, you can wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and place in freezer bags and freeze your rolled dough for up to a month. When ready to use, you will thaw it in the refrigerator, then cut out cookie shapes and bake!

Tips for Impulsive Bakers

I love baking! Always have, always will. And, I love to bake when the desire strikes! However, for really good quality cookies you need room temperature butter and eggs. Well luckily for you, I learned a few tricks along the way to fake room temperature ingredients and I’m going to share my secrets with you!

How to Fake a Room Temperature Egg:

Grab one small bowl and another bowl that is slightly larger than the small one. Place your egg in the smallest bowl and fill the other one with hot tap water. Place your small bowl inside the larger one, giving it a warm water bath. This will gently, yet quickly bring your egg to room temperature. Leave it in the water bath about 10 minutes or so.

To Fake Room Temperature Butter:

The point here is get the butter softened. I used to always soften it in the microwave at half power or lower, but I would never get a consistent result. I ended up melting some of the butter half the time. So, I discovered a trick for perfectly softened butter every time. Place your butter in a large ziplock bag, grab your rolling pin, and beat it! That’s right! Whack it like a whack- a-mole! Once it’s broken up you can calm down a little bit and just roll it until it’s very workable and easily “mushed” around. And there you have it! Perfectly softened butter in seconds!

Tools You May Need for This Recipe:

Medium sized mixing bowl

Hand held whisk

Stand mixer or hand mixer

Spatula

Measuring cups and spoons

Parchment paper

Rolling pin

Cookie cutters or drinking glass

Ingredients Needed

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. cloves

1 1/2 sticks of butter softened

1 tsp. molasses

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 room temperature egg

How to Make Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

1. In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, ginger, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cloves.

2. In a stand mixer or with a hand held electric mixer on medium speed, cream butter and sugars, and molasses together for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy.

3. On low speed, add the egg to the cream mixture and mix until just incorporated.

4. On low speed, add the flour mixture to the cream mixture about 1/3 at a time until just Incorporated. Be careful not to over mix.

5. The dough may appear slightly crumbly at first, but that’s okay. It will come together when rolling. Divide the dough in half . Roll each portion between two sheets of parchment or waxed paper until about 1/4 inch thick. Chill in the fridge for about an hour or until it is firm and doesn’t bend.

6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

7. Cut your dough into shapes with cookie cutters right on the parchment paper! No flour mess! Gently peel your shapes off of the paper and space them about an inch apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Gather your scraps of dough, roll again one time and cut out shapes. After this, all scraps will need to be rolled and chilled for 30 minutes to make cutting out a third batch of cookie shapes easy and workable.

8. Bake cookies one sheet at a time for an even bake for 10-14 minutes. You want the top to be firm to the touch (not doughy) and the cookies to be lightly browned on the bottom.

9. Cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire wrack.

10. Decorate as desired. You can do a simple, old fashioned dusting of powdered sugar. I love the gentle sweetness of this. It’s not too sweet making it perfect with an afternoon cup of tea.

You can also go for the classic Christmas cookie vibes and decorate with frosting and sprinkles and all the things! I have the simplest and most delicious frosting recipe below.

Simple Frosting Recipe

You will need:

2 cups powdered sugar

6 Tb. + 2 tsp. of heavy cream

1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. pure almond extract, optional, but extremely delicious

How to Make:

Mix it all together in a little bowl with a fork. It will take a little bit for the powdered sugar to moisten and come together. Scoop into a small ziplock bag, snip off the very tip of one corner of the bag and pipe your frosting onto your cookies however you wish!

How to Store Your Cookies

Store your cookies in an airtight container, placing wax or parchment paper between each single layer of cookies. This may reveal how cheap I am, but I will often reuse the parchment for this that I used for baking. Often it’s not too messy and can easily be used again.

The cookies were enjoyed by all!

Now for the best part! Make those Christmas cookie memories! Gather round and eat up! We ate some of ours while watching a Christmas movie. It felt very festive and the kids thought it was so fun!

Another idea for Christmas cookie enjoyment I want to try this year is piling all the kids in the car in their pj’s after diner and drive around and look at Christmas lights while we eat our Christmas cookies! Another blogger I follow does this, but they put their kids to bed first and then crash in after a bit, get them out of bed and surprise their kiddos with a Christmas drive with lights, cookies, and hot chocolate. Isn’t that so fun?!

These cookies also make beautiful gifts. Package them in clear cellophane bags that can be found at craft stores or amazon, tie with a little ribbon, add a tag, and you have a beautiful and unique Christmas gift for neighbors, teachers, friends, and family!

What do think? Will you give these chocolate gingerbread cookies a try?

And I’m curious, what’s your favorite cookie to bake at Christmastime?