Brown Butter Gingerbread Cookies

I am so pleased with these gingerbread cookies because well, it took a year and some ten cookie batches to get to this recipe. The final result is something I’m proud to call mine and it has several of my you-know-em-by-now baking tricks: brown butter, bloomed spices, and a chewy – yes it’s chewy! Shape gingerbread cookie. 

For the record: I do not recommend this recipe for a gingerbread house. These are on the softer side and will not hold up a house! It is great for shapes though: gingerbread people or whatever cookie cutters you’d like to use. 

Recipe Origins

This started in Dec of 2023 with me taking a standard gingerbread cookie recipe and simply browning the butter. In the first test I had also used some powdered sugar and left out the leavening to keep them from changing shape and was trying to make a sandwich cookie with them (white chocolate ganache in the center). I found the texture was just too tight and dense. 

I kept the browning butter step because it was important as it accomplished two goals: it added that delicious nutty, toasty flavor and it gave me hot butter in which I could bloom the spices so their flavor would be stronger. This is what I do with my ginger molasses cookies and this is the flavor I was after here. There was a test where I added cornstarch but ultimately found it working against the texture I was going for. 

I opted to use only brown sugar and add some leavening – not baking soda which would make them spread,  but baking powder which would puff them up a bit so that they weren’t so dense. 

The result is so, so good, I cannot wait for these to be the gingerbread cookies my daughters grow up having every christmas. Perhaps one day they’ll even be making them on their own =) 

Recipe Ingredients 

Butter: unsalted butter, or salted. If using salted, halve the salt added to the cookie dough. 

Ginger: fresh ginger and ground ginger. I like using both so the flavor is really bright. If you only have ground, use two teaspoons of it instead of one and skip the freshly grated ginger. 

Cinnamon: ground cinnamon. You can also add other spices if you like, such as nutmeg, cloves, or allspice. 

Salt: fine sea salt. Halve the amount if using table salt. 

Vanilla: pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste. 

Sugar: brown sugar; it can be light or dark although I prefer dark for this cookie for a more intense molasses flavor. 

Egg yolk: just one, from a large egg. If the egg is small you might need to add another tablespoon of milk to the dough. 

Molasses: I use grandma’s unsulphured molasses. 

Flour: all purpose flour of a medium to high protein content (mine is 11.7%). 

Baking powder: this makes the cookies rise just a bit, so that we get more of a flaky rather than dense cookie. 

Milk: whole milk, can be plant based if using plant butter to make them dairy free. 

How to make these Gingerbread Cookies 

Brown the butter: over medium heat and ideally in a light colored pan so that you can see the stage the milk solids are in. Always remove the butter from the pan when it’s done so it doesn’t burn. 

Bloom the ginger and spices: this brings out their flavor (like you would if you were making soup and you add the spices to the hot onion/oil mix). 

Once cooled to room temperature, whisk in the sugar, salt and vanilla.

Whisk in the egg yolk, very well: 

Add the molasses and whisk: I will always do this step over the scale so I don’t have to worry about scraping a measuring cup of sticky stuff! Whisk until the molasses are incorporated. 

Add the flour and baking powder and stir with a rubber spatula (a whisk won’t work here, the dough will get caught inside it). 

Then add the milk and stir again. Switch to using your hands and just keep squeezing the dough together to work in the flour and milk. Do this until you have a ball of dough. 

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and set it in the fridge, ideally overnight but you could leave it as few as four hours. 

When ready to bake, preheat the oven and line the cookie pans. Always use parchment on the cookie pans.

This dough is on the sticky side so use flour as needed to roll it out. Roll to about a quarter inch thickness so the cookies are thick. Thicker cookies will also give these the texture we’re aiming for. 

As you stamp out shapes, gather any dough scraps, squeeze them together and roll out again.

Punch out shapes and set the cookie dough on the pan, leaving a little space between them. They won’t spread really, but if they are packed close together they might end up touching. 

Bake until puffed and set, about 10 minutes but it’ll depend on the size of your cookie cutter. 

Cool on pan then transfer to racks to cool fully.

Topping and Decorating Gingerbread Cookies 

In the colorful photos shown here I used royal icing to decorate my gingerbread cookies: 3 egg whites from large eggs, 450g powdered sugar, ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt and 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract.

 Start by setting the egg whites in a stand mixer and use the whisk attachment to whisk until they are frothy. Then, add the powdered sugar slowly, the salt and the vanilla. Whisk until you have ‘stiff peaks’. The peaks won’t be like a meringue, but rather like whipped cream; you’ll see strong streaks in the icing as the whisk works and it will be rather fluffy. 

Alternatively, and this would be my favorite topping in terms of flavor and taste: dip the cookies in melted white chocolate then let them set. Kind of like my marbled chocolate cookies 😉 

Gingerbread Cookies Recipe 

Brown Butter Gingerbread Cookies

Spicy, brown butter gingerbread cookies. Softer, chewier and keep excellent shape for cut-outs.

Prep Time: 30 minutes mins

Cook Time: 10 minutes mins

Chill Time: 8 hours hrs

Yields: 24 medium cookies

5 from 3 votes

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Ingredients

• 113g unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoons each ground ginger and ground cinnamon
• 100g brown sugar
• ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 yolk from a large egg
• 115g unsulphured molasses
• 260g all purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon milk

Method

• Brown the butter: in a saucepan add the butter and set it over medium low heat. Cook as the butter melts, then starts to sputter. Eventually it will go quiet and foam, you’ll see little cream colored bits that look like panko in the bottom of the pan. Use a rubber spatula to stir the butter, scraping the edges of the pan to make sure those bits cook evenly. They will start turning brown and when they are all a rich brown color, transfer to a heatproof bowl. Scrape up all the bits of toasted milk solids into the bowl.
• Bloom the spices: add the grated ginger, ground ginger and cinnamon to the butter and stir to combine. Set aside to cool.
• When the butter is cool add the brown sugar, salt and vanilla and mix well with a whisk. Add the egg yolks and whisk vigorously until the mixture is smooth. Add the molasses and whisk very well.
• Sift in the flour and add the baking powder and start mixing until you can’t see any flour bits. Add the milk and mix, you may want to switch to using your hands to mix it in. Shape it into a disk and wrap with plastic wrap. Set in the fridge to chill overnight.
• When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease then line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Flour the countertop and flour the dough as well. Roll out into a quarter of an inch thickness (use thin layers of flour as you need to prevent them from sticking) and use a cookie cutter to punch out shapes. Set on the prepared cookie sheets, leaving a little bit of space around them (they don’t spread much but shouldn’t be close enough to touch). Bake for 10 minutes.
• Let them cool on the pan (they will be very soft when hot) and when completely cool, set on a plate. Decorate as you like!

Notes

Makes about 24 cookies, depending on size of cookie cutter.

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