Making a gingerbread men cookie recipe is a fun tradition to do together as a family in the weeks leading up to Christmas. There are lots of ways your kids can help with this recipe. Older kids can help mixing and rolling while kids of all ages can help cut out the cookies and put them onto the cookie sheet. Kids of all ages will have fun decorating their gingerbread men!
This is also a great recipe to make and deliver to neighbours while wishing them a Merry Christmas. You can even put these out at a kid’s party or Christmas potluck.
Family Gingerbread Men Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 10 tbsp butter softened
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 2/3 cup molasses
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3-1/2 cup flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp ginger
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp cloves
Instructions
- In a large bowl beat butter, brown sugar and molasses until creamy
- Add egg and vanilla and beat until fluffy (approximately 2 minutes)
- In a different bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon and cloves
- Add dry mixture to the butter mixture and mix until gently combined
- Divide dough into half, flatten each piece into a disc shape and wrap tightly with plastic wrap
- Chill 2-3 hours or overnight
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Roll out one disc of dough at a time on a floured surface until 1/4 inch thick.
- Cut into shapes using cookie cutters.
- Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment, spacing cookies about 2 inches apart.
- Reroll and repeat until all dough is used.
- Bake for 9-10 minutes.
- Cool on pan for 5 minutes and then move to a cooling rack.
- Once completely cooled, decorate with any of the optional suggestions or something else of your choosing.
While you are waiting for your gingerbread men to cook, you can cuddle up together on the couch and read some picture books! “The Gingerbread Man” by Karen Schmidt is a fun children’s book about a gingerbread man that escapes from the oven and runs through the countryside while being chased by some different characters.
Some fun questions you can ask after reading are
- If you were a gingerbread man running away, where would you hide?
- Who did you think was going to catch the gingerbread man? Why?
- What is your favourite Christmas treat?
Make sure as you ask these questions of your kids, you chime in with your thoughts as well. This is a fun time of give-and-take and can be a silly time to laugh together while also practicing some different aspects of reading comprehension.
When you take the cookies out of the oven, they need to cool, and then you can decorate them. You can have a cookie decorating contest or have your cookies do a “fashion show” where each child can show and describe their gingerbread man’s design. (This can practice descriptive language skills.)
Make a pot of tea or hot chocolate, eat your cookies, and play a family game. What a wonderful winter day!
We’d love to see your gingerbread creations! Tag @thecanadianschoolhouse on Instagram or comment on this post on our Facebook page.
This article has been written by homeschooling staff writers of The Canadian Schoolhouse (TCS). Enjoy more of our content from TCS contributors and staff writers by visiting our Front Door page that has content on our monthly theme and links to all our content sections.
See more easy recipes for kids to make in the Kids Quick Cook article series.
"Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6).