These gingerbread man cookies are so adorable and delicious! Inspired by Kneaders Gingerbob cookies, they are big, soft gingerbread cookies dipped in chocolate and decorated with buttons and suspenders! Add this gingerbread man recipe to your holiday list of “must-makes!”
I walked into Kneaders a couple years ago and saw these adorable gingerbread men who had been dipped in chocolate to create “pants” and then had suspenders and buttons piped on. Ever since that day, I knew that I must try to recreate these super cute “Gingerbobs” at home.
Finally, this year was the year! Now, my gingerbread men are a little shorter and wider than what you get at Kneaders (since I don’t have their same cookie cutter). But the recipe for this dough is spot-on and stays soft!
I got this recipe from Peach Tree Drive, who apparently got it off a news program in Utah when they posted the recipe several years ago. All I can say is that these cookies will be Christmas must-makes from now on!
There’s a bit of a different technique with these cookies, so stay tuned for my step-by-step instructions!
Ingredients for Gingerbread Men Cookies
Butter
Granulated sugar
Molasses
Cinnamon
Cloves
Ginger
Nutmeg
Eggs
White vinegar
Baking soda
All-purpose flour
How to Make Gingerbread Men Cookies
These cookies are actually made in a large pot rather than a mixing bowl!
First, you’ll need to put the butter and sugar in the large pot on the stove. Turn the heat onto medium and stir until the butter is completely melted.
Then add in the molasses and all the spices. Keep stirring everything until the mixture comes to a boil.
As soon as it starts boiling, remove it from the heat.
Now let it cool down a bit (at least 15 minutes). While it’s cooling, beat the eggs and vinegar together in a separate bowl or large measuring cup. Then add the egg mixture to the butter/sugar/spices mixture and stir well.
Lastly sprinkle the baking soda over the top and stir. Then add all the flour, one cup at a time and stir just until all the white disappears.
Your dough will be thick and sticky, but not workable. You’ll need to chill it for at least an hour.
Divide the dough into two and place it on some plastic wrap. Press each portion of dough into a disc shape and then wrap it with the plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator.
Now is when all the fun starts.
After you dough has chilled, it will be stiff and easy to work with.
Unwrap a disc and place it on a floured surface. Or better yet, get yourself one of these silicone pastry mats. They are magical! That way, you don’t have to add any extra flour and possibly alter the texture of your cookies.
Now roll out the dough until it is about 1/4-inch thick, or a little thicker. Get your cookie cutter and start cutting out your cookies.
Keep in mind that this dough does expand while baking. At first, I thought my cookie cutter was too small, but the baked cookies turned out to be about the size of my hand. Here you can see a cookie before it’s baked, and then after.
I just placed three of these on a cookie sheet at a time so they would have room to spread.
Bake them for 7-8 minutes until the edges just start to turn brown. It’s o.k. if the center of the cookie still looks puffy when you remove it from the oven. You want these to stay soft, so it’s better to under-bake.
Leave them on the pan for about five minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Now the fun part starts! The decorating! You can do any kind of traditional decorations, or do what Kneaders does, which is dip them in chocolate!
I didn’t have a container deep enough to fill with all the chocolate that would be necessary to completely cover the bottom of the cookie, so I improvised.
First, I used chocolate-flavored almond bark rather than melted chocolate chips. You could also use chocolate candy coating (like Wilton brand).
These types of things usually work better than regular chocolate chips, because the chocolate doesn’t bloom or streak (which can happen with un-tempered chocolate, like melted chocolate chips).
I melted the chocolate almond bark in the microwave in 30-second increments, stirring between each 30 seconds.
Then I dipped each cookie into the melted chocolate and used a spoon to bring the chocolate up to the cookie’s waist to make the chocolate “pants.”
If you find that your chocolate is a little too thick, give it a few squirts of cooking spray. That will help thin it out without causing it to seize. (Honestly, my chocolate needed to be a little thinner so it would dry more smoothly).
Now just lay your gingerbread men on a sheet of parchment or waxed paper to let the chocolate dry.
Once the chocolate has hardened, you can use white frosting to pipe on your buttons, suspenders, eyes, and smile! I just used some leftover cream cheese frosting I had (from making these Copycat Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls). But you can use standard buttercream frosting as well.
These were SO cute and SO delicious! I placed two back-to-back in a cellophane bag and gave them away to our neighbors.
Gingerbread Man Cookies (Kneaders Copycat Gingerbobs)
These gingerbread man cookies are so adorable and delicious! Inspired by Kneaders Gingerbob cookies, they are big, soft gingerbread cookies dipped in chocolate and decorated with buttons and suspenders! Add this gingerbread man recipe to your holiday list of "must-makes!"
Ingredients
- 1 cup salted butter (two cubes)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup dark molasses
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon cloves
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 5 cups all-purpose flour
Instructions
- In a large pan on the stove, add the cup of salted butter and the 1 cup of granulated sugar. Turn the stove onto medium heat, and stir the butter and sugar occasionally until the butter has all melted.
- Add in the 1/2 cup of molasses, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of cloves, 1 teaspoon of ginger, and 1 teaspoon of nutmeg. Stir well.
- Continue stirring over medium heat until the mixture comes to a boil. Once it starts boiling, remove from the heat and allow to cool for a minimum of 15 minutes.
- In a separate small bowl, mix your two eggs and 1 teaspoon of white vinegar. Add to your cooled butter/sugar/spices mixture.
- Sprinkle the baking soda on top of the mixture and stir.
- Add five cups of flour, one at a time, and stir just until the flour disappears. (Make sure to measure your flour correctly, by spooning it into your measuring cup, so you don't add too much flour).
- Divide the dough into two parts. Place each part onto a separate piece of plastic wrap and press into a disc about 1/2-inch thick. Completely cover with the plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours to chill.
- Once chilled, remove one disc at a time from the refrigerator and unwrap. Place on a floured surface, or a silicone pastry mat.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
- Roll the dough out to about 1/4-inch thick. Use desired cookie cutters to cut out cookies.
- Place at least two inches apart on baking sheets and bake for 7-10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the dough and the size of the cookies. Remove from the oven when the edges just barely start to turn brown. The centers will still be soft, but should not look wet.
- Allow to cool for five minutes on baking sheets before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Decorate as desired.
Notes
If you want to dip the bottoms of the gingerbread men in chocolate, I suggest using chocolate candy melts/candy coating or chocolate-flavored almond bark. Melt desired amount in the microwave in 30-second increments, stirring in between. If you need to thin your chocolate, add a few sprays of cooking spray and stir.
You can use any type of white frosting to pipe the buttons, suspenders, and face. Here you can find a recipe for Royal Icing. Here's one for Cream Cheese Frosting. And here's one for standard buttercream.
Pin me!
Leave a Reply