Sparkly Gingerbread Recipe (2024)

Dear Melissa, I haven't baked these cookies yet but I hope to. They sound delicious and look fabulous. I just want to thank you and all your NYT Food sectio colleagues for everything you do. Especially this year, your wonderful recipes and beautiful pictures, delivered with your warm wit and practicality, are such a refuge. The world outside may be filled with pandemic tragedy and political buffoonery and incompetence, but in your kitchen, everything is beautiful, delicious, homey, and nurturing

The final report after baking is this is a nice cookie. Rolled 1/4 thick, its a teeny bit soft in the middle. 1/8 makes a crisp cookie. It would be firm enuf to hang on a tree. I did use blackstrap molasses because i had it, and the family liked the Joy of Cooking batch with blackstrap. Cardamom might be wasted tho, as blackstrap is a strong flavor. Now for the grandkids to decorate them

I just refrigerated an identical recipe from a 2014 handout from Meijer grocery in Michigan, called Taste of the Holidays. The only difference is vanilla instead of grated ginger. Ive been on a gingerbread quest the last few weeks. All the recipes seem to be different, unusual for a cookie. I tried Joy of Cooking, adding a scoop of crisco to the butter as it seemed light of fat, and a bit more water. These seem as tho they might be softer, with the egg. Ill know tomorrow.

I found this article about molasses and finally know the differencehttps://www.seriouseats.com/2017/02/what-is-blackstrap-molasses.html

I had trouble with the dough getting too soft before I could get all the cookie cutouts done, and despite the flour, the dough stuck to the rolling surface. So, I divided the remaining batter into several small discs rolled out in plastic film so I could keep them refrigerated. It was much easier to get sharp-edged gingerbread people working in small batches. I'd recommend dividing the dough into at least 6 discs rather than 2.

Gingerbread dough is notoriously sticky- flour won’t help much. I always roll the dough out between 2 sheets of parchment and keep it cold. Works great and less of a mess to clean

I halved the recipe because I didn't want 144 cookies. I used a whole egg because I initially only used a yolk but then the batter was too dry to mix. After taking it out of the fridge, it was wildly sticky even after adding huge amounts of flour to my board, rolling pin, and the dough itself. I could barely use my cookie cutters because it stuck to the edges of the cutters. They taste great but I'll be finding another recipe. It also only made about 48 2" cookies, not 72 like it said it.

For everyone that —like me— is too impatient to be good at rolling out sticky dough, these were excellent as slice and bake cookies.I divided in four, made a log with each part of the dough and then refrigerated until I could easily slice.

I also found the dough to be too soft and sticky - rolling in small batches with liberal flour and between parchment did the trick but it was fussy. once cookies were cut they baked beautifully and crispy. would recommend doubling the ginger if you like your gingerbread spicy! this made about 50-70 small cookies (1-2” each)

Thank you reader Kate for the article on molasses. These cookies are delicious and fun to decorate. I divided the dough into thirds and refrigerated over night. The first batch started to stick and I didn't want to over-flour the surface, so rolled each between saran wrap. Made it much easier to shape and work with. Used gently floured cookie cutters and a bonus was being able to lift the bottom saran wrap to coax a cookie onto the baking sheet without having to scrape it up.

Easy and contrary to many reviews somehow they were not frustratingly sticky. We did use the parchment trick recommended by other bakers. Just rolled them out on parchment not between 2 sheets, just wasn’t necessary. Thanks Melissa for another fabulous recipe.

These were delicious! I refrigerated them over night and rolled them out between parchment with a little flour and had no issues with the dough sticking.

Crisp, gingery cookie - firm enough to stand up to any amount of frosting :)

This was a massive fail for me. I don’t think I messed up the recipe, except that I was out of molasses so used honey. The dough chilled for five days. I may have rolled the first disc too thin, and the shapes stuck, tore, or otherwise fell apart. I rolled the second batch thicker and was more able to keep the shapes, but they also stayed in the cutter so each cookie had to go directly on the pan, and often were hard to get out of the cutter. When baked, they became X-mas blobs.

Used fresh ginger, doubled the amount added. Delightful. Substituted Earth Balance vegan butter and refrigerated for 24 hours. Worked beautifully to use Nordic Ware cookie stamps, turned out very beautiful. Dough very, very soft, cookies very chewy. Second year using this recipe, will definitely have a third. :)

For everyone that —like me— is too impatient to be good at rolling out sticky dough, these were excellent as slice and bake cookies.I divided in four, made a log with each part of the dough and then refrigerated until I could easily slice.

Lovely spicy gingerbread recipe! I also added ground black pepper to make it more like pierniki (polish gingerbread), which is from my husband's hometown of Toruń. Occasionally, I will under bake them so they will be a little soft, depends on my mood! Delicious either both ways.

Made about 5-1/2 dozen with avg 3” wide cookie cutters. Make sure to have a lot of fridge/freezer space

Made about 5-1/2 dozen with avg 3” wide cookie cutters. Increased spices by 1.5x. Make sure to have a lot of fridge/freezer space and start making at least 1-2 days to make time for rolling cutting dough, baking, and decorating.

This is a delicious cookie. I like the fresh ginger. The dough was very sticky and difficult to work with. I consider myself a pretty skilled baker. I tried rolling between parchment, adding extra flour to rolling surface, refrigerating rolled dough before cutting and I managed it ok. I’d love if Melissa Clark could offer a fix as several other reviewers had this same issue. Until then I’ll stick with the Dena Kleiman (nytimes) recipe that produces a beautiful, easy to work with dough.

Thank you reader Kate for the article on molasses. These cookies are delicious and fun to decorate. I divided the dough into thirds and refrigerated over night. The first batch started to stick and I didn't want to over-flour the surface, so rolled each between saran wrap. Made it much easier to shape and work with. Used gently floured cookie cutters and a bonus was being able to lift the bottom saran wrap to coax a cookie onto the baking sheet without having to scrape it up.

Doubled the fresh ginger. Definitely a hit and should make again

I wanted these cookies to go with a cheese course, so I took them in a spicy direction. Skipped a 1/4 cup of the brown sugar (and the remaining 1/2 cup wasn't packed). Switched out cinnamon for turmeric (idea from Brionny on the British Bakeoff), the cloves for mace, and some fresh ground black pepper instead of nutmeg (idea from Samin Nosrat). Also upped the ginger because I can never have too much. It's still a cookie, still sweet, but pairs with savory food instead of decorated with icing.

I also found the dough to be too soft and sticky - rolling in small batches with liberal flour and between parchment did the trick but it was fussy. once cookies were cut they baked beautifully and crispy. would recommend doubling the ginger if you like your gingerbread spicy! this made about 50-70 small cookies (1-2” each)

I'm surprised to see so many comments regarding the dough being too soft. I had the exact opposite experience. I chilled the dough overnight, and it was too hard to work with initially as it just kept cracking. Once I left it out for about 15 minutes, I was able to work with it and the cookies held together quite nicely. I will definitely be using this recipe again.