How to Bake the Perfect Soft Gingerbread Cookies with Gorgeous Royal Icing
In my circle of family and friends I am most known at the holidays for my gingerbread cookies with royal icing. I bake gingerbread turkies at Thanksgiving and intricately decorated Snowflakes all winter long. It took me a while to find the perfect recipe that yields the perfect soft and chewy texture and this recipe is it! Trut me, your guests will be amazed that these are homemade and you will enjoy them all season long with a hot coffee or tea or if you are like me, with a great glass of wine at the end of a long day. Enjoy!
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Gingerbread Cookie Recipe
Cream together shortening (I have used both Crisco and butter - I prefer Crisco) and sugar in a standmixer with the paddle attachment.
Beat in egg, molasses, and vinegar.
Sift in dry ingredients - a soft dough will form. If the dough is sticking to the side of the bowl add a small amount of flour until it cleanly pulls away.
Split the dough into three balls - wrap the balls in plastic wrap and chill for 3 hours.
Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
On a lightly floured surface roll out dough to desired thickness - I typically roll mine between 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch. If you find the dough is splitting and crumbly, knead in a tablespoon of milk.
Lightly dust your cookie cutter with flour before cutting to ensure clean edges.
Place cookies on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper or silicone sheets.
Bake for 6-8 minutes - the bottom of the cookies should be slightly browned.
Let cookies cool on a metal cooling rack before frosting.
Royal Icing Recipe
Add the confectionary sugar and cream of tartar to bowl of stand mixer.
Add in the egg whites and stir by hand just to moisten the dry ingredients.
Use the beater attachment to stir the mixture, adding in the vanilla extract.
Once combined turn the mixer on high and whip the mixture for three minutes. I use the white as is most often, but if I am doing multiple colors I split the icing into separate bowls and mix in the food coloring by hand.
Add your royal icing to a piping bag, snip of the tip and start decorating!
Top off with crystalized sugar and let dry.
Check out this amazing video tutorial by Preppy Kitchen to get your icing just right!
Everything You'll Need
