Gingerbread biscuits made from a quick, easy and versatile gingerbread dough. Perfect for baking with children and your entire house will smell divinely festive!
Love baking with ginger flavour? Check out my Gingerbread cupcakes and Gingerbread Bundt Cake. Both recipes are perfect for Christmastime!
This gingerbread recipe is one that I've been using for many years. It is so forgiving, meaning you can take your time in cutting and shaping the dough into whatever you like.
Children can handle the dough for a long time and it won't spoil the end biscuit!
Gingerbread Houses
This year I chose to make the sweetest little gingerbread village alongside everyone's favourite gingerbread men.
I was given some lovely gingerbread moulds as a Christmas present from my daughter last year. They are so easy to use and the detail on my houses and churches was really good. If you scroll down you will be able to see how I used the gingerbread dough with the moulds.
Biscuit making doesn't need to be a faff, in fact, making up a batch of dough, shaping, baking and decorating the biscuits is one of my favourite things to do.
And there is something so special about your home smelling of Christmassy spices.
Gingerbread As Gifts
This gingerbread recipe really is so simple and if you have children to do some baking with I'm sure they'll delight in helping to make and decorate the gingerbread.
Gingerbread biscuits also make brilliant gifts so consider doubling up the recipe and setting some biscuits aside to give away to loved ones.
I've included gingerbread houses and gingerbread men as well as a selection of meringue cookies, plus vanilla and chocolate biscuits in my homemade Christmas gift box.
We often make a hole in the top of the gingerbread men and tie them to our Christmas tree. The kids love pointing out which gingerbread man they decorated, and it's not unusual to find a dangling gingerbread man with a missing arm or leg!
What Is Great About Gingerbread?
✔︎ Uncomplicated easy recipe
✔︎ Very forgiving dough that can be handled
✔︎ Great recipe for baking with children
✔︎ Can be used to make any size or shape biscuit
✔︎ Smells divine
✔︎ It's so festive!
What You Need To Make Gingerbread Biscuits
- Light Brown Soft Sugar: Contributes to colour and flavour.
- Golden Syrup: To aid texture and so the biscuits aren't too hard.
- Black Treacle: For a darker gingerbread, can be replaced with golden syrup if you'd prefer lighter coloured gingerbread.
- Water: To help bind the ingredients.
- Ground Cinnamon, Ground Ginger and a Pinch of Cloves: All the wonderful Christmassy spices to flavour the gingerbread.
- Unsalted Butter: For texture.
- Plain Flour: Provides more 'bite'. No baking powder is needed and I wouldn't recommend substituting for self-raising flour.
How To Make Gingerbread Biscuits
This dough can be used to make any shape or size biscuit you like.
Bear in mind that smaller biscuits will not take as long to bake. For anything small check on the biscuits after around 8 minutes. Leave larger biscuits to bake for around 12 minutes.
- Put the sugar, syrup, treacle, water and spices into a large saucepan.
- Bring to the boil stirring continuously.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the butter until it has melted.
- Gradually add the flour a couple of tablespoons at a time stirring as you go until you have a smooth dough. You can add more flour if it looks and feels very sticky.
- Knead the dough until it's in a smooth round ball then wrap it in clingfilm and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 180ºC / 160ºC Fan / 350 F / Gas 4
- Cut or mould the gingerbread dough into your desired shapes and transfer to a lined baking tray or silicone baking mat, leaving a ½cm gap in between each biscuit. You will likely have to bake in batches.
- Bake for approximately 8 minutes for smaller biscuits and 12-14 minutes for larger biscuits (houses, gingerbread men)
- Biscuits are baked when the edges are starting to brown slightly. They will still feel soft to the touch but will harden as they cool.
- Leave the biscuits on the baking tray for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack.
- Leave until completely cool before you decorate.
How To Make A Gingerbread Village
As I mentioned above I was given a set of moulds as a gift. There is a variety of different shaped houses and a church. The moulds were bought on etsy, you can find them here.
Make the dough as directed and dust the moulds lightly with flour tapping off any excess.
Break off a small piece of gingerbread dough and roll into a smooth ball. Press the ball into the mould using your fingers to spread it out until it's flat.
Turn the mould over and peel back until the biscuit drops onto a lined baking tray or silicone baking mat.
Bake at 180ºC / 160ºC Fan / 350 F / Gas 4 for 12-14 minutes.
Once baked and cooled you can use a piping bag fitted with a #1, #2 or #3 Wilton piping nozzle to go over the detail on the houses.
How To Make Gingerbread Men
I use a set of 3 different sized cutters to make gingerbread men (or women!) Simply roll out the dough to a thickness of 5mm and use the cutters to make shapes in the dough.
Place the gingerbread shapes on to a lined baking tray or silicone baking mat, leaving a ½cm space in-between.
Bake at 180ºC / 160ºC Fan / 350 F / Gas 4 for 12-14 minutes.
Once baked and cooled use a #3 Wilton piping nozzle to pipe water icing detail. Leave plain, add jelly tots for buttons or decorate to your heart's content!
Gingerbread FAQ
Gingerbread biscuits will last for at least 2-3 weeks in a sealed container. If you leave them in the open (tied to a tree for example) they will last the same amount of time but they might go a little soft.
Yes, uncooked gingerbread dough freezes really well for up to six months.
This is down to personal preference and the recipe you use will make a difference. The recipe featured here is for hard and crisp gingerbread. If you would like a softer gingerbread then reduce the cooking time and replace the black treacle with granulated sugar.
Yes, the gingerbread will be soft and then firm up as it cools.
All biscuit dough is much easier to work with after it's been chilled so don't be tempted to skip this step. If it's still sticky you can roll it in a little more flour or icing sugar.
This often happens when the oven is too hot so check the temperature. It helps to use an oven thermostat to monitor the temperature of the oven and ensure it's not running too hot.
More Tempting Biscuit Recipes
Gingerbread Biscuits
A festive gingerbread biscuit recipe that can be used to make any size or shape biscuit.
Ingredients
- 75 g light brown soft sugar
- 2 tablespoons golden syrup
- 1 tablespoon black treacle
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- pinch cloves
- 95 g unsalted butter
- 250 g plain flour, sifted
Instructions
- Put the sugar, syrup, treacle, water and spices into a large saucepan.
- Bring to the boil stirring continuously.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the butter until its melted.
- Gradually add the flour a couple of tablespoons at a time stirring as you go until you have a smooth dough. You can add more flour if it looks and feels very sticky.
- Knead the dough until it's in a smooth round ball then wrap it in clingfilm and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 180ºC / 160ºC Fan / 350 F / Gas 4
- Cut or mould the gingerbread dough into your desired shapes and transfer to a lined baking tray leaving a ½cm gap in between each biscuit. You will likely have to bake in batches.
- Bake for approximately 8 minutes for smaller biscuits and 12-14 minutes for larger biscuits (houses, gingerbread men)
- Biscuits are baked when the edges are starting to brown slightly. They will still feel soft to the touch but will harden as they cool.
- Leave the biscuits on the baking tray for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack.
- Leave until completely cool before you decorate.
Notes
- The gingerbread biscuits will still feel soft when they first come out of the oven but will harden up as they cool.
- Biscuits will keep for 2-3 weeks in a sealed container. They will keep for the same length of time if left uncovered (on a Christmas tree for example) but they might soften a bit.
- Uncooked gingerbread dough freezes well for up to 6 months.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 24 Serving Size: 1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 86.94Total Fat: 3.32gSaturated Fat: 2.05gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 8.51mgSodium: 1.58mgCarbohydrates: 13.13gFiber: 0.34gSugar: 5.05gProtein: 1.14g
mawme
what is "golden syrup"? and what can be substituted for it?
Amy Treasure
Assuming you're in the US you can sub golden syrup for maple syrup or corn syrup.
Carol Rimmer
These turned out wonderfully - nice and crisp, with a nice flavour!
Amy Treasure
So pleased to hear it, Carol! Enjoy