Gingerbread Star Cookies Recipe
These gingerbread star cookies are warmly spiced with cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg, then finished with a simple vanilla icing. Chill the dough for crisp, well-shaped stars, and decorate them with sprinkles for a festive holiday treat.
- Prep Time: 35 minutes active, plus 5 hours chilling
- Cook Time: 10 minutes per baking sheet
- Total Time: About 5 hours 45 minutes, plus icing-setting time
- Yield: About 30 cookies
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
Cookie Dough
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup packed dark brown sugar
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons molasses
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Icing
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk, plus more as needed
- 1 teaspoon light corn syrup
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Sprinkles, optional
Instructions
- Combine the dry ingredients.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt, cloves, and nutmeg.
- Cream the butter and sugar.
In a large bowl, beat the butter and dark brown sugar with an electric mixer for about 3 minutes, until creamy and fluffy.
- Make the dough.
Beat in the molasses, egg, and vanilla until combined. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until a dough forms.
- Chill the dough.
Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a disk. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or up to 2 days.
- Cut out the stars.
Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll one disk of dough to about ¼ inch thick. Cut out stars and transfer them to the baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch between cookies. Reroll the scraps once, then repeat with the remaining dough.
- Chill the cutouts and heat the oven.
Refrigerate the baking sheets for at least 1 hour. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Bake the cookies.
Bake one sheet at a time for about 10 minutes, or until the cookies are set. Smaller stars may take about 9 minutes. For even baking, keep cookies of the same size together on each sheet. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Mix the icing.
In a medium bowl, stir together the powdered sugar, milk, corn syrup, and vanilla until smooth. The icing should be thick but pipeable. Add a little more milk if it is too thick, or gradually add powdered sugar if it is too thin.
- Decorate the cookies.
Transfer the icing to a piping bag or a zip-top bag and snip a small corner off; a Wilton #5 tip can also be used for precise piping. Pipe the icing onto the cooled cookies, using a toothpick to smooth any uneven areas. Add sprinkles if desired. To make twin stars, ice a small star, place it on top of an iced medium star, and finish with sprinkles.
- Let the icing set.
Leave the cookies at room temperature for several hours, until the icing has fully hardened, before serving or storing.
Notes
- For the most even results, bake cookies of the same size on the same baking sheet.
- Chill the dough for at least 4 hours and the cutouts for at least 1 hour so the stars hold their shape in the oven.
- Reroll the scraps only once for the best cookie texture.
- Adjust the icing consistency a little at a time: add milk to thin it or powdered sugar to thicken it.
- Let the icing harden completely before stacking or storing the cookies.
Find it online: https://recipethrive.com/gingerbread-star-cookies-recipe/
