Just in time for holiday baking, these Sourdough Gingerbread Cookies are a nostalgic, holiday favorite. Follow along to create delectable gingerbread men and unforgettable Christmas season flavors that blend sourdough depth with ginger spice warmth.
One of my favorite things about this time of year is the great opportunity to form lasting memories with my family. When we bake gingerbread cookies or build a gingerbread house, it goes beyond providing a meal or setting a table (though those are also incredibly important and lasting experiences in their own ways).
It’s much more about the process, the creativity, and the involvement of the kids. It’s an opportunity for giving – giving cookies as gifts, allowing imaginations to create, and encouraging a sweet expression of individual tastes.
It might just be in the shape of the cookie, or the way the icing outlines or swirls along the top, or perhaps its the clean, golden top of a simple, undecorated gingerbread man.
Christmas memories have no shortage of outlets if we’re willing to set aside the daily routine for a moment. The holiday season is a wonderful opportunity to intentionally slow down even more – baking the Christmas cookies, harvesting the seasonal foliage, decorating with all the candles and greeneries and linens.
Recipes such as this one draw me back to the days of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Gingerbread recipes can be found circulating through Little House on the Prairie enthusiasts, and it certainly makes me wonder: were the Ingalls excellent sourdough bakers?
I’d like to think so. It’s an age old practice, so it doesn’t seem far fetched to wonder.
Why I Love This Recipe
Flavor: I love the flavorful and warming sensations of these traditional gingerbread spices. Ginger is invigorating and comforting. Cinnamon is earthy and sweet. Ground cloves is aromatic and rich. Allspice is a wonderful blend of these spices with the addition of nutmeg, which I consider to be one of the primary Christmas flavors and one of my all time favorites.
Simple: Sourdough gingerbread cookies are simple, the dough is forgiving when shaped over and over by little hands, and the flavor is unparalleled during the winter season.
Perfect for decorating: This recipe is intended for decorating cookies, which could mean gingerbread men, stars, Christmas trees, bells, hearts – you name it. It’s so much fun to get creative with the shapes, frosting, colors, and toppings.
You also cannot go wrong with simple, golden, icing-free cookies. This is a delicious, undemanding recipe.
Tips
- You can use sourdough starter discard or your fed, active starter.
- Get a head start, as these cookies have a long chill period time compared to other discard recipes.
- Chilling the dough is important, but when you’re ready to get to work, let your dough sit on the counter for a few minutes before rolling out.
- You shouldn’t have a sticky dough, but a smooth and manageable one. Increase flour minimally, if necessary.
- Leftover pieces can be tricky to use once warmed up on your counter, so stick them in the fridge to chill before rolling them out to use them up.
- If the royal icing isn’t thickening up enough or holding its peaks, add more powdered sugar. Store in the fridge, airtight, and warm to room temperature before using.
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Ingredients
Dough
Unsalted butter – softened
Brown sugar
Molasses: This gives it that warm classic, gingerbread flavor.
Egg
Sourdough starter discard: Active starter would also work, but it is a great way to use up extra discard.
Vanilla extract: Homemade or store-bought
All-purpose flour
Salt
Baking soda
Spices: cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves, and all spice
Royal icing (optional)
Powdered sugar
Water: room temperature
Meringue powder
Tools
Stand mixer or hand mixer
Measuring cups and spoons
Cookie sheet
Cookie cutters
Piping bag (optional)
How to Make Sourdough Gingerbread Cookies
Make the dough:
In a large bowl, or a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar and blackstrap molasses on medium speed until creamy.
Add in the egg, sourdough starter and vanilla on medium speed until incorporated.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and allspice.
Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, and beat on low speed until combined.
Cut the dough in half and form two discs.
Wrap them in plastic wrap and place into the fridge for at least one hour, or up to three days for long fermentation.
When you’re ready to bake the cookies, set one disc of chilled dough out to come closer to room temperature. A cold disc of cookie dough is tough to roll out.
Preheat the oven to 350° and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Roll your disc out to 1/4” thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut into desired shapes and place cookies 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheets. Repeat with the other disc.
Bake for 10 minutes. Cookies will look slightly underdone and edges will be golden but not dark. For crispier cookies, bake a little longer.
Allow the cookies to cool completely before decorating, approximately 30 minutes.
Prepare royal icing per instructions below.
Decorate as desired!
Royal Icing
Add powdered sugar, water, and meringue powder to the bowl of a stand mixer.
Using your wire whisk attachment, beat the ingredients at high speed for approximately 2 minutes.
If your icing is too thin, continue beating until thickened, or alternatively you can add more powdered sugar.
Once applied to the cookie, royal icing typically dries within a couple hours.
Storage
Unbaked cookie dough can be stored in the fridge for a couple of days before baking. It will develop its sourdough flavor further, and the fermentation of the grains has unique health benefits. Be sure to wrap them carefully to be airtight.
You can also store your dough in the freezer for several months. Simply thaw to room temperature, shape, bake, and decorate.
Baked cookies that are stored in an airtight container may be kept at room temperature for several days. Glass or metal containers work best, as plastic containers can soften your cookies.
If undecorated, baked cookies can also be frozen up to 2 months in a sealed bag or container. Decorate upon thawing.
FAQ
Do I have to chill the cookie dough before baking?
You will have better results with chilling the dough first. Chilling allows the flour time to hydrate, yielding a chewier cookie. Cool dough is also easier to roll, shape, and transfer to a baking tray.
Is it better to use unfed sourdough starter or fed starter?
You can’t lose either way! Unfed starter will have a slightly stronger sourdough flavor than fed starter, but either one works great.
Do these cookies harden as they cool?
Yes! They will harden after 30 minutes or so of cooling. How crisp they are will depend on the bake time, as well.
If you enjoyed this recipe, check out some of my other sourdough discard recipes:
- Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Sourdough Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Cut out Sourdough Sugar Cookies
- Sourdough Shortbread Cookies
- Sourdough Peanut Butter Cookies
Sourdough Gingerbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened (114 grams)
- 1 cup brown sugar, 200 grams
- 1/2 cup molasses, 140 grams
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup sourdough starter, discard (142 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla, 5 grams
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, 420 grams
- 1 teaspoon salt, 5 grams
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon all spice
Royal icing (optional)
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 6 tablespoons room temperature water
- 3 tablespoons meringue powder
Instructions
- In a large bowl, or a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar and blackstrap molasses on medium speed until creamy.
- Add in the egg, sourdough starter and vanilla on medium speed until incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and allspice.
- Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, and beat on low speed until combined.
- Cut the dough in half and form two discs.
- Wrap them in plastic wrap and place into the fridge for at least one hour, or up to three days for long fermentation.
- When you're ready to bake the cookies, set one disc of chilled dough out to come closer to room temperature.
- Preheat the oven to 350° and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Roll your disc out to 1/4” thickness on a lightly floured surface.
- Cut into desired shapes and place cookies 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheets. Repeat with the other disc.
- Bake for 10 minutes. Cookies will look slightly underdone and edges will be golden but not dark. For crispier cookies, bake a little longer.
- Allow the cookies to cool completely before decorating, approximately 30 minutes.
- Prepare royal icing per instructions below.
- Decorate as desired!
Royal Icing
- Add powdered sugar, water, and meringue powder to the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Using your wire whisk attachment, beat the ingredients at high speed for approximately 2 minutes.
- If your icing is too thin, continue beating until thickened, or alternatively you can add more powdered sugar.
- Once applied to the cookie, royal icing typically dries within a couple hours.
Notes
- You can use sourdough starter discard or your fed, active starter.
Get a head start, as these cookies have a long chill period time compared to other discard recipes. - Chilling the dough is important, but when you're ready to get to work, let your dough sit on the counter for a few minutes before rolling out.
- You shouldn't have a sticky dough, but a smooth and manageable one. Increase flour minimally, if necessary
- If the royal icing isn't thickening up enough or holding its peaks, add more powdered sugar. Store in the fridge, airtight, and warm to room temperature before using.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
These are hands down the best gingerbread I have ever made. I didn’t have enough ginger so I used more allspice but it was delicious! The kids love it and we will definitely be making them again!
Yay to the kids loving it! Thanks for sharing!
I goofed and left my dough too sticky. Even chilled we couldn’t roll and cut it. So we scooped them into balls and rolled in powdered sugar for molasses crinkles. Delicious.
Sounds like it worked out to be delicous. 🙂
Would you think one could make the dough ahead of time and freeze it?
Hi Lisa, do you think this recipe would work well/be sturdy enough for a gingerbread house? Maybe a bit longer cook time would make it rigid enough? Have you tried a house?
Do you think I could substitute pure cane syrup for the molasses? I happen to have that on hand. Online it says it is a good substitute but that it is sweeter than molasses and thinner.
I am getting ready to start my first sourdough starter.
The only thing I am not understanding is how much sourdough do you in each recipe? Do you use it instead of flour or is it used along with what the recipe calls for the amount of flour? Or do you subtract what you the amount of sourdough mix from what the recipe calls for flour? Please help.
Each recipe will be different and should tell you how much starter and flour you need. You do not use starter in replace of flour. Does that answer your question?
These are delicious! I can’t stop eating them! I also added flour when rolling the dough out, it can be very sticky! I also halfed the icing recipe and had some leftover. Thanks for sharing the recipe Lisa!
So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Happy baking!
Lisa, I can’t wait to try these! Thank you for always supplying us with awesome recipes. Will comment again after I have made them. Have a great day. God Bless
I made these the other day while the kids decorated the Christmas tree. It was more planned to just keep them busy in between decorating but the kids absolutely loved them! Probably the best gingerbread we have ever made or had! The ginger in the cookie was a perfect amount that it warmed your throat after you ate the cookie. Wonderful! The dough did end up a bit sticky but we just kept flouring the dough as we rolled it out. 10/10 would definitely make again!
So glad you all enjoyed them so much! Sounds like such a fun time.
Baked today and these are delicious and have replaced my usual chewy gingerbread cookie recipe. Bonus points that it’s fermented (made the dough 2 days ago and baked today). I did have to add about 3/4 cup more flour when mixing the dough because it was super sticky.
What type of molasses do you use here?
I only have blackstrap, wondering if the flavour will be ok.
I was wondering if the flour ratio would be the same for freshly milled flour?
You can try a 1-1 ratio, but you may have to up your liquid in the recipe because freshly milled flour absorbs more liquid than all purpose flour from the store.