SweetSugarBelle's Favorite Gingerbread Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Can I substitute honey for molasses in gingerbread cookies? ›

Honey, dark corn syrup, and maple syrup can also be used to replace molasses in recipes.

Molasses and honey hardens gingerbread, but as the sugar absorbs moisture, it will get softer.” Cookbook author and ”Great American Baking Show” winner Vallery Lomas likes a gingerbread cookie that's packed with flavor. “I want to taste a lot of the spices ― especially ginger,” she said.

Divide the dough into two thick disks and wrap each disk in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until chilled, about 3 hours. (The dough can be prepared up to 2 days ahead.) To roll out the cookies, work with one disk at a time, keeping the other disk refrigerated.

Add molasses and vanilla and beat until completely incorporated. Reduce mixer speed to low and add flour mixture until thoroughly combined, about 1 minute. Dough should be soft (not dry or crumbly) but not sticky. If sticky, add a few tablespoons of flour until desired consistency is achieved.

Brown sugar is actually a combination of granulated sugar and molasses, so it's a good substitute for molasses. While measurements may vary per recipe, you can generally replace 1 cup molasses with 3/4 cup packed brown sugar.

From light to blackstrap, sulfured to unsulfured, the large variety of molasses options can be confusing. And one type will make your treats "frankly inedible." Molasses is the essential ingredient in gingerbread cookies, providing the chewy texture and almost burnt sugar flavor that characterizes the treat.

Chilling the dough makes the butter, and the dough firm up. Also, a very cold, even frozen crust will shrink less during baking. If you think about a stick of butter it makes sense: the cold butter keeps it's shape, When it softens, it spreads and no longer keeps it's shape.

Golden Syrup

With its golden, amber color, it is lighter than molasses, though the two are similar in their thickness. Golden syrup also a liquid sweetener, so 1 cup of golden syrup can replace 1 cup of molasses. Golden syrup has a unique flavor, so it may alter the flavor of your recipe slightly.

Should gingerbread cookies be hard or soft? Soft gingerbread biscuits are ideal. They ought to be flexible. However, they should still be somewhat elastic, and if you hold them too firmly because you're so excited to eat them, you might even be able to leave your fingerprints on the cookie!

What if gingerbread dough goes hard in the fridge? ›

The safest method is to take the too-firm dough out of the refrigerator and simply wait until it's soft enough. If you want to speed the process up a bit, choose a warm spot.

From doubling up on molasses to using too much flour, there is a lot that can go wrong. Forgetting the molasses resulted in a crumbly cookie that was light in color. Combining all ingredients at once created lumps in the finished product.

Transfer the dough, still between the two pieces of parchment paper, to a sheet pan. Chill in the refrigerator for at least two hours to allow the dough to firm up, and up to three days ahead.

Resting your gingerbread dough does two key things: develops flavor and keeps the cookies from spreading too much in the oven.

Molasses is the essential ingredient in gingerbread cookies, providing the chewy texture and almost burnt sugar flavor that characterizes the treat.

Brown sugar is a great substitute for molasses in recipes since it's so often available in the kitchen. Brown sugar is molasses and granulated sugar combined, so you can achieve some similar taste and texture. For every 1 cup of molasses, use 3/4 cup of brown sugar.

Dark Molasses Gingerbread Cake

In place of the 1 ½ cups molasses, you can swap in ½ cup dark brown sugar, mixed with 1 cup honey, sorghum, or golden syrup.