These lemon iced gingerbread cookies are a cookie lover’s dream come true because they’ve got pretty much everything going for them. They’re soft, chewy, sweet, salty, and have a lovely spicy ginger kick. And, once they’re topped with a fresh lemon zest and juice-infused icing, they’re just as gorgeous as they are sweet and citrusy.
I’ve mentioned before how much my mother, Ginger, absolutely despised ginger in all recipes. So, without a doubt, I know that if she were still alive today and reading this blog post, she would immediately cringe and say, “Ew.” You know what? I can’t make everyone happy with my cookie recipes. Some of my recipes are going to sound disgusting to certain people, no matter how amazing they actually are. We all have ingredients that we simply can’t or won’t tolerate.
To me though, these gingerbread cookies are the most amazing cookie ever. They’re sweet, salty, chewy, soft, spicy, and citrusy. What more could you possibly ask for in one lil’ ol’ cookie? I mean, seriously, these are probably my new favorite cookie. This holiday season, I can pretty much guarantee that I’ll be baking this recipe over and over again, even if my very own mother would not have approved. You know what? “Yum’s” on Earth, outdo “Ew’s” in Heaven.
Ingredients:
Gingerbread Cookies:
- 3/4 Cup Unsalted Butter, Softened
- 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 Egg
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
- 1/3 Cup Molasses
- 2 1/4 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 2 Teaspoons Baking Soda
- 2 Teaspoons Ground Ginger
- 3/4 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
Lemon Icing:
- 1 Cup Powdered Sugar
- Zest of 2 Lemons
- 3 to 5 Tablespoons of Lemon Juice
Directions:
Gingerbread Cookies:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed for 2 minutes.
- Add the egg, vanilla, and molasses; mix on medium speed for 2 minutes.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, ginger, and salt. On low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture a little at a time until all of the flour is just incorporated.
- Use a small cookie scoop to scoop the dough out onto a Silpat or parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.
- Allow the cookies to cool for 3 minutes before removing them to a baking rack to finish cooling completely.
Lemon Icing:
- In a small bowl, whisk the powdered sugar, zest, and juice together. The amount of lemon juice you use will depend on how thick or thin you want your icing to be.
- Drizzle or dollop a little bit of the icing on top of each gingerbread cookie.
- Allow the icing on the gingerbread cookies to set for a few hours before storing the cookies in an airtight container between layers of wax paper.
Suggestions:
- These cookies are slightly salty, which helps to balance out the sweetness. If you prefer to use less salt, you certainly can.
- If you’re not a huge fan of ginger, you can always decrease the amount of ground ginger used in this recipe.
- THESE COOKIES SPREAD. And yes, they spread enough to warrant an all-caps warning. So, when you are using a cookie scoop, don’t overfill that sucker with cookie dough. If anything, you want to fill each scoop a little less than full.
- When these cookies are fully baked, they will be puffed up, however, they will start to flatten almost immediately when you remove them from the oven.
- This recipe will yield approximately 2 1/2 dozen cookies.
Improvements:
- Replace the lemon zest and juice in this recipe with orange zest and juice.
- If you don’t want to use icing on these cookies, you can add lemon zest to the cookie dough.
- Sprinkle a few sliced almonds on top of each iced gingerbread cookie.
- CLICK HERE to check out all of our past cookie recipes. Don’t forget to check out our Christmas cookies section.
Ingredients:
- 3/4 Cup Unsalted Butter, Softened
- 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 Egg
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
- 1/3 Cup Molasses
- 2 1/4 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 2 Teaspoons Baking Soda
- 2 Teaspoons Ground Ginger
- 3/4 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1 Cup Powdered Sugar
- Zest of 2 Lemons
- 3 to 5 Tablespoons of Lemon Juice
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed for 2 minutes.
- Add the egg, vanilla, and molasses; mix on medium speed for 2 minutes.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, ginger, and salt. On low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture a little at a time until all of the flour is just incorporated.
- Use a small cookie scoop to scoop the dough out onto a Silpat or parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.
- Allow the cookies to cool for 3 minutes before removing them to a baking rack to finish cooling completely.
- In a small bowl, whisk the powdered sugar, zest, and juice together.
- Drizzle or dollop a little bit of the icing on top of each gingerbread cookie.
- Allow the icing on the gingerbread cookies to set for a few hours before storing the cookies in an airtight container between layers of wax paper.
PIN THIS RECIPE
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5 Christmas Cookies – 1 Batch of Cookie Dough
Reindeer Molasses Spice Cookies
Salted Honey Pecan Thumbprint Cookies
Christmas is a time for family, friends, and delicious holiday cookies. From classic butter cookies to iced gingerbread cookies, this list of ultimate Christmas cookie recipes has something for everyone. Whether you’re looking for festive colors, unique seasonal ingredients, or just a cookie that’s super easy to make, these Christmas cookie recipes will help you find the perfect cookie for the season. CLICK HERE for the recipes.
This will be the 6th year Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck has participated in this particular Christmas Cookies Week event. Below you can find links to all of the recipes we have contributed throughout the years, however, you can also CLICK HERE to find an entire list of our past cookie recipes. Don’t be afraid to let a non-traditional cookie recipe play a role in your holiday baking this year because when it comes to Christmas cookies, variety is always a good thing. Happy baking y’all.
2022
Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Toffee Cookies
Chocolate Fudge Brownie Oatmeal M&M Cookies
Lemon Iced Gingerbread Cookies
2021
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies with Grape Nuts
Cappuccino Swirl Butter Cookies
Dark Rum Cherry Almond Thumbprint Cookies
Chocolate Chip Cocoa Powder Cookies
Old-Fashioned Jubilee Jumbles Cookies
2020
Cinnamon Chip Holiday Spice Cake Mix Cookies
Peppermint Cream Cheese Crushed Oreo Cookies
Cran-Raisin Oatmeal Cookies with Grape Nuts
Sadie’s Double Pecan Butter Cookies
2019
Cream Cheese Red Velvet Thumbprint Cookies
Chocolate Hazelnut Winter Wonderland Cookies
Coconut Grinchy Christmas Breakfast Cookies
Soft Cinnamon Apple Pecan Cookies
Chocolate-Dipped Christmas Butter Cookies
2018
Chocolate Espresso Brown Sugar Cookies
White Christmas Peppermint Holiday Cookies
Chocolate Chip Vanilla Cookies
No-Bake Peanut Butter Cup Cereal Cookies
Whoville Christmas Wreath Sugar Cookies
2017
Crystallized Gingerbread Chocolate Chip Cookies
Mexican Chocolate Chip Crinkle Cookies
Welcome to #ChristmasCookies Week! That time of year when we soften the butter, fire up the oven, and make cookie trays for family, friends, and neighbors. This year more than 20 top-notch bloggers are sharing their very favorite creations for all to make and enjoy. Join us for a week’s worth of Christmas cookie deliciousness
- Chocolate Mint Linzer Cookies by A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
- Easy Christmas Cookie Bars by Family Around the Table
- Lemon Iced Gingerbread Cookies by Faith, Hope, Love, and Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
- Cranberry White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies by The Best Cookie Recipes
