Crunchy and bland gingerbread men are officially a thing of the past when you can make these Soft Gingerbread Cookies that are decorated with and also dipped in melted chocolate! If you like standard gingerbread men cookies, you will absolutely LOVE the combination of the soft, chewy, and spicy cookie with sweet and creamy white and dark chocolate.
Below you will find tips for decorating:
- Gingerbread Men
- Christmas Stockings
- Ugly Christmas Sweaters
One of the cookies is dipped in dark chocolate and sprinkled with crushed peppermint candy cane pieces and – wow – the flavor combination is fantastic. It made eating gingerbread cookies a completely new experience in regards to both texture and flavor!
Recipe used for the chewy and soft gingerbread cookies:
My Favorite Gingerbread Cookies by Sally’s Baking Addiction.
Every recipe I have tried from Sally’s blog has turned out fantastic. Even recipes I have struggled with perfecting in the past. For example, I tried a handful of caramel recipes that completely went wrong, until I tried hers. I used her homemade caramel recipe for my Chocolate Espresso Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream and was so relieved I finally was able to make it successfully!
These gingerbread cookies are so flavorful and chewy – I found they actually get softer and more delicious each day after baking!
Why I love these soft gingerbread cookies decorated with chocolate:
- The dough can be made ahead of time – It is actually recommended to let the dough chill for a minimum of 3 hours or up to 3 days. It is such a time saver to be able to split up making the dough, baking the cookies, and decorating them into separate days!
- The cookies are perfectly spiced and soft – The ratio of spices and molasses is perfect. You get enough spice to bring out the warm essence of gingerbread, without it being overwhelming. The cookies are also soft and chewy which is always more than welcome in my book!
Tips for making the gingerbread cookies:
- Get creative with your cookie cutters!
- Have fun and play around with different sizes and shapes. If you use a smaller size cutter, you will want to decrease the baking time by a few minutes – keep a close eye on them in the oven.
- Use a bent icing spatula or knife to transfer the cutout dough to the baking sheet.
- Carefully sliding a spatula or knife under the dough to lift and transfer it to the baking sheet greatly helps reduce the risk of the dough tearing or becoming misshapen.
- Use melted chocolate to decorate the cookies:
- After trial and error, I found that decorating cookies with white chocolate is so much easier and tastier than decorating with store bought icing. I have yet to delve into the world of royal icing, and white chocolate is just so accessible! My favorite to use are the white chocolate Ghirardelli melting wafers.
- Another huge bonus – the chocolate hardens making the cookies extremely easy to stack and transfer! No fears of the decorations smudging.
How to Decorate the gingerbread men with white chocolate:
- Bake your gingerbread cookies and allow them to fully cool.
- Next, melt your white chocolate and pour it into a plastic piping bag or ziplock bag.
- I used white chocolate Ghirardelli melting wafers for these
- Cut a tiny corner off the edge of the bag – you don’t want the chocolate to run out without being able to control it.
- Carefully test the chocolate on a piece of paper or a plate to see how easily the chocolate can be piped from the bag. You may need to cut a bigger hole, or realize you need a smaller opening. Better to test this out before you start the cookie decorating!
- Carefully pipe two eyes, a bow, two buttons, and zig zag borders around the gingerbread men arms and legs.
- Add a small, sparkly sprinkle to the center of the bow to add a fun visual element!
How to decorate the gingerbread stocking cookies with chocolate, sprinkles, and crushed peppermint:
- Bake your stocking/boot shaped gingerbread cookies and allow them to cool.
- I found this cookie cutter at World Market, however many can be found on Amazon and other sites.
- Melt your chocolate in a heat-safe bowl.
- I used Ghirardellhi melting wafers in white and dark chocolate.
- Dip the top of the gingerbread cookie into the chocolate, and lay it down gently on a sheet of wax or parchment paper.
- Sprinkle the wet chocolate with toppings of your choice.
- Pictured above is dark chocolate topped with peppermint crushed candy cane bits and white chocolate topped with white nonpareils. The goal was to make them look like fuzzy, fur cuffed boots!
How to decorate the ugly Christmas sweater gingerbread cookies:
These sweater cookies let you get creative and just have fun! I made the above on a whim and it ended up being a unique and colorful addition to a Christmas cookie box I made for an ugly sweater themed party.
Steps to decorate the gingerbread sweaters:
- Spread a layer of melted white chocolate to the top of the cooled sweater-shaped cookie.
- I found this sweater cookie cutter at World Market. Similar one here!
- Sprinkle the wet white chocolate with festive nonpareils.
- Create a border around the cookie with icing or sprinkles.
- I used green sprinkles which are very effective visually, but you may want to be careful biting into it if they are firm!
- Add a cute animal or festive design to the center of the cookie.
- Pictured above is a gingerbread man royal icing decoration by Wilton.
Gingerbread cookies are classic, nostalgic, and simply heart-warming!
These Soft Gingerbread Cookies Decorated with Chocolate take this classic cookie up to a whole new, elevated level. The way the chocolate melds with the perfectly soft and spiced cookie is a delicious flavor and texture experience, especially if you add sprinkles or the crushed candy canes!
This holiday season, I encourage you to try out new decorating methods and flavor combinations with your gingerbread cookies. It will make decorating them with friends and family even more exciting, especially if you throw an ugly sweater cookie decorating contest!
If you are looking for more holiday dessert ideas, check out my post for a Christmas Cookie Box with tips on how to make one of these boxes yourself, as well as a variety of baking ideas!
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If you make this dessert or have any questions, please leave a comment below! I absolutely love hearing when others are inspired to step into their kitchen and try out something new.
Happy Baking!
XOXO,
