Gingerbread Sandwich Cookies Recipe
These Gingerbread Sandwich Cookies are a festive treat perfect for the holiday season. Soft, spiced gingerbread cookies sandwiched together with a creamy vanilla buttercream frosting make for a deliciously nostalgic and fun dessert. The recipe is easy to follow and yields beautifully shaped cookies with a rich, warm flavor and a luscious frosting that adds the perfect sweet touch.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: Approximately 24 sandwich cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Scale
For the Cookies:
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 egg
- ½ cup molasses
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Frosting:
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream (or milk)
Instructions
- Mix the Dry Ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda, and salt until evenly combined. Set this mixture aside.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and brown sugar using a hand or stand mixer on medium speed until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg, molasses, and vanilla extract and mix until the batter is smooth and well combined.
- Combine Wet and Dry: Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, mixing just until all ingredients are combined to form a soft and sticky dough. Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and chill it in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour to make it easier to handle.
- Roll and Cut the Dough: Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Lightly flour a clean surface and roll the chilled dough out to about ¼ inch thickness. Use gingerbread-shaped or round cookie cutters to cut out shapes and place them evenly spaced on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Bake the Cookies: Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until the edges are set but the cookies remain soft. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let the cookies cool on the sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
- Make the Frosting: In a medium bowl, beat together the powdered sugar, softened butter, vanilla extract, and heavy cream (or milk) until the frosting is smooth, creamy, and fluffy enough to pipe or spread.
- Assemble the Sandwich Cookies: Spread or pipe a generous amount of frosting onto the flat side of one cookie, then gently press another cookie on top to form a sandwich. Repeat this process with all the remaining cookies.
Notes
- Chilling the dough makes rolling and cutting much easier and prevents sticking.
- For softer cookies, roll the dough thicker; for crispier cookies, roll the dough thinner.
- Use a piping bag or a zip-top bag with the tip cut off for a neat frosting application.
- Add a pinch of salt to the frosting if you prefer a sweet-and-salty flavor profile.
- Allow cookies to cool completely before frosting to prevent the filling from melting.
- You can make the dough up to 3 days ahead and keep it refrigerated.
- Baked cookies (without frosting) freeze well for up to 2 months; thaw before frosting and assembling.
- These cookies store best in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the fridge for up to 1 week.
- Freeze assembled sandwich cookies individually wrapped for up to 1 month, thaw before serving.
- Molasses can be substituted with honey or maple syrup, noting that the flavor will be lighter.
- Adjust spices according to your taste by increasing cinnamon or omitting cloves.
- Add cinnamon or orange zest to the frosting for extra flavor variety.
- If you don’t have cookie cutters, a cup can be used to cut round shapes.
Keywords: gingerbread cookies, sandwich cookies, holiday cookies, spiced cookies, molasses cookies, Christmas treats, homemade frosting, festive desserts
