Add these Gingerbread Christmas Cookies to your Christmas tree ornaments collection. This is an easy to make, one bowl recipe, which makes these fully customizable cookies an excellent option during the holiday season!
This year, I can’t get enough of holiday baking. I am closing 2019 with these homemade Christmas cookie ornaments that are full of ginger flavor. This Christmas will be my second one when the Christmas tree will be decorated with these edible ornaments.
I adapted a recipe of Christmas cookies created by the French chef Gilles Marchal. The gingerbread dough is a great example of a no-fail dough to make cookies, using cookie cutter and/or cookie stamps. It is so easy to make and work with.
Just mix ingredients in one bowl, roll the dough out and refrigerate for 2 hours. Then cut cookies and bake for 20 minutes. Leave cookies plain or decorate them, and they are ready as a beautiful edible gift!
If you want to spice up your Christmas with cinnamon, you might like German Cinnamon Star Cookies – Zimsterne. If you are a fan of cranberry/white chocolate combo, look no further that these Chewy Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies.
Why Gingerbread Christmas Cookie Ornaments Recipe Works
- One bowl, easy recipe is great during a busy holiday season.
- The recipe results in a batch of cookies to please the crowd.
- These cookies make a beautiful edible gift during the holidays.
- Making a small hole in each cookie before baking makes unique Christmas tree ornaments.
- Cookies are fully customizable: leave them plain or decorate them any way you please.
- The cookies recipe is universal: omit ground allspice * and make regular almond cookies.
How to Make Gingerbread Christmas Cookie Ornaments – Step by Step
To make the cookie dough, place softened butter and scraped vanilla seeds in the bowl of a stand mixer * and mix till smooth. Add almond flour * (photo 1) and mix. Then add icing sugar, ground allspice *, salt, flour and egg, and mix again till the dough becomes homogeneous (photo 2).
Using a rolling pin *, roll the dough out between two sheets of the parchment paper * to the thickness of about 1/5 inch/5 mm. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 300 F/150 C. Take the cookie dough out of the fridge and cut cookies, using Christmas cookie cutters. Make a small hole in each cookie. Arrange cookies on a baking sheet covered with the parchment (photo 3) and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or till the light brown color (photo 4). Save, press together, and re-roll the dough scraps (you need to chill the rolled dough before cutting the cookies again.)
To make the Royal icing, beat sifted powdered (icing) sugar and egg white with an electric mixer *. Decrease the speed, pour water and mix. Add more water depending on the desired consistency of the Royal icing. Using a spoon or a pastry bag * with a small round tip, sprinkle cookies with Royal icing and Belgian pearl sugar (photos 5-6).
Expert Tips to Make Gingerbread Cookie Ornaments
- Beat butter with vanilla seeds, using an electric mixer *. Combine the rest of ingredients with a rubber spatula * or your hands, if you do not have a stand mixer *.
- Sprinkle cookies with caster sugar, brown sugar, scented sugar, pieces of dried fruit before baking.
- Personalize cookies, using an alphabet cookie stamps set * before baking.
- Decorate ready cookies any way you desire.
- Store Christmas cookies in an airtight container for up to 2 to 4 weeks.
Watch the video masterclass of how to make Christmas cookies by Gilles Marchal.
More Delicious Cookie Recipes You’ll Love
- German Cinnamon Star Cookies – Zimsterne
- Chewy Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
- Italian Whipped Shortbread Cookies
- Browse all the Cookie Recipes
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Add these gingerbread Christmas Cookies to you Christmas tree ornaments collection. This is an easy to make, one bowl recipe, which makes these fully customizable cookies an excellent option during the holiday season!
Ingredients
For the cookie dough:
- 10.5 oz (300 g) butter
- 1 vanilla bean
- 1 1/3 cups (125 g) almond flour *
- 1 cup (125 g) powdered (icing) sugar
- 2 pinches of salt
- 2 cups + 6 1/4 tbsp (300 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp (6 g) ground allspice *
For the royal icing:
- 1 large egg white
- 1 1/2 cups (165 g) powdered (icing) sugar
- 2 tbsp water
For the decoration:
- Belgian pearl sugar
Instructions
- To make the cookie dough, place softened butter and scraped vanilla seeds in the bowl of a stand mixer * and mix till smooth. Add almond flour * and mix. Then add icing sugar, ground allspice *, salt, flour and egg, and mix again till the dough becomes homogeneous.
- Using a rolling pin *, roll the dough out between two sheets of the parchment paper * to the thickness of about 1/5 inch/5 mm. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 300 F/150 C. Take the cookie dough out of the fridge and cut cookies, using Christmas cookie cutters. Make a small hole in each cookie. Arrange cookies on a baking sheet covered with the parchment and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or till the light brown color. Save, press together, and re-roll the dough scraps (you need to chill the rolled dough before cutting the cookies again.)
- To make the Royal icing, beat sifted powdered (icing) sugar and egg white with an electric mixer *. Decrease the speed, pour water and mix. Add more water depending on the desired consistency of the Royal icing. Using a spoon or a pastry bag * with a small round tip, sprinkle cookies with Royal icing and Belgian pearl sugar.
Notes
- Beat butter with vanilla seeds, using an electric mixer. Combine the rest of ingredients with a rubber spatula * or your hands, if you do not have a stand mixer *.
- Sprinkle cookies with caster sugar, brown sugar, scented sugar, pieces of dried fruit before baking.
- Personalize cookies, using an alphabet cookie stamps set * before baking.
- Decorate ready cookies any way you desire.
- Store Christmas cookies in an airtight container for up to 2 to 4 weeks.
Nutrition
- Calories: 181
- Sugar: 5.1 g
- Sodium: 84 mg
- Fat: 12.5 g
- Saturated Fat: 6.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 15.4 g
- Fiber: 0.9 g
- Protein: 2.6 g
- Cholesterol: 32 mg
Keywords: gingerbread cookie ornaments, Christmas cookie ornaments, Christmas cookie recipes, Christmas cookies, gingerbread cookies
The recipe was adapted from https://www.lemonde.fr/. It was originally published on December 24, 2018. The recipe has been revised to include improved content and photos. All posted pictures are mine.
Anita says
Such a great idea using cookies to decorate a Christmas tree. And these are good too, so they are not just for decoration. 🙂
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Irina says
Yes, I made this cookies as ornament cookies, but you can easily make them, using any cookie cutter and/or cookie stamps. The cookie dough is so manageable:) Thanks for your comment.
Sara Welch says
What a great recipe for the holidays! I will have to give these a try this afternoon! Looks too fun to pass up!
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Irina says
Thanks Sara! It is a great baking idea this holiday season. Happy baking and enjoy!
Adriana says
Lovely idea to make edible ornaments, like the fact that you made them monochromatic. When I was a child, my mom and I were used to making gingerbread cookies to hang in the tree. Thanks for the memories and Merry Christmas.
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Irina says
Adriana, I am happy to hear that these cookies brought you warm memories from your childhood. I know this feeling. Merry Christmas!
Raquel says
What a sweet idea! I don’t think they’d last long on my tree:)
Irina says
Thanks Raquel! My cookie ornaments quickly disappear from a Christmas tree! One day I discover that they are gone:) I know what you mean. Happy holidays!
Haley D. Williams says
Such a fun and festive project! I remember doing this with my mom when I was younger and plan on keeping up the tradition. Thank you!
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Irina says
Haley, I agree that making cookie ornaments is fun with kids. Thanks for your comment. Happy holidays!
Claire Cary says
These are too cute!! and I love this simple recipe!
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Irina says
Thanks Claire! This simple recipe brings so much fun and a whole batch of Christmas tree cookie ornaments!
Cindy Smith says
I was looking for a fun activity to do with my kids and some extended family that came in for Christmas! This was so much fun for my family of ALL ages! We loved this!
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Irina says
Thanks Cindy! I am happy to hear that I gave you a great idea of making these cookie ornaments during the family gathering!
Veena Azmanov says
Thanks for your recipe and great idea and delicious cookies. Love the combination of ingredients making these cookies so delicious and yum.
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Irina says
Thank you Veena! Still, there is some time this holiday season to make Christmas tree cookie ornaments. Enjoy!
Dannii says
These are so pretty. I love anything with ginger in.
Irina says
Really? In this case, Dannii, you will enjoy these Gingerbread cookies.
Bintu | Recipes From A Pantry says
I love these gingerbread ornaments, they’re so cute and perfectly festive! What a wonderful idea.
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Irina says
Yes, these cookies are fun to make! Moreover, they are multi-functional: they make a great edible gift and work as Christmas tree ornaments. Thank you Bintu!
Morgan Eisenberg says
What a perfect hostess gift! Pinning this one for 2020.
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Irina says
Thanks for saving the recipe! Happy holidays and enjoy!
thisiswholesome says
These look so pretty! Do you think I could swap the butter with oil?
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Irina says
To answer to your question, you can’t switch the butter for oil in this recipe. Butter is a solid at room temperature, while oil is a liquid. This cookie dough has be chilled for two hours and needs to be relatively solid for cutting cookie ornaments. That is why you can’t substitute butter for oil. Shortening might be a better option, but I have not tried such the variation.
Beth says
We made these for the kids this holiday and they were just perfect! Loved it!
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Irina says
I can imagine how much fun you had making these cookies with kids. Beth, thank you for letting me know:)
Alison says
These turned out so cute, and my kids and I had a blast making them together.
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Irina says
What could be a better family activity around the Christmas time than to make these Christmas tree cookie ornaments?! I am glad that you enjoyed, Alison! Thanks.