Mini Gingerbread Men Cookies

Mini gingerbread men cookies are cute and adorable mini gingerbread cookies that will easily beat any holiday cookies. They are best enjoyed with a glass of cold or warm milk and are great to bake with kids.

We all know that holiday cookie cutter cookies are a must. But oftentimes, sugar cookies are so time-consuming to bake and decorate. So this delicious gingerbread man recipe comes into play.

Jump to:

• Mini gingerbread men recipe
• Ingredients
• How to make mini gingerbread men
• Expert Tips
• Recipe variations
• What to do with mini gingerbread men
• Storing and freezing
• Recipe FAQ
• Love gingerbread recipes? Try these next!
• Recipe card
• Comments

With this simple recipe, you get a quick batch of the cutest tiny gingerbread men ready in less than an hour (chilling time is not included).

Making cute and adorable cookies at home is so much fun, and it is more fun to host a holiday party at your place, serving your guests with cookies.

And don't forget to download and print out FREE printable gift tags and a Season's Greetings card.

Mini gingerbread men recipe

• This gingerbread cookie recipe is easy and fun to bake.

• It makes a basic gingerbread cookie dough that could be used to make different Christmas cookies, including a small gingerbread house, gingerbread sandwich cookies, and gingerbread house mug toppers.

• The cookie dough can be made five days in advance and kept refrigerated. Once you are ready to bake, just roll it out, cut it into shapes, and bake.   

• With this flavorful and "self-sufficient" recipe, it is easy to forget about possible mini gingerbread man decoration. You just don't need to make any!

• The cookies are just of the perfect size, the one-bite size one.

• Finally, small gingerbread man cookies are loved by kids and adults. They are tastier than Trader Joe's mini gingerbread men cookies.

Ingredients

For ingredients and detailed instructions, refer to the recipe card below.

• Flour: Use all-purpose flour to make the cookies. You can replace it with pastry flour or all-purpose gluten-free flour with perfect results.

• Baking soda (aka sodium bicarbonate) is a leavening agent that helps cookies rise. Don't confuse it with baking powder, please.

• Spices: Warm spices such as ground ginger, ground cinnamon, and ground nutmeg pack cookies with festive flavors.

• Butter: The recipe calls for unsalted butter. Make sure that the butter is softened at room temperature.

• Sugar: Use granulated sugar or caster sugar. Replace it with brown sugar if desired.

• Large egg: Make sure it is at room temperature for the best baking results. 

• Honey: Use any liquid honey. But the strong-flavored buckwheat honey is the most preferable for making gingerbread cookies.

How to make mini gingerbread men

Step 1. To make the cookie dough, mix flour, baking soda, and all the spices in a mixing bowl.

Step 2. In a separate large bowl, beat butter with sugar with an electric mixer for about 2 to 3 minutes (photo 1).

Step 3. Add the egg and warm liquid honey (warm it in the microwave for a few seconds) and whisk with a mixer (photo 2).

Step 4. Pour the flour mixture into the principal preparation and mix with a rubber spatula (photo 3).

Step 5. Transfer the dough to a working surface lined with plastic wrap, cover it well with plastic, and refrigerate for 2 hours. 

Step 6. Preheat oven to 355°F (180°C). Line a baking or cookie sheet with parchment.

Step 7. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough between two sheets of parchment paper to almost ⅕ inch thickness (4 mm).

Step 8. Dip a mini gingerbread man cookie cutter (from mini cookie cutters set) into flour, and cut out shapes (photo 4).

Step 9. Peel off excess cookie dough from around the miniature gingerbread men. Use a cookie spatula or a palette knife to carefully lift the cookies without ruining their shapes and place them on the prepared baking sheet (photo 5).

Pro tip: Collect the remaining dough and dough scraps, re-roll them, and cut more cookies until you have used up all the dough.

Step 10. Bring the cut-out cookie shapes to the freezer for a few minutes to facilitate transferring them to the baking sheet.

Step 11. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes. Watch out for the mini cookies during baking: they can burn out quickly (photo 6).

Step 12. Take them from the oven and let them cool on a wire rack.

Expert Tips

1. If the cookie dough becomes soft and sticky during the roll/cutting process, just stop and refrigerate it for a few minutes to make it easier to work with. Make sure to cover the dough with plastic wrap or cookie shapes with parchment paper.
2. If you want softer cookies, roll the dough out as mentioned. For crispy cookies, roll the cookie dough thinner, but adjust the baking time. It may be less than 5-7 minutes.
3. Add a few seconds to the baking time for the deeper golden color of the cookies, but don't burn the cookies.
4. Bake one tray at a time for the best baking results. While you bake it, you fill another baking sheet with cookies.
5. Make-ahead option: Make the cookie dough and chill it overnight, then bake the cookies the next day. You can refrigerate the dough well wrapped for up to 5 days.

Recipe variations

True gingerbread cookies should be packed with festive flavors due to warm spices. While you can play with adding spices according to your taste, it is not recommended to use more than 3 to 4 kinds of spices.

• Change the amounts of the standard spices listed in the mini gingerbread cookies recipe. Add ½ teaspoon of ground cloves. Cloves give a nice touch of spice and warmth to the dough.

• Use any miniature cookie cutter (Santa, Christmas tree, candy canes, snowflakes, etc.) to make variable mini gingerbread cookies. Then follow the guide on making a cookie box from one dough and enjoy.

• Leave small gingerbread men cookies undecorated or dip them in melted chocolate.

• Decorate mini gingerbread man cookies. Use white cookie icing or homemade royal icing with a piping bag fitted with Ateco pastry tip 00 or 1, or design your cookies.

Pipe a smiley face, dress him up with decorative shorts, and simply put buttons or a zig-zag across the arms and legs. Let the finished cookies stay at room temperature for at least 2 hours; better overnight for the icing to set.

• Another simple way to bring a finishing touch to the cookies is to top them with icing sugar (confectioners' sugar).

What to do with mini gingerbread men

Besides serving them with a cup of tea, coffee, or French hot chocolate, here are a few other ideas:

• Decorate the baked goods: Place a couple of cute mini gingerbread men on top of Gingerbread Pavlova.

• Make verrine desserts: Crush the cookies into cookie crumbles and make 15-minute Banoffe pie cups.

Storing and freezing

Store your miniature gingerbread man cookies between layers of parchment paper in an airtight container in a dry place for up to 1 week.

You can freeze undecorated cookies in a Ziploc freezer bag for up to 3 months. To thaw, let them stay at room temperature.

Recipe FAQ

Love gingerbread recipes? Try these next!

• French gingerbread loaf
• Gingerbread madeleines
• Christmas cookie ornaments
• Or browse all the Christmas recipes

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Recipe card

The nutritional information has been calculated using an online recipe nutrition calculator such as Verywellfit.com and is intended for informational purposes only. These figures should be used as a general guideline and not be construed as a guarantee.