Description
These Gingerbread Sandwich Cookies are a delightful holiday treat featuring spiced gingerbread cookies filled with a smooth and creamy vanilla frosting. Perfect for festive occasions, this recipe offers tender, flavorful cookies that sandwich rich frosting, making for a sweet and satisfying bite. The recipe includes tips for easy rolling, chilling, and frosting to ensure perfect results every time.
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 fully combined. Set this dry mixture aside for later use.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and brown sugar with a hand or stand mixer until the mixture is light and fluffy, approximately 2 minutes. Then add the egg, molasses, and vanilla extract, mixing thoroughly until the batter is smooth and uniform.
- Combine Wet and Dry: Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, mixing just until everything is incorporated. The resulting dough will be soft and slightly sticky. Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and chill it in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour to firm up.
- Roll and Cut the Dough: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). On a lightly floured surface, roll the chilled dough to an even thickness of about ¼ inch. Use gingerbread-shaped or round cookie cutters to cut out shapes and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake the Cookies: Bake the cut-out cookies for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the edges are set and slightly firm. Allow them to cool on the baking 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 until the frosting is smooth, creamy, and fluffy.
- Assemble the Sandwich Cookies: Once the cookies have fully cooled, spread or pipe the frosting on the flat side of one cookie, then gently press a second cookie on top to create a sandwich. Repeat this process with all the cookies.
Notes
- Chilling the dough makes rolling and cutting much easier and prevents sticking.
- Roll dough evenly: thicker cookies yield a softer texture, thinner cookies become crispier.
- Use a piping bag or a zip-top bag with a corner snipped for neat frosting application.
- Add a pinch of salt to the frosting for a sweet-and-salty flavor balance if desired.
- Make sure cookies are completely cooled before frosting to avoid melting the filling.
- The dough can be made up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated.
- Baked cookies freeze well without frosting for up to 2 months; frost after thawing.
- Once assembled, store sandwich cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
- Freeze assembled sandwich cookies individually wrapped for up to 1 month.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: gingerbread cookies, sandwich cookies, holiday cookies, gingerbread, festive desserts, vanilla frosting, spiced cookies
