Gingerbread sandwich cookies are one of the most delicious and decadent ways to celebrate the holiday season… or just autumn rolling in. Those warm flavors of ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg remind us of pumpkin picking, Christmas cookies and little crunchy gingerbread men.

Table of Contents

Quick History of Gingerbread

While gingerbread cookies are popular in Germany, thanks to a little fairytale called “Hansel and Gretel”, gingerbread actually dates back to early Greece. Not until the Middle Ages did this tasty treat make its way to Germany and England.

According to a PBS article written by Tori Avery, “the term gingerbread simply meant preserved ginger and wasn’t applied to the desserts we are familiar with until the 15th century. ” Rhonda Massingham Hart wrote in her book Making Gingerbread Houses, “the hard cookies… were a staple at Medieval fairs in England, France, Holland and Germany.”

Not until the 15th century did the Germans start making Gingerbread houses. They later brought this tradition with them when they immigrated to the United States. Some believe the tradition started with Hansel and Gretel, a German fairy tale published in 1812 in Grimm’s Fairy Tales tale, who found a house made of sweets.

It’s an easy leap to make.

Why Gingerbread Sandwich Cookies?

While many people make the traditional, crunchy gingerbread men and German gingerbread houses, I like to create a soft gingerbread that I can fill with frosting. My boys love them (we may have had a few for breakfast this weekend), and it’s a hit at every house we visit.

These soft and chewy cookies are best eaten within a few days of making them. If you can’t, freeze a few or give them to your favorite neighbor. As many of you already know, I “force” my neighbors to taste test all of my creations.

My family can be biased sometimes, so I go out of my zone for criticism. Ha!

Gingerbread Ingredients

1/2 cup Butter
1 cup Brown sugar
1 Egg
1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
3/4 cup Molasses or Treacle
3/4 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Ground cloves
1/4 tsp Ground nutmeg
2 tsp Ground Ginger + 3 tsp Ginger Paste (or 5 tsp Ground Ginger)
2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
3- 3 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper (or you can use one large cookie sheet).
In a Stand Mixer, combine butter and brown sugar, beating the butter until light and fluffy.
Add molasses, egg and vanilla, whipping for 1-2 minutes (add ginger paste now if using)
Sift together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, clover, nutmeg and ground ginger.
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients until combined. You should have a a semi-dry dough, enough to make cookie balls in your hand without dough sticking, but not so dry it can’t hold together.
Scoop 1-2 level teaspoons of gingerbread mix and roll into a ball.
Roll in crystalized white sugar.
Place cookie balls in rows of three, leaving at least 2 inches between each cookie.
Bake for 7-10 minutes. Outside will looked cooked, inside will be soft.
Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for a few minutes, before moving to a wire rack.

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz Philadelphia Cream Cheese (block of cream cheese brought to room temperature)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into cubes
3 cups powdered sugar (also called Confectioners Sugar)
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
Pinch of Salt

Cream Cheese Frosting Instructions

Fit your mixer with the paddle attachment (or use a hand mixer)
Combine butter and cream cheese together on medium speed, for about 2 minutes until smooth.
Switch to low speed.
Add salt, vanilla extract and powdered sugar.
Mix until combined.
Bring back up to high speed and whip for 1-2 minutes until you have a nice fluffy frosting.
Add more powdered sugar if you need to thicken up your frosting.
If you put frosting in the refrigerator, allow it to come back to room temperature and give it a good stir before using on your cookies.

Once cookies are cool, pipe or spoon cream cheese frosting onto the underside of one cookie.
Place a second cookie on top of the iced cookie, top face up.
Repeat and enjoy with a hot mug of apple cider or our favorite pumpkin cocktail.
Store gingerbread cookies in an airtight container or a plate covered in plastic wrap, or better yet, bees wrap.

Big and Flat Gingerbread Sandwich Cookies

If you want your gingerbread cookies to be flat, and not a bit puffy like i did in the recipe above, simply press each gingerbread dough ball down with a fork in one direction, and then turn 90 degrees and push down with the fork in the other direction, making a hash print on top. They will spread out more this way, giving you more room to add cream to your cookies. Sprinkle with granulated sugar before popping in the oven.

Pin it and make it!

Yield: 24-36

Gingerbread Sandwich Cookies

If you love cream and a nice kick of molasses and ginger, you definitely want to make our soft and easy Ginger Bread Sandwich Cookies.

Ingredients

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

8 oz Cream Cheese (block at room temperature)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into cubes
3 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
Pinch of Salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line 2 baking sheets (or 1 large) with parchment paper.
Combine butter and brown sugar, until light and fluffy.
Add molasses, egg and vanilla, whipping for 1-2 minutes (add ginger paste if using)
Sift together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, clover, nutmeg and ground ginger.
Add flour mixture to wet ingredients until combined. You should have a a semi-dry dough, enough to make cookie balls in your hand without dough sticking.
Scoop one level tablespoon of gingerbread mix and roll into a ball.
Roll in crystalized white sugar.
Place cookie balls in rows of three, leaving at least 2 inches between each cookie.
Bake for 7-10 minutes. Outside will looked cooked, inside will be soft.
Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for a few minutes, before moving to a wire rack.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Fit your mixer with the paddle attachment (or use a hand mixer)
Combine butter and cream cheese together on medium speed, for about 2 minutes until smooth.
Switch to low speed.
Add salt, vanilla extract and powdered sugar.
Bring back up to high speed and whip for 1-2 minutes until you have a nice fluffy frosting.
Add more powdered sugar if you need to thicken up your frosting.
If you put frosting in the refrigerator, allow it to come back to room temperature and give it a good stir before using on your cookies.

Making Your Gingerbread Sandwich Cookie

Once cookies are cool, pipe or spoon cream cheese frosting onto the underside of one cookie.
Place a second cookie on top of the iced cookie, top face up.
Repeat and enjoy with a hot mug of apple cider or our favorite pumpkin cocktail.

Notes

I like to make my cookie sandwiches small. You can make these larger, but they will need a bit more baking time. Start at 7 minutes and go up from there.

If you SMUSH your dough balls down, you will get a much flatter cookie. They still taste just as good, they just won't puff up as much.

best gingerbread sandwich cookies

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 280Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 25mgSodium: 153mgCarbohydrates: 48gFiber: 1gSugar: 20gProtein: 4g

All information and tools presented and written within this site are intended for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and any nutritional information on twisttravelmag.com should only be used as a general guideline. This information is provided as a courtesy and there is no guarantee that the information will be completely accurate. The nutritional labels are a product of online calculators, such as Calorie Count. Even though I try to provide accurate nutritional information to the best of my ability, these figures should still be considered estimates.

How to Make Festive German Gingerbread Sandwich Cookie Recipe

Quick History of Gingerbread