These Easy Mini Gingerbread Cookies might be my most favorite Christmas cookies! They're soft cookies and delicious cookies and just so stinkin' cute! They're also easy to make and no detailed decorations are required for them to be fun and festive meaning more time to relax and enjoy family during the holiday season.
Originally posted December 2019, updated December 2024
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Easy Mini Gingerbread Cookies Recipe
Let's talk about these sweet little Mini Gingerbread Men. It seems "mini" is our running theme this year - following the Mini Gingerbread Houses. But why not? It is the most wonderful time of year and cookies must be made!
I originally made these cookies for a 12 Days of Cookies series. Now I sell all 12 recipes + 15 more recipes in this Christmas Cookies ebook bundle at a fantastic price!
Anyway... just looking at these mini Gingerbread cookies makes me so happy! We love to decorate gingerbread (we have an annual gingerbread house competition), but I also love the ease of cookies, which don't need decorating and can be enjoyed just as they are.
And they're SO small and cute! I used a 3" mini gingerbread man cutter. Of course, you can use any size you like, but this mini cookie cutter makes them irresistible!
The only decorating we did for these mini gingerbread men cookies is a dusting of powdered sugar and they're just perfect! And unlike the gingerbread dough for the houses, you'll absolutely want to eat these cookies!
Why You'll Love These Mini Gingerbread Men
- You can prep the dough ahead of time and bake at your convenience.
- These mini cookies are the perfect treat for little hands.
- Kids can help you with them!
- These are great for cookie exchanges, classroom parties, or gift-giving. Place the cookies in a cookie tin and add a small bottle of homemade vanilla extract on top with a ribbon and you have the perfect gift for the baker in your life.
- You can make a small batch of cookies and save the rest of the dough for another day if you don't need 3 dozen at once.
Tools Needed
Most home cooks and bakers will already have everything you need to make these cookies... except maybe the mini gingerbread man cutter?
- Mini Gingerbread Cookie Cutter
- Large Bowl and Electric Hand Mixer OR
- Stand Mixer
- Spatula
- Plastic Wrap
- Parchment Paper
- Cookie Sheet
- Cooling Rack
Ingredients
Almost all of the ingredients for this gingerbread recipe are probably in your pantry already.
- Vegetable Oil or Canola Oil
- Molasses - you can use any kind of molasses you like, but blackstrap molasses is my go-to.
- Brown Sugar
- Eggs, at room temperature
- All Purpose Flour
- Gingerbread Spice (or ground cinnamon + ground ginger)
- Baking Soda
- Salt
- Powdered Sugar
Find the full recipe with ingredients measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
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Mini Gingerbread Man Cookie Cutter
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How to Make Mini Gingerbread Cookies
This gingerbread cookie recipe is really easy to put together. Remember that you have to chill the dough for at least 2 hours, so you'll want to prep ahead.
Make the Dough
- In the bowl of a stand mixer equipped with a paddle attachment (or use an electric mixer and a large mixing bowl), add the oil, molasses, and brown sugar. Mix well until combined.
- Add in one large egg at a time mixing on medium speed between each addition.
- Add the dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, and salt) into a medium bowl and whisk to combine.
- Slowly add the flour mixture into the wet and mix on medium-low speed until a crumbly mixture forms.
- Using a spatula or a clean hand, shape the cookie dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap.
- Refrigerate for 2-3 hours or overnight.
Bake the Cookies
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. and prepared a baking sheet with nonstick spray and set aside. You can also use sheets of parchment paper if you wish.
- Remove your dough from the refrigerator and place on a lightly floured surface. Use a rolling pin to roll out to about ¼ inch thickness. Note: don't use too much flour - it'll dry out the dough.
- Using a mini gingerbread man cookie cutter, cut out the desired amount of cookies and place on the prepared baking sheet. (you can only use a portion of dough and keep the extra dough in the refrigerator for later use)
- Bake cookies for 9-10 minutes or until they look fluffy and brown.
- Generously sift powdered sugar over top once they come out of the oven.
- Allow them to cool on a wire rack before eating. These cookies are fragile when warm so if you rush, you might lose an arm or leg (or even a head 😲).
Variations
- If you want to add more details to your mini gingerbread men, you can make royal icing and use pipe it on simple icing decorations! My royal icing recipe is here (made with meringue powder); you will need a piping bag or pastry bag if you want to get fancy.
- A second option is to make a simple glaze to drizzle over your cookies and add sprinkles. It's easy to find Christmas sprinkles during the holiday season at any grocery store or craft store.
- One last option is to skip the powdered sugar and eat plain cookies if you wish.
- While I prefer to make these small cookies, you can use any different sizes or shapes of cookie cutters that make you happy.
Storage Directions
Store mini gingerbread cookies at room temperature in an airtight container for up to one week. The longer you keep them, the dryer they will be.
More Holiday Cookies
- Perfect Sugar Cookies
- The Ultimate Chocolate Chip M&M Cookies
- Mini Gingerbread Men
- Easy Reindeer Cookies
- Chewy Caramel Oatmeal Cookies (with Cookie Mix)
- Homemade Pecan Sandies
- Easy Red Velvet Peppermint Cookies
- Christmas Lights Cookies
- OREO Chocolate Balls
- Pecan Praline Cookies
- Christmas Cookie Cake (Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake Recipe)
- Snowflake Cookies (Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing)
Recipe
Mini Gingerbread Men Cookies Recipe
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 36 1x
Description
These Easy Mini Gingerbread Men might be my most favorite Christmas cookies! They're just so stinkin' cute and easy to make and no detailed decorations are required for them to be fun and festive.
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup vegetable or canola oil
- ¼ cup molasses
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon of Gingerbread Spice (or 2 teaspoons each of ginger and cinnamon)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2-3 Tablespoons powdered sugar
Instructions
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer equipped with a paddle attachment, add the oil, molasses, and brown sugar. Mix well until combined.
2. Add in eggs one at a time mixing well between each addition.
3. Add flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and whisk to combine.
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet and mix on medium-low speed until a crumbly mixture forms.
5. Using a spatula or a clean hand, press the dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap.
1. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours or overnight.
Prepare:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. and prepared a baking sheet with nonstick spray and set aside.
2. Remove your dough from the refrigerator and place on a floured surface. Roll out to about ¼ inch thickness and using a mini gingerbread man cookie cutter, cut out the desired amount of cookies and place on the prepared baking sheet. (you can place extra dough in the refrigerator for later use)
3. Bake the cookies for 9-10 minutes or until they look fluffy and brown.
4. Generously sift powdered sugar over top once they come out of the oven. Allow to cool and serve.
Notes
These require advanced preparation - the dough must be chilled for at least 2-3 hours, or overnight.
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 10
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Alvilda Breeze
I love this recipe and how they turned out. Thank you Rose.
Not used to using oil in cookies. Over here in NZ it is usually butter.
Followed the recipe exactly and chilled the dough overnight and was so happy how they
turned out. Just like your photo.
Jeff
I keep having to add almost a cup of flour and more spices. it's cake batter consistency with 3 cups and I've made it twice now. made sure to follow the recipe very closely the 2nd time and still very loose til I add more flour