Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

These are the best chocolate gingerbread cookies and are perfect for icing with Christmas frosting and decorating. This homemade recipe is chewy, crisp, spiced, and mellow.  The delicious wonder of these cut-out cookies is that the cocoa adds chocolate to the gingerbread batter so that they have a mellow spice flavor and are not too strong.

I enjoy gingerbread but it is often too harsh for me and the kids and this hit the spot.  They are also so dang cute, just look at them whether plain or decorated with icing, chocolate gingerbread is the best Christmas or holiday cookie. I wanted to combine all the holiday flavors with the hopes it would be a combination of chocolate, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and molasses into the best homemade gingerbread.  They turned out perfect and are so tasty.

These chocolate gingerbread cookies will be on our Christmas cookie list or exchange every year now, they are that good.  To decorate, you must use my EASY COOKIE ICING for frosting.  It hardens and comes out shiny with a beautiful gloss, the best way to decorate any cut-out cookie shape.

Ingredients for Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

These cookies need all the traditional gingerbread ingredients like cinnamon, molasses, and cloves but they also have cocoa for that rich chocolate flavor that goes so well with the old-fashioned spice flavors.  The key to all cookie baking is to make sure your butter and eggs are at room temperature. So plan ahead and get those on your kitchen counter ahead of time so they are ready when you want to start mixing the cookie batter.

How to Make Chocolate Gingerbread

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Next, add the small butter pieces. Using a hand mixer, mix at low speed until the mixture is combined and the butter is combined in and looks like large grains of sand. In a small bowl, whisk the egg and molasses together.

Finish Mixing Together the Chocolate Gingerbread Dough

Add the egg mixture a little bit at a time to the dry ingredients and mix on low to medium speed.  Mix until the dough comes together.  This will not be a super moist/soft dough. It will appear a bit dry as seen below but that is ok.

Divide the dough in half on 2 large sheets of plastic wrap.  You will likely scrape and dump it onto the plastic wrap. With your hands, bring the dough together into a rectangular shape. The warmth of your hands as you bring it together will help it stick and form the shape.  Wrap the plastic wrap around it to form each into a rectangle that is about 1″ thick.

Chilling the Cookie Dough is Very Important

To ensure the cookies hold their shape and do not spread while baking, chilling the dough and keeping the gingerbread cold is very important. With any cookie dough, you are cutting with a cookie cutter, this is an important step such as with sugar cookies also.

To chill - place each wrapped dough section into the refrigerator for a least an hour or 15 minutes in the freezer. You want it firm but with just enough give that it will still roll out. Take one portion at a time from the refrigerator to roll the dough. Place between two sheets of parchment paper and using a rolling pin into a ⅓ inch thick layer.

To Cut - Using your cookie cutters, cut out desired shapes, and gently move the cookies to a nonstick baking sheet or a baking sheet prepared with cooking spray.  They should be easy to move as they will still be chilled but if they are hard, use a spatula to move them. Gather scraps as you cut out your cookies and rechill. Add scraps from each batch all back together for a 3rd smaller batch of cookies. Remember to chill!

To Make a Chocolate Gingerbread House - if you want to use this recipe to make a gingerbread house, templates are great for that.  Check out this link for 20 Free Gingerbread House Templates. There are both simple and elaborate designs. So fun!

IMPORTANT – Place the baking sheet with cookies on them into the refrigerator for another hour or 15 minutes in the freezer to chill again. This is an important step because chilling the dough ensures it doesn’t spread while baking and the shapes come out perfect with straight edges.

PREHEAT OVEN - make sure you do this on time so it is ready as you take the cookies out of the refrigerator or freezer.  These will bake at 350°

Repeat - Repeat the chill, roll, cut, and rechill steps through all the batches of cookies.

Bake the Homemade Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

Make sure you have preheated the oven to 350°, before taking any cookies out of the refrigerator or freezer. You do not want them at room temperature before going straight into the oven.

Bake cookies for 9-10 minutes for a chewy cookie.  Bake 10-12 for a crisper cookie. Let cool on the baking sheet for 1 minute before moving to a wire rack to cool.

Frosting and Decorating Cookies with Homemade Icing Recipe

DO NOT FORGET to make this recipe for my homemade EASY COOKIE ICING  so you can decorate your holiday cookies.  This makes the best white frosting and then you can divide and separate the icing into smaller bowls and add gel food coloring to get all your favorite colors. It is similar to royal icing except that instead of using egg whites, it uses corn syrup.

How to Store Gingerbread Cookies

These cookies store well for up to 5 days in an air-tight container. It is better to store unfrosted gingerbread cookies but if they are frosted with the recipe I shared above, they can still be stored easily. Keep them in a cool dry location like the pantry or cupboard.

Freezing Gingerbread Cookies

You can freeze gingerbread cookies easily. They freeze well and are great for bulk baking. You can bake dozens of these ahead of time and freeze them to enjoy later during the holidays. This is a Christmas cookie classic so bake a bunch up and defrost later. Once defrosted, frost and decorate.

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