These Soft Glazed Gingerbread Cookies are so soft, chewy, and flavorful! Deeply spiced with the glaze giving the perfect amount of sweetness! I never cared for gingerbread before I made these cookies!
In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, spices, baking soda, and salt). Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine butter and sugar. Cream until mixture is light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
Add egg and mix well. Add molasses and agave syrup (or light corn syrup). Mix until combined.
Gradually add dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated.
Portion the dough out into balls using about 3 tablespoons of dough for each (mine weighed about 1.5 ounces). I used a large cookie scoop for this (see note). Wrap the dough tightly and refrigerate overnight (at least 8 hours; see note).If making cut-outs: form the dough into a disc, wrap tightly, and refrigerate overnight.
Once the dough has chilled, preheat your oven to 350° F. Grease a cookie pan (see note) and set aside. If making cut-outs: line baking sheets with parchment and set aside.
Press dough into the prepared pan. You may have to let the dough warm a bit to be pliable enough to accomplish this.If making cut-outs: roll the dough out to about ¼ inch thickness on a floured surface and cut out desired shapes. You want to introduce as little additional flour to the dough as possible. Place the cut-outs in the freezer for 10-20 minutes before baking to help them keep their shape.
Bake cookies until puffed and edges are slightly golden, about 8-10 minutes.If making cut-outs: cookies will bake up in about 7-8 minutes, depending on the size of your cookies.
Let cookies cool at least 10 minutes before glazing (see note).
For Glaze
Combine sifted powdered sugar and water in a small bowl. Mix until combined and smooth. Using a pastry brush, brush the top of each cookie with glaze. Allow the glaze to set before serving.Enjoy!
Notes
Note on molasses: Make sure to use dark, unsulphured molasses and *not* blackstrap molasses. Blackstrap molasses is bitter and will not give the flavor you're looking for.Note on chilling dough overnight: I know. You wanted the cookies today, and now I'm telling you to wait! Letting the dough rest overnight will give you the best flavor, because you've allowed the dough time for the flavors of aaaaall those spices to marry. Note on portioning dough: I portion out the dough for use in my cookie pan before chilling, as the dough becomes quite firm and difficult to scoop after chilling.Note on cookie pan: They no longer make the cookie pan that I used. That said, I found this one here that would be super cute, too! Note on bake time: Your bake time will greatly depend on the size and thickness of your cookies. My cookies each used about 3 tablespoons of dough, weighing about 1.5 ounces each before baking. These 2.5" x 2.5" x 0.4" cookies baked up in about 9 minutes. I've also tried this recipe as ¼" thick cut-outs, which baked up in about 7 minutes.Note on glazing: Allow the cookies to cool about 10 minutes before brushing the glaze on. Alternatively, you can store the unglazed cookies in the freezer until you're ready to serve them. They can be glazed after you thaw them (this is what I always do)! I don't suggest glazing the cookies prior to freezing.