Gingerbread Sandwich Cookies
Homemade gingerbread cookies are just not the same if you can’t cut them into adorable shapes. Find out the trick to making the best-shaped and decorated gingerbread sandwich cookies just for Christmas!
Gingerbread always makes the house smell like the holidays, so these sandwich cookies quickly became a December habit. When the kids were younger, we’d bake the cookies on their own, and they’d inevitably sneak a few before they cooled.
The year I turned them into sandwich cookies, everyone suddenly paid a lot more attention — apparently adding filling makes them impossible to ignore. Now it’s just one of those easy traditions we look forward to every season.
Why make these cookies
- Perfectly Spiced Flavor: The combination of ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg creates a balanced, warm, and aromatic flavor that captures the essence of the holiday season.
- Ideal Texture: The cookies are soft and chewy, providing a delightful contrast to the creamy filling. This combination ensures a satisfying bite every time.
- Versatile Filling Options: Whether you prefer vanilla buttercream, spiced cream cheese, or rich chocolate ganache, the recipe allows for various fillings to suit different tastes and occasions.
- Beautiful Presentation: The sandwich cookie format not only tastes great but also looks impressive, making these cookies a stunning addition to any holiday dessert table or gift box.
Ingredients and substituions
- All-purpose flour – The amount of flour in the recipe will determine how dense the cookies will be. So, make sure to measure the ingredients correctly.
- Sugar – I like to use white sugar for that wonderful crisp outside and brown sugar for that soft and chewy inside. But you can also use a combination of white and brown sugar.
- Egg – We have just one egg, so make it a large egg.
- Molasses – Use unsulphured molasses. I like to use the dark, not the light. The light variety just does not give it enough flavor. Blackstrap molasses is a little bitter with a distinct, robust flavor.
- Spices – Today, I am using one teaspoon of ground ginger, just a ¼ teaspoon of ground cinnamon, and freshly grated nutmeg. You can also use a teaspoon of ground cloves.
Step-by-step: How to make gingerbread sandwich cookies
- Dry ingredients – In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices – cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.
- Dough – In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, on medium speed, cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Then, add the molasses and egg. Followed by flour mixture, orange, and vanilla extract. Combine well.
- Chill dough – Divide the dough into two, wrap in plastic, and let chill until firm enough to roll – about 2 hours or overnight.
Pro tip – Do not skip the chilling time. Otherwise, it will be too soft to roll, and the cookies will spread. - Next, roll the chilled cookie dough to about ⅛ inch in thickness on a lightly floured surface.
Pro tip – It is best to roll these cookies thin. Otherwise, when you fill and sandwich them, they will look bulky. Also, I use a rolling pin with spacers so the dough is the same thickness all over.
- Cut the cookies
- For the bottom cookies, cut out the disc using a Linzer cookie cutter without the center attachment. Alternatively, use a 3-inch round cookie cutter.
- For the top cookies, cut out the disc using the Linzer cookie cutter with the center attachment on. Alternatively, use a 3-inch round cookie cutter, combined with a 0.5 cookie cutter.
- Chill cookies – Place the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Leave a little gap between them for circulation. Then, place the cookie sheet in the fridge to chill for 15 minutes.
Pro tip – Chilling the cookies is a sure way to ensure the cookies do not spread. You can also leave the rolled cookies well wrapped in the fridge for up to 48 hours before baking.
- Preheat the oven at 177°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4
- Bake – Place the cookies on a parchment-lined baking tray. Bake the cookies in the center for about 6 to 8 minutes.
- Cool them on the cookie sheet for 10 mins. Then, transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Sandwich the cookies – Place ½ teaspoon of jam or another filling of your choice on the bottom cookie. Dust the top cookies with powdered sugar (confectioners’ sugar). Then, sandwich the two pieces together.
Pro tip – It is better to dust the top cookies before you sandwich them to prevent sugar from getting into the filling. - Storage – Store them in an airtight container or cookie jar for up to a week.
Tips for success
- First, always have all the ingredients at room temperature so the butter and sugar can cream until light and fluffy.
- And rest the dough before rolling the cookies. Resting helps the butter firm up again, which makes it easier to work and prevents spreading.
- If the rolled cookie dough is soft, put it back in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. Chilled cookie dough will give well-defined shapes, so you won’t have to struggle with them being so soft.
- Preheat the oven for a good 15 minutes, making sure it is at the right temperature. A cold oven will spread the cookies.
- Also, place cut cookies in the fridge while the oven is preheating to prevent them from spreading.
- When baked, leave the cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Then, transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. This will prevent them from sweating on the bottom.
- Christmas Spritz Cookies or Christmas Star Cookies
- Gingerbread Snowflake Cookies or Gingerbread Sugar Cookies
- Classic Gingerbread cake or Gingerbread Cupcakes
- See all holiday cookies or all cookie recipes
Frequently asked questions
How long will these cookies keep?
These cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to a week.
What is the substitute for molasses in these cookies?
You can substitute 1 cup of molasses with equal parts of honey, dark corn syrup, or maple syrup. And you can also use ¾ cup dark brown sugar for every 1 cup of molasses. However, molasses has a distinct taste and flavor that you will not get from honey, corn syrup, or maple syrup. These will give you a similar texture but not the same taste.
Do these cookies spread?
The cookie needs the right temperature for baking. So the cookie spreads just enough and the outside bakes to a crisp, preventing any more spreading (hope that makes sense). Hence, finding the right temperature is essential. Therefore, please follow the recipe directions.
Gingerbread Sandwich Cookies
Homemade gingerbread cookies are just not the same if you can’t cut them into adorable shapes. Find out the trick to making the best gingerbread sandwich cookies—shaped and decorated just like Christmas.
Video
Ingredients
Makes 30 sandwich cookies
- 3½ cups (435 g) All-purpose flour
- ½ tsp Baking soda
- ½ tsp Baking powder
- 1 tbsp Ground Ginger
- 1 tbsp Cinnamon Powder
- ½ tsp Ground Cloves
- ¼ tsp Nutmeg freshly grated
- 10 tbsp (140 g) Butter unsalted, room temperature
- ¾ cup (165 g) Dark brown sugar packed
- ⅔ cup (160 ml) Molasses light or dark
- 1 large Egg
- ½ tsp Salt
- ¼ tsp Orange extract (or 1 tsp orange zest)
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
Filling
- ½ cup (170 g) Strawberry jam or other flavored jam
Dusting
- ¼ cup (240 g) Powdered sugar confectioners sugar
Method
- Dry ingredients – In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices – cloves, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg.3½ cups All-purpose flour , 10 tbsp Butter, ½ tsp Baking soda, ½ tsp Baking powder, ½ tsp Salt, 1 tbsp Ground Ginger, 1 tbsp Cinnamon Powder, ½ tsp Ground Cloves, ¼ tsp Nutmeg
- Dough – In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, on medium speed, cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Then, add the molasses and egg. Followed by flour mixture, orange, and vanilla extract. Combine well.10 tbsp Butter, ¾ cup Dark brown sugar, ⅔ cup Molasses, 1 large Egg , ¼ tsp Orange extract, 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- Chill dough – Divide the dough into two, wrap in plastic, and let chill until firm enough to roll – about 2 hours or overnight.
- Roll the chilled cookie dough to about ⅛ inch in thickness on a lightly floured surface.
- Cut the cookiesFor the bottom cookies, cut out the disc using a Linzer cookie cutter without the center attachment. Alternatively, use a 3-inch round cookie cutterFor the top cookies, cut out the disc using the Linzer cooker cutter with the center attachment on. Alternatively, use a 3-inch round cookie cutter combine with a 0.5 cookie cutter.
- Chill cookies – Place the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Leaving a little gap between them for circulation. Place the cookie sheet in the fridge to chill for 15 minutes.
- Preheat the oven at 177°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4
- Bake – Place the cookies on a parchment-lined baking tray. Bake the cookies on the center for about 6 to 8 minutes.
- Cool – Once baked, cool them on the cookie sheet for 10 mins. Then, transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Sandwich the cookies -Place ½ teaspoon of jam or another filling of your choice on the bottom cookie. Dust the top cookies with powdered sugar (confectioners' sugar) then sandwich the two pieces together½ cup Strawberry jam , ¼ cup Powdered sugar
- Storage – Store them in an airtight container or cookie jar for up to a week.
Notes
- Always have all the ingredients at room temperature so the butter and sugar can cream until light and fluffy.
- Rest the dough before rolling the cookies. Resting helps the butter firm up again which makes it easier to work and prevents spreading
- If the rolled cookie dough is soft, put it back in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. Chilled cookie dough will give well-defined shapes so you won’t have to struggle with them being so soft.
- Preheat the oven for a good 15 minutes making sure it is at the right temperature. A cold oven will spread the cookies.
- Place cut cookies in the fridge while the oven is preheating to prevent them from spreading.
- When baked leave the cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. This will prevent them from sweating on the bottom.
Bake Ahead and Freezing Instructions
- Dough – You can freeze the dough for 3 months wrapped well in a ziplock bag. Then, thaw in the fridge overnight when ready to use.
- Rolled cookies – And, you can also freeze the rolled cookies on a cookie sheet between parchment papers. In addition, wrap the tray in plastic to prevent drying out. They will stay for up to a month.
- Baked cookies – Alternatively, freeze the baked cookies between parchment papers for up to 3 months and thaw in the fridge overnight when ready to use.
Equipment you will need
Nutrition
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These are the cookies that make me feel at home. Fantsatic recipe – easy and delicious!
Such a perfect sweet treat for the holidays! Totally adding this to my holiday baking list. 🙂
I have never seen gingerbread with jam. What a great idea.
I love gingerbread cookies but making them into sandwich cookies with a bit of jam really made it something special. Thank you so much for this recipe, it was a hit.
Thank you for the lovely feedback, Joyce. Happy you enjoyed these
I love anything with gingerbread and these sandwich cookies look super cute.
Could you please suggest substitute for egg in the recipe.
This recipe works better with eggs.