Make, Bake, and Decorate Gingerbread Man Cookies. Do It Yourself with a Ginger's Breadboys Cookie Kit.

When the holiday season starts, have you ever thought, “I want to make gingerbread man cookies for Christmas.” And then thought how do I even start, “How do I make gingerbread man cookies?” You need (want) someone to show you how to make and decorate gingerbread man cookies. Better yet, you need DIY gingerbread cookie instructions. And it would be great if it were all in one place. Finally you come to the conclusion that you want a DIY gingerbread man cookie kit. And here we are. This is a wonderful kitchen activity with children or grandchildren. And the easiest do-it-yourself Christmas craft!

Start with our great gingerbread recipe cookie mix to make the gingerbread cookie dough.

Helpful hint:

• For the best gingerbread dough, have all your ingredients at room temperature.
• When baking gluten-free, dust surfaces and spatula with powdered sugar - rather than the usual flour - to keep dough from sticking!

Next up, baking the gingerbread cookies . . . how to bake gingerbread man cookies. You'll have over 3+ dozen large (5-inch) gingerbread man cookies for the holidays from Ginger's Breadboys gingerbread cookie kits!

An easy do-it-yourself Christmas craft.

As included in the Ginger's Breadboys gingerbread cookie kit, here is the recipe and instruction card for download.

Update: 8/10/2019 - We test baked a batch of gingerbread cookies with butter and they turned out awesome. You will need to adjust the liquid in the recipe when using butter as butter is 20% liquid. Use two sticks of salted butter (1 cup) and only 3/4 cup of unsulphured molasses instead of a cup. Adjust the vinegar to 5 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar instead of 2 tablespoons. That should do it! Enjoy!

Here's our recipe for Classic Gingerbread Cookies:

Have all ingredients at room temperature. Cream 1 cup shortening and 1 cup granulated sugar. Add 1 large egg. Blend in 1 cup unsulphured molasses. Add 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar. Slowly add Ginger’s Breadboys gingerbread cookie mix. Switch to mixer’s dough hook if you have one (optional). Blend only until flour mixture is incorporated.

Empty dough onto wax paper sheet and knead lightly to form a block. Wrap in wax paper and place in gallon-size plastic food storage bag. Chill for 3 hours—or overnight—in refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 375°. Line baking pan with parchment paper. Flour a cool surface—not wood—and rolling pin. Countertops or marble pastry board works well. Roll baseball-size amount of dough to ¹/ inch thick. (If dough sticks to rolling pin, lightly flour and place wax paper over dough to roll out.) Cut with 5‑inch gingerbread man cookie cutter. Remove excess dough from around cutouts. Move cookies to pan on floured spatula. Leave at least ½ inch between cookies. For eyes, nose, and 3 buttons, press cinnamon imperials into cookies before baking (optional).

Bake 8–9 minutes until cookies are light brown and pillowy. (Bake time estimate is for large 5-inch cookie. Bake less if using smaller cookie cutter.) Ovens vary—if cinnamon imperials burst when baking, oven is too hot, or bake time is too long. Remove from oven and allow to cool on pan ~10 minutes. Refrigerate or store in cool area until ready to decorate. Decorate when completely cool with royal icing. Makes ~39 large (5‑inch) gingerbread man cookies.

These video slideshows are available for guidance
to show you how to make gingerbread man cookies
from the Ginger's Breadboys gingerbread cookie kits.