Sourdough Gingerbread Cookies
These sourdough gingerbread cookies are so fun! They’re full of warming spices and molasses, topped with royal icing. They are one of my all-time favorites for the holiday season.
Sourdough discard starter
This recipe is a great way to use up discard sourdough starter. The sourdough starter is best when it’s unfed and acidic, though you can also use a bubbly active starter. The dough will undergo a long chill period time during which the bacteria in the starter begin breaking down the carbohydrates and starches in the flour.
See all my sourdough discard recipes!
Here’s what you need
You can find the actual ingredient amounts for this recipe in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Equipmment
This is a cut-out cookie recipe so you will need some cookie cutters. You could make gingerbread men, Christmas trees, stars, or whatever shapes you like. Alternatively, you can use a glass to cut circles of dough.
An electric mixer helps cream the butter and make the royal icing.
Method
- I start the cookies the day before I want to bake to give them an overnight chill.
- mix the dry ingredients
- Whisk butter, molasses and butter until creamy.
- Add in the egg, vanillla and starter.
- Add the dry ingredients and combine it into a thick and sticky dough.
- Let the dough chill, then roll and cut.
- Bake and ice once cooled.
Storing
Leftover cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 7 days.
Unbaked cookie dough can be wrapped up tight and frozen for up to three months. Baked cookies can be frozen too, without the glaze.
More recipes to try!
- Small-batch peanut butter cookies
- Peppermint chocolate cookies
- Raspberry & white chocolate cookies
- Gingerbread Cookie Bars with Lemon White Chocolate Ganache
- Espresso brown butter cookies
Sourdough Gingerbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 375 g all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 teaspoons ground ginger
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 200 g soft brown sugar
- 113 g unsalted butter softened
- 70 g unsulfured molasses
- 65 g sourdough discard
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
Royal icing
- 1 large egg white pasteurized
- 150 g powdered sugar
- Water if needed
Instructions
- In a small, combine flour, salt, baking soda, and spices.
- In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer (or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment), cream butter, brown sugar, and molasses until it's thick and fluffy.
- Beat in the egg and the sourdough starter until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and use a rubber spatula to combine them into a thick, sticky dough.
- Shape the dough into a mound and cut it into two pieces. Wrap the pieces in plastic wrap and chill them in the fridge for at least 3 hours or up to 36 hours.
- Rolling
- Preheat the oven to 350°F /180°C.
- Unwrap one of the pieces of cold dough and place it on a floured workspace. Roll it out until it's ¼ inch thick, dusting the top of the dough to stop it from sticking to the rolling pin.
- The initial rolling will be harder, and the dough will crack. It will get easier to roll each time as the butter in the dough will soften.
- Use as much flour as you need to roll it out without sticking.
- Use cookie cutters to cut out dough shapes and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spaced around an inch apart. If you're cutting different-sized cookies, bake the same-sized cookies on the tray together so they bake evenly.
- Gather all the dough scraps, re-roll, and continue cutting.
- Bake the cookies for around 8-10 minutes, depending on their size., until lightly browned around the edges. For crispier cookies, you can bake them a few minutes longer.
- Once baked, remove the cookies from the tray and place them on a wire rack to cool.
- Icing
- To make the icing, add an egg white to a medium bowl and use a hand mixer to beat it at medium speed until it is frothy.
- Add the powdered sugar and beat it on low speed until combined. Turn the mixer onto medium-high speed and beat for 3-4 minutes until thick and glossy. If the icing is too thick, add a few drops of water as needed.
- Add the icing to a piping bag and decorate the cookies as desired.
Can you use maple syrup instead of molasses?
You could but the molasses brings a key flavor that maple won’t give