These chocolate gingerbread cookies are like gingerbread pillows and are brushed with a brandy glaze. I honestly could not stop eating them and can’t wait to make them again!
They’re just like the delicious lebkuchen cookies you get at Swiss and German Christmas markets but homemade.
These are definitely one of my favorite Christmas cookies, and I love that they’re stamped with a snowflake – perfect for Winter! I bought my cookie stamp from Birkmann and you can find it here.
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Tell me about this recipe
- These cookies are made with treacle, golden syrup and brown sugar. This mixture is heated until it melts. You can substitute the treacle with molasses and the golden syrup for honey.
- I use a whole mixture of spices for these glazed gingerbread cookies, like cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice and even a little bit of black pepper!
- The dough is chilled for a few hours before being rolled out and stamped with the cookie stamp.
- The warm cookies are glazed with a brandy glaze, though you could make it without the alcohol and it will be just as yummy!
Ingredients Needed
The printable recipe card with the full list of ingredients and instructions can be found at the bottom of this post.
- Treacle: treacle is really similar to molasses, so if you don’t have treacle on hand you can substitute it for dark molasses.
- Golden Syrup: I love using golden syrup in my gingerbread, but you can substitute it for honey!
- Spices: I use a whole bunch of spices like cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice and pepper. Feel free to leave out the pepper but I think it gives a nice kick to the gingerbread!
- Brandy: if you’re making these cookies for kids, just leave out the brandy and add more milk.
How to make this recipe
Step 1: In a small saucepan, melt the sugar, treacle and golden syrup together. Over medium heat, cook until the sugar has completely dissolved. Take off the heat and let it cool, then whisk in your egg.
Step 2: In a large bowl, whisk together all of your dry ingredients.
Step 3: Pour your treacle mixture into your dry ingredients and stir until combined. It will start off quite dry but it’ll come together!
Step 4: Use your hands to knead the mixture until it all comes together and is stiff. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and place in the fridge to chill for 2 hours.
Step 5: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Take the dough out of the fridge and roll it out on a lightly floured surface. If your dough is still too dry, briefly wet your hands with water and knead the dough again until it is a bit softer. Roll out your dough until it is a quarter of an inch thick. Use your cookie stamp to stamp the dough (do it firmly!) then use a small circular cookie cutter or mug to cut out the cookies. You can reroll the scraps!
Step 6: Place the cookies on your baking sheets, about an inch apart, and bake for 10-12 minutes. While the cookies are baking, whisk your glaze ingredients together. Brush the still warm cookies with the glaze.
Recipe Tips
- I highly recommend using a weighing scale and measuring out your ingredients the metric way. It makes a huge difference to your baking and is the most accurate way to bake!
- If the dough is slightly dry when rolling it out, wet your hands and briefly knead the dough again.
- I found the easiest way to cut out the cookies was to emboss the dough first, then use your round cookie cutter or mug to cut out the cookie. Doing it the other way round I found that the snowflake wasn’t always in the center.
- Make sure to brush the cookies with the glaze while they’re still warm. It will take some time for the glaze to turn completely white, a few hours later the snowflake pattern will be much more prominent.
Frequently Asked Questions
These glazed gingerbread cookies are soft, though after a few days they exterior will slightly harden.
Because of the dark color it is hard to tell when it’s completely baked, but it should take on a light brown color.
Keep them in an airtight container for up to a week.
Try these Holiday recipes!
Have you made this recipe? Make sure to tag me on Instagram @alpineella and leave a review below if you have! If you want more baking ideas, you can follow me on Pinterest.
Recipe
Glazed Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies
Equipment
- 1x cookie stamp
- round cookie cutter or mug
Ingredients
Chocolate Gingerbread
- 110 grams light brown sugar
- 75 grams golden syrup
- 75 grams treacle
- 1 egg room temperature
- 315 grams flour
- 30 grams cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon ground allspice
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
Glaze
- 120 grams icing sugar
- 2 tablespoon brandy
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-2 tablespoon milk
Instructions
- In a saucepan, heat sugar, golden syrup and treacle over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Let cool. Once cooled, add egg and whisk.
- In a bowl, whisk flour, cocoa powder, spices, baking powder and baking soda. Add sugar mixture and stir until just combined. Turn on to a floured surface and knead until stiff. Shape into a disc, wrap in plastic and put in fridge for 2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- On a floured surface, roll out the dough until ¼ inch thick. If the dough is too dry, slightly wet your hands with water and briefly knead until the dough is softer.
- Using a cookie round, use your cookie stamp to emboss the dough. Use a cookie cutter that is slightly larger than the stamp to cut out the cookies. You can reroll the scraps. Place 1-2 inches apart on the pans.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, until a light golden brown.
- In a small bowl, mix together the icing sugar, milk, brandy and vanilla until smooth. Use a pastry brush to brush the warm cookies.
Angie
I did the us version and there was not enough moisture to creat “dough”. It’s still just a crumbly mess. Any suggestions? I don’t want to start over if I don’t need to
Ella
Hi there! In the recipe card I suggest wetting your hands to make the dough come together.
Nicola
Made these cookies for advent. Should have doubled the recipe. Biggest success… need to make another batch.
Ella
Thank you so much!
Sarah
I tried these and they came out really dry. I noticed there is no fat of any kind in the recipe, except what might be in the egg. Flavor was good, but the texture was not. I measured all ingredients on a scale.
Ella
Hi Sarah, I’m so sorry you didn’t like the texture! I’ve tested them out a few times and haven’t found them dry at all, so I’m sorry about that. Thank you for your feedback!
Edna
Hey Sarah,
I just made these and mine also turned out very dry. Not sure what could have gone wrong as I followed all the steps 🙁 I also though it was odd that there is no butter or oil though).
Jo
Made a batch of these over Christmas with my mum, they turned out a treat! Now I immediately want to get some cuter stamps to make them look even batter. Really easy to follow and of course boozy icing is delicious!
Nicole
Boozy cookies! Loved them