I grew up loving the story of the Gingerbread man, even though it’s a strange fairytale: A runaway gingerbread man escapes from a little old lady and little old man, taunting all the animals as he goes, saying, “Run, run as fast as you can, you can’t catch me I’m the gingerbread man!” But *spoiler alert* in the end, he gets eaten by a fox. I always really enjoyed it and all the other modern twists that have come along, such as The Stinky Cheese Man.
You would think that, since I enjoy the story so much, I would also enjoy making gingerbread men. It may come as a shock, but honestly, I’ve never attempted to make my own gingerbread men before. What?! How could I not try to make my own gingerbread men, you ask, and see for myself that they don’t actually jump out of the oven and run away from me?
I know. That’s why this holiday season, I’m making chocolate gingerbread men with candy canes for an extra treat. Happy holidays everyone – catch a gingerbread man if you can! They’re delicious.
- 4 ounces of baking chocolate
- ½ cup cocoa
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ½ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated white sugar
- 2 tablespoon ground ginger
- 2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ cup molasses
- 1 large egg
- Candy Canes
- wooden chop sticks
- In a large bowl, sift together cocoa, flour, baking soda and salt, and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat butter, brown sugar, white sugar, and spices until the mixture is light and fluffy. Set aside.
- Place the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl for about 2 mins. Stir. If necessary, continue microwaving in 10-20 second intervals until chocolate is completely melted.
- Add molasses, egg and melted chocolate to the butter and sugar mixture and beat for about 2 mins.
- Slowly begin adding the dry mixture and mix until just combined.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Form the dough into about 4 balls.
- Lightly flour a flat working space and roll out the dough to ¼ inch thickness. Cut shapes using gingerbread cookie cutters.
- Place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat with remaining dough.
- Once you have all your cookies cut out, place a wooden chopstick (or candy cane) down on the gingerbread shape and slowly work the arms in so the the gingerbread man is holding the chop stick.
- Slightly pinch the two arms together. Repeat for other cookies.
- Bake for 8-10 mins Using a spatula, slowly move the gingerbread men onto a cooling rack. Once the cookies are completely cooled, carefully remove the chopsticks.
- Use frosting to decorate each gingerbread man as desired. Finish by slowly sliding candy canes into place under the arms.
Used In This Project:
- Oval Hang Tags • I chose the “Iconic Christmas” style in champagne.
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Bobby works as in-house photographer and production designer at Evermine. When she's not behind a camera you can find her eating something delicious at a local Portland restaurant while planning her next adventure abroad.
These are hands down the best gingerbread men I have ever seen.. such a creative idea to make them hold candy canes. You definitely can consider I will be making the recipe!
Stupid questions, can you bake them with the candy cane?
Hi Saasha, I wouldn’t recommend that you bake them with the candy canes. The plastic wrapping and the candy canes won’t hold well in high heat and melt and then you’ll have a very unhappy gingerbread man. Good luck and let us know how it goes!
Adore these! What a clever idea. We are thinking of making these for a cookie swsp. How man cookies does the recipe yield? Thanks!
Hi Elizabeth, this recipes makes about 24-30 cookies, depending on how thick or thin you roll out your dough. I like to make mine a little bit thicker so it has a bit of chewiness in the center. Thanks and have a great cookie swap. Let me know how it goes for you.
I needed therapy after I made these cookies tonight. The dough is very breakable even after I added more fat and water. Sadly only 4 out of 20 cookies came out “holding” a candy cane. Cookies are tasty though!
Agreed!
Same here… very breakable, couldnt even spread the dough
Very cute, how do you present them? In little bags? As is? Just thinking about for coworkers. Thanks!
Hi Meg, you can package them in large cellophane bags or you can check out your local Michaels, they usually carry a variety of treat packaging. Also, be sure to use royal icing or cookie icing that sets. This way the faces on your gingerbread men won’t get smudged in any packaging.
Looks delicious! Do you think this recipe will work for a gingerbread house? Will it hold?
Hi. Love these cookies. So original and cute. I have a question regarding the cocoa – is it unsweetened cocoa or like hot chocolate cocoa?
Please respond because I really want to make these😋😋😋😋😋😋😋
Thanks.
Liz
Hi Liz, I used unsweetened cocoa powder, specifically Saco Premium Cocoa Powder. Enjoy!
Can you use gluten free flour for these with gluten intolerate?
These are so adorable, my daughter wants to make them for her class. I was just using store bought gingerbread mix and basically the chopstick became one with cookie (luckily I did a test cookies – we have a ginger girl too!) I tried baking cookies, then bending arms and tried bending arms half way through baking time all to no avail (lots of samples for us though!) Your dough looks pretty stiff – almost shortbread-ish…curious if I could add more flour or if I should maybe try adding the chocolate?
Super yummy and turned out great. We did lose quite a few to breakage..but I have a few tips. Let the dough sit in the fridge for a bit of time before rolling out..it is easier to work with and won’t spread as much. Also, let cool for 5 minutes or more before transferring to cooling rack…that is where I had the most break. Finally, I had better luck with about a 2 and a half inch man as opposed to a bit bigger.