How to Make My Cutout Cookie Gingerbread Dough

You’ve been asking, and so here it is: a full-blown tutorial about how to make my Cutout Cookie Gingerbread, the dough I typically use in all of my 3-D cookie construction projects! In addition to taking you through the dough-making process (which is super simple, BTW), I get a little geeky on you by sharing some food science to help you tweak your own recipes for 3-D and contoured cookie work. You’ll learn about four recipe- and process-related variables that, in my opinion, most contribute to the spreading of dough, and how to control them to minimize spreading (naturally), cracking, and misshaping. Last but not least, I share some substitutes for the molasses and shortening in my recipe, so that, if you can’t find these items in your area, you can still make 3-D and contoured cookies with success!

IMPORTANT NOTE AS OF MAY 15, 2017

Please disregard any comments about typos under this post. There was one typo in the recipe chart at 1:24, but I corrected it and re-uploaded the video on May 15, 2017. The above video is correct. Thank you.

Thanks, Julia!

I might actually give it a try, though I am no big fan of gingerbread in general, as I don't like the spices in it. I guess it will be OK to leave out the ginger and clove and increase the amount of cinnamon instead?

And tiny addition for all people in Germany (or Austria and Switzerland, I suppose). A good substitute for Crisco is Palmin Soft, and molasses is more or less the same than Zuckerrübensirup

Laegwen posted:

Thanks, Julia!

I might actually give it a try, though I am no big fan of gingerbread in general, as I don't like the spices in it. I guess it will be OK to leave out the ginger and clove and increase the amount of cinnamon instead?

And tiny addition for all people in Germany (or Austria and Switzerland, I suppose). A good substitute for Crisco is Palmin Soft, and molasses is more or less the same than Zuckerrübensirup

 

Yes, you can adjust the spices to your taste with no material effect on the dough. Thanks for the other substitutions!

Julia M. Usher posted:

Laegwen posted:

Thanks, Julia!

I might actually give it a try, though I am no big fan of gingerbread in general, as I don't like the spices in it. I guess it will be OK to leave out the ginger and clove and increase the amount of cinnamon instead?

And tiny addition for all people in Germany (or Austria and Switzerland, I suppose). A good substitute for Crisco is Palmin Soft, and molasses is more or less the same than Zuckerrübensirup

 

Yes, you can adjust the spices to your taste with no material effect on the dough. Thanks for the other substitutions!

OK, I chased my husband out of the house to get the missing ingredients and the first batch is  now in the fridge waiting for tomorrow morning.

There is already one feedback I can give: when replacing molasses with Zuckerrübensirup, 373ml (about 520gr) is way too much! The dough was so sticky that I ended up adding another 250gr of flour (and it still is rather soft). I guess 373gr of syrup instead of ml would have been better. I'll have to be experimenting a bit to get the best results with the ingredients I can get in Germany.

But there is one thing I can already tell, it tastes delicous when unbaked

A great video Julia!  

Even though I've access to molasses and Crisco I need to try the honey coconut oil recipe. We're you satisfied with how it tastes?   Also, If the vinegar and baking soda react together like baking powder alone would react, then why not use baking powder to begin with?      Pip

Very helpful! Thanks, Julia. Well done. I generally make molasses cookies to quit the spread (and because I love them) but I love the option for someone partial to gingerbread. I also love the testing you did, so helpful, I learned a lot by them. Lastly, I love the sweet "thank you" to Mandy! Cookie friends are the best! <3 

Laegwen posted:

Julia M. Usher posted:

Laegwen posted:

Thanks, Julia!

I might actually give it a try, though I am no big fan of gingerbread in general, as I don't like the spices in it. I guess it will be OK to leave out the ginger and clove and increase the amount of cinnamon instead?

And tiny addition for all people in Germany (or Austria and Switzerland, I suppose). A good substitute for Crisco is Palmin Soft, and molasses is more or less the same than Zuckerrübensirup

 

Yes, you can adjust the spices to your taste with no material effect on the dough. Thanks for the other substitutions!

OK, I chased my husband out of the house to get the missing ingredients and the first batch is  now in the fridge waiting for tomorrow morning.

There is already one feedback I can give: when replacing molasses with Zuckerrübensirup, 373ml (about 520gr) is way too much! The dough was so sticky that I ended up adding another 250gr of flour (and it still is rather soft). I guess 373gr of syrup instead of ml would have been better. I'll have to be experimenting a bit to get the best results with the ingredients I can get in Germany.

But there is one thing I can already tell, it tastes delicous when unbaked

Yes, so sorry - I picked up that typo yesterday and already corrected it in the recipe link on my site (in the video description under the video player); it is actually supposed to be 357 grams. I'll be issuing a replacement video in a few days, but I am actually on vacation right now.

pip posted:

A great video Julia!  

Even though I've access to molasses and Crisco I need to try the honey coconut oil recipe. We're you satisfied with how it tastes?   Also, If the vinegar and baking soda react together like baking powder alone would react, then why not use baking powder to begin with?      Pip

Yes, I was happy with the taste of the honey dough, though it's sweeter, so I prefer the one with molasses. Not to get too technical, but molasses is also acidic, so usually when it is contained in a recipe, baking soda is used as the leavening - to counterbalance the acidity and to contribute to the leavening effect.

Julia M. Usher posted:

Laegwen posted:

Julia M. Usher posted:

Laegwen posted:

Thanks, Julia!

I might actually give it a try, though I am no big fan of gingerbread in general, as I don't like the spices in it. I guess it will be OK to leave out the ginger and clove and increase the amount of cinnamon instead?

And tiny addition for all people in Germany (or Austria and Switzerland, I suppose). A good substitute for Crisco is Palmin Soft, and molasses is more or less the same than Zuckerrübensirup

 

Yes, you can adjust the spices to your taste with no material effect on the dough. Thanks for the other substitutions!

OK, I chased my husband out of the house to get the missing ingredients and the first batch is  now in the fridge waiting for tomorrow morning.

There is already one feedback I can give: when replacing molasses with Zuckerrübensirup, 373ml (about 520gr) is way too much! The dough was so sticky that I ended up adding another 250gr of flour (and it still is rather soft). I guess 373gr of syrup instead of ml would have been better. I'll have to be experimenting a bit to get the best results with the ingredients I can get in Germany.

But there is one thing I can already tell, it tastes delicous when unbaked

Yes, so sorry - I picked up that typo yesterday and already corrected it in the recipe link on my site (in the video description under the video player); it is actually supposed to be 357 grams. I'll be issuing a replacement video in a few days, but I am actually on vacation right now.

No problem

The baking quality was still very good, no spreading at all, I could still fit the cutters after the cookies came out of the oven. And they taste really, really good! I will certainly use this dough more often in the future.

Enjoy your vacation!

Laegwen posted:

Julia M. Usher posted:

Laegwen posted:

Julia M. Usher posted:

Laegwen posted:

Thanks, Julia!

I might actually give it a try, though I am no big fan of gingerbread in general, as I don't like the spices in it. I guess it will be OK to leave out the ginger and clove and increase the amount of cinnamon instead?

And tiny addition for all people in Germany (or Austria and Switzerland, I suppose). A good substitute for Crisco is Palmin Soft, and molasses is more or less the same than Zuckerrübensirup

 

Yes, you can adjust the spices to your taste with no material effect on the dough. Thanks for the other substitutions!

OK, I chased my husband out of the house to get the missing ingredients and the first batch is  now in the fridge waiting for tomorrow morning.

There is already one feedback I can give: when replacing molasses with Zuckerrübensirup, 373ml (about 520gr) is way too much! The dough was so sticky that I ended up adding another 250gr of flour (and it still is rather soft). I guess 373gr of syrup instead of ml would have been better. I'll have to be experimenting a bit to get the best results with the ingredients I can get in Germany.

But there is one thing I can already tell, it tastes delicous when unbaked

Yes, so sorry - I picked up that typo yesterday and already corrected it in the recipe link on my site (in the video description under the video player); it is actually supposed to be 357 grams. I'll be issuing a replacement video in a few days, but I am actually on vacation right now.

No problem

The baking quality was still very good, no spreading at all, I could still fit the cutters after the cookies came out of the oven. And they taste really, really good! I will certainly use this dough more often in the future.

Enjoy your vacation!

Well, it's a rather huge typo, so I am glad I spotted it - just wish I had seen it before posting the video and you tried it. But, it's been crazy here - not really a vacation . . . I've been packing up an entire house for a renovation that starts in about a month. We have tons of decisions to make and I have no time to thoughtfully make them . . .

PLEASE NOTE: THE VIDEO ABOVE IS THE CORRECT VERSION, so please disregard any comments about typos under this post. There was one typo in the recipe chart at 1:24, but I corrected it and re-uploaded the video on May 15, 2017. Thank you.

Hi Julia, the molasses makes the cookies a very dark color. what can I use to make light color 3d cookies without putting huney?(taste is overwhelming ) can I use corn syrup?

Sarit- CakeAway posted:

Hi Julia, the molasses makes the cookies a very dark color. what can I use to make light color 3d cookies without putting huney?(taste is overwhelming ) can I use corn syrup?

Right, the cookies will be dark with molasses. I doubt corn styrup will work well. Why don't you try modifying your own sugar cookie recipe if you don't like the darkness or the honey. I give several tips about how to control the spread of dough in the video, which should help.

THANK YOU SO MUCH !

So informative!  I was measuring my flour wrong! I was scooping the cup in the flour bin then leveling off.  I actually went back and got your book and saw the prep page where you specifically said how to measure. Thanks for the gentle reminder!

LisaF posted:

So informative!  I was measuring my flour wrong! I was scooping the cup in the flour bin then leveling off.  I actually went back and got your book and saw the prep page where you specifically said how to measure. Thanks for the gentle reminder!

There's no right or wrong way to measure though; the measurement method simply depends on how the recipe was tested and then written. I tested my gingerbread recipe by measuring this way; so to get the same results, readers need to measure the same way. That all said, the most reliable way to bake is to weigh all ingredients; then the ambiguity of how someone might have measured is eliminated. Unfortunately, at the time I was writing my books, my publisher only wanted to use volume measures despite my protests that weighing is always more accurate! Thus, my books use volume measures. I've converted this particular recipe on my site, though, because I use it so often in my videos and classes. 

Hi Julia

Thanks for posting this. I plan to try this soon to make a gingerbread gift box (around 7 inches tall and 7 inches wide/deep) I just have a few questions tho. Can i remove the egg from the recipe? I plan to give this to my nephew for his birthday and he is allergic to eggs. If not what can i replace it with. Also, i dont think he likes the taste of gingerbread, can i use vanilla or chocolate powder instead? 

@10jula posted:

Hi Julia

Thanks for posting this. I plan to try this soon to make a gingerbread gift box (around 7 inches tall and 7 inches wide/deep) I just have a few questions tho. Can i remove the egg from the recipe? I plan to give this to my nephew for his birthday and he is allergic to eggs. If not what can i replace it with. Also, i dont think he likes the taste of gingerbread, can i use vanilla or chocolate powder instead? 

No, I wouldn't take out the egg; the dough will lack flexibility and be more crumbly without it. I am sorry, but I haven't tested this recipe with any egg substitutes, so I really don't know what to recommend. And if he doesn't like gingerbread, you could substitute the molasses with honey (though the dough will be much sweeter and could possibly spread more) and substitute other spices. However, when you start changing the recipe this dramatically, I can't ensure you'll get good baking results, and it really becomes another recipe. You might be better off starting with a recipe you think he would like.