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Simple Gingerbread Man Cookies Recipe for Kids

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Gingerbread Man Cookies are such a great thing to make with your children at Christmas or through the year. It’s a right of passage, a real moment of childhood and something children remember forever. I remember baking gingerbread as a child and I know that my own children will remember it too. It’s such a lovely memory to have for them and us and so I thought I would share our best gingerbread man cookie recipe so you can enjoy it too.

Why should I make Gingerbread Man Cookies?

Who needs a reason? This really easy gingerbread recipe is a really lovely bake to make with children but they are also lovely to gift or share. This gingerbread men cookie recipe is wonderful to make as a gift, especially at Christmas or over the festive season. We love to make gingerbread cookies as festive treats for school teachers, for a school bake sale or for anyone else that could do with a little pick me up.

Easy Peasy Gingerbread Cookies Recipe
Gingerbread cookies decorated with Smarties

Can you use self raising flour for gingerbread man?

We always use self raising flour for our old fashioned gingerbread men recipes and it’s only recently that I realised most people use plain flour. Self rising flour works really well and I wouldn’t change how we make them.

How do I decorate gingerbread men cookies?

It’s not quite the same if you have your basic ginger bread cookies plain. The biscuits just have to be decorated. We use simple white icing made with icing sugar and water and then a variety of toppings. Smarties, sprinkles, edible glitter, silver balls – the list is endless. You can literally decorate gingerbread cookies with anything you have to hand and quite often the simplest decorations work the best and are the easiest for children to decorate with too.

Honestly, if there is one thing you bake with your little ones, make it these super easy gingerbread cookies. This classic gingerbread cookies recipe is so easy to bake, so much fun and something the whole family can get involved in – this is even a gingerbread man recipe for preschoolers!

Kids love making gingerbread, it keeps well in an airtight container and can be cut into any shape too. This makes it so easy to personalise and a completely different bake each time you make it. So, why not bake gingerbread next time you have some free time?

If you’re looking for other bakes to make here’s our Mince Pie Cookies, Mincemeat Loaf Cake and Christmas Bakewell Tart. You can see all our Christmas recipes here and we have a lot of slow cooker recipes too.

What equipment do you need for this cookie recipe?

You can make this recipe simply with things you already have in your kitchen but here are the things we use in case there’s something you don’t already have:

As you can see, it’s all things you probably have already – that is what makes flapjacks so simple and convenient to make.

So here’s our simple gingerbread men recipe – happy baking!

Ingredients

  • 125 g margarine or unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 60 g muscovado sugar or soft brown sugar
  • 90 g golden syrup
  • 1 egg
  • 250 g plain flour
  • 30 g self raising flour
  • 1 tablespoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda / baking soda
  • Icing sugar and smarties etc to decorate

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 180c/Gas Mark 4. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
  • Cream butter & sugar in a large bowl. Mix in the golden syrup and gradually add the egg – beating well.
  • Sift the flours, ginger & baking powder into the bowl and mix until a dough is formed.
  • Gather the dough into a ball with floured hands and roll out onto a floured surface using a rolling pin until approx 0.5cm thick.
  • Use gingerbread cookie cutters to cut shapes from the dough and place carefully on the baking sheets. Gather the offcuts and repeats until all the dough is used.
  • Cook for 8mins or until browned. Leave to cool on the tray.
  • When completely cool, mix the icing sugar with a little water until it is thick but still slightly runny, making royal icing. Use a piping bag to decorate your gingerbread shapes and stick smarties on!
  • Leave to set on a wire rack.

If you’d like to print or pin the Gingerbread Cookie Recipe for later you can do so below. Enjoy!

Easy Peasy Gingerbread Recipe

Gingerbread is so easy to make and a great activity to do with children – who doesn’t love decorating gingerbread people?!
Course Afternoon Tea, Dessert, Snack
Cuisine British
Keyword baking, biscuits, cookies, gingerbread men
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 8 minutes
Total Time 28 minutes
Servings 12 biscuits

Ingredients

  • 125 g margarine or unsalted butter
  • 60 g muscovado sugar or soft brown sugar
  • 90 g golden syrup
  • 1 egg
  • 250 g plain flour
  • 30 g self raising flour
  • 1 tablespoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
  • Icing sugar and smarties etc to decorate

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 180c/Gas Mark 4. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
  • Cream butter & sugar in a large bowl. Mix in the golden syrup and gradually add the egg – beating well.
  • Sift the flours, ginger & baking powder into the bowl and mix until a dough is formed.
  • Gather the dough into a ball with floured hands and roll out onto a floured surface until approx 0.5cm thick.
  • Use a cutter to cut shapes from the dough and place carefully on the baking tray. Gather the offcuts and repeats until all the dough is used.
  • Cook for 8mins or until browned. Leave to cool on the tray.
  • When completely cool, mix the icing sugar with a little water until it is thick but still slightly runny. Use a piping bag to decorate your gingerbread shapes and stick smarties on!

*Note: Nutritional information is estimated, based on publicly available data. Nutrient values may vary from those published.

Simple Gingerbread Man Cookies Recipe for Kids

Author

  • Donna Wishart

    Donna Wishart is married to Dave and they have two children, Athena (13) and Troy (11). They live in Surrey with their two cats, Fred and George. Once a Bank Manager, Donna has been writing about everything from family finance to days out, travel and her favourite recipes since 2012. Donna is happiest either exploring somewhere new, with her camera in her hand and family by her side or snuggled up with a cat on her lap, reading a book and enjoying a nice cup of tea. She firmly believes that tea and cake can fix most things.

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