Honey Gingerbread Cookies without Molasses

Delicious honey gingerbread cookies without using molasses. Full of spicy flavor, without any bitterness. Moderately sweet like a snappier and spicier honey graham. Perfect for shipping and gift-giving.

Jump to:

• Why You'll Love this Recipe
• What Do these Cookies Taste Like?
• What Kind of Honey Should I Use?
• Ingredients & Substitutes
• Step By Step
• Can I Ice & Decorate These Cookies?
• How to Store, Freeze & Make In Advance
• Other Christmas Cookie Exchange Recipes
• Recipe

This honey gingerbread cookie came about due to my desire to make gingerbread without having to run to the store to buy molasses. Because honey never really "expires", I often have it in my pantry making it convenient for a recipe like this. Using honey to make gingerbread helps to get the holiday season started without adding another item to the shopping list. Not only are these cookies delicious but they are also great for making in advance for Christmas cookie exchange and they travel very well during shipping too. Enjoy!

XOXO,
Mimi

Why You'll Love this Recipe

• Easy - they taste and look festive without additional decorations.
• No molasses required - make this cookie anytime without having to buy molasses each holiday season.
• Tastes great - like spicy honey grahams without the hint of bitterness.
• Make in advance - dough and finished cookie freezes perfectly.
• Gift-giving ready - stores well at room temperature and not prone to breakage. Perfect for transport or gift giving.

What Do these Cookies Taste Like?

These honey gingerbread cookies are moderately sweet and full of spicy flavors. It doesn't have the hint of smokiness or bitterness that sometimes come with molasses. I wouldn't say it's better or worse. Some people prefer the tastes of molasses in the few baked goods that use it, especially since it's used so infrequently throughout the normal course of the year. This honey version of gingerbread is just a different take on the cookie. It reminds me of a snappier and spicier version of honey grahams.

What Kind of Honey Should I Use?

Both liquid and creamed honey can be used in this recipe. I used an organic creamed honey here. It produces a dough that is a little firmer to work with when first mixed. It can be substituted with liquid honey which makes the dough a little bit softer in the beginning. After setting in the fridge, it will be easier to handle for rolling and cutting.

Ingredients & Substitutes

• Unsalted butter - adds tenderness and richness of flavor. It should be at room temperature for it to cream properly with the sugar. To soften quickly, cut into cubes and microwave on 10 second intervals at 50% power.
• Light brown sugar - adds sweetness. Rogers Golden Yellow Sugar was used in this recipe. It has a light molasses flavor and lighter color. It can be substituted with other types of brown sugar.
• Honey - adds sweetness. Organic creamed honey was used in this recipe. It produces a dough that is a little firmer to work with when first mixed. It can be substituted with liquid honey.
• Egg (large size) - adds structure and flavor. It should be at room temperature for it to incorporate fully into the mixture. To bring to temperature quickly, soak it in warm water for about 15 minutes.
• All-purpose flour - provides structure to the cookie.
• Fine sea salt - highlights the flavors in the cookie.
• Baking soda - is a leavening agent.
• Ground ginger - spices give gingerbread cookie its signature flavor. All the spices as a group can be substituted with gingerbread spice. Don't skip the ginger or cinnamon but if you're missing nutmeg or cloves, this can be substituted with more of ginger/cinnamon/nutmeg/cloves or all spice. Ground pepper can be increased or decreased depending on your desired level of "kick".
• Ground cinnamon
• Ground nutmeg
• Ground cloves
• Ground black pepper

Step By Step

With a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or handheld mixer, beat the butter, sugar and honey together on medium speed until smooth. Add egg and beat until blended together. Stop mixer.

In a medium sized bowl, stir together the flour, salt, baking soda and all the spices. Pour it into the wet mixture. With a spatula, roughly combine the dry and wet mixtures together by hand before turning on the the mixer again. This will prevent big dust clouds.

Turn on the mixer to the lowest setting, mix until it looks evenly blended with no traces of flour. The dough will be soft and may be in clumps (if using handheld mixer).

Turn off mixer and gently knead the dough inside the bowl until it becomes one dough ball. Flatten ball into a disk, wrap with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours to firm up and for flavor development.

Pre-heat oven to 325F. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out to a ¼" thickness. Use a cookie cutter to cut out desired shape, transfer to a baking tray lined with parchment paper or silicone. Optional: for minimal spread during baking, chill the cutout cookies in the fridge for 30 min. before baking.

Bake for 8-12 minutes. For cookies with a firm edge and softer center, check on the cookies early when the edges are just golden. For snappier cookies, bake until the cookies are more golden throughout. Do not overbake as they will continue to cook out of the oven.

Allow them to set on baking tray for 3-5 minutes and then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely. Honey gingerbread cookies can be kept at room temperature in an air-tight container for up to 10 days. See below on how to freeze and make in advance.

Can I Ice & Decorate These Cookies?

Yes, definitely! They look and taste great on it's own but they are also perfect canvases for royal icing. You can flood them completely or you can use royal icing to draw in details like buttons, faces and so forth.

How to Store, Freeze & Make In Advance

These cookies are super convenient for making in advance of holiday cookie exchanges. Baked cookies can be store in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 10 days. Raw cookie dough should be kept in the fridge and used within 1-2 days.

The dough and even the baked cookies freeze wonderfully because they are not prone to breakage. The dough and baked undecorated cookies can be frozen for up to 3 months. Shape the cookie dough into flat disks then wrap in plastic wrap and place it inside a clearly labelled Ziplock bag. Defrost in the fridge overnight before baking. To freeze baked cookies, store them inside a Ziplock bag.

Other Christmas Cookie Exchange Recipes

Lastly, here are some of my other Christmas cookie exchange recipes: Nut-Free Jam Filled Linzer Cookies, Simple Striped Meringue Cookies, Peanut Butter Bear Cookies, Best Macaron Recipe and Fancy Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies.