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These cookies are getting me into the holiday spirit!
And the christmas music I’ve been listening to probably has something to do with it too!
I’m not sure why, but I’ve kind of avoided making cookies over the last year. Maybe it’s because they aren’t as fun to photograph as 3 layer cake or because I’ve always felt that they are awkward to stage for a photo. But these cookies proved me wrong! I think I might try to incorporate a few more cookie recipes around here!
Slice n’ bake cookies have been around for a long time in the grocery store, but have you ever made them at home? Not me, until now! They were fun to make and super easy, once I got over a minor snag. But better for me to learn the hard way, because now I can pass on the most important tip to you!
Let’s walk through the process of making slice n’ bake cookies..
Follow the recipe below to make the cookie dough. 1/3 of the dough will be used to make the cut out pieces and the other 2/3 will be used to make the cookie part that surrounds the cut out. Use food coloring to dye the portion of the dough that will be used for the cut outs.
Roll the dough that you’ll use for the cut outs to be 1/2 inch thick. Use a little flour when cutting out the shapes to prevent the cookie cutter from sticking.
Line up the gingerbread men together on a piece of plastic wrap, then wrap the gingerbread men in plastic and stick them in the fridge for 1 hour.
10 minutes before the gingerbread men come out of the fridge, begin to roll the outside dough into long narrow ropes. The ropes need to be long enough to cover all of the center cut outs length wise.
Begin to place the ropes around the gingerbread men, gently pressing the ropes to fit around the gingerbread men.
Continue until the gingerbread men are completely covered.
Place some nonpareil sprinkles in a baking dish, and gently roll the cookie dough in the sprinkles, covering all of the sides.
Now this is the most crucial part – wrap the cookie dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or over night.
If you attempt to cut the dough when it’s soft, the center shape will turn out mushy.. like this..
Those are definitely not gingerbread people!! Glad I made the mistake so you don’t have too, haha!!
After the dough has been refrigerated, slice it into about 1/2 inch thick cookies. Place them on a baking sheet, at least 1 inch apart, and bake at 350º F for 8-10 minutes.
I could spend a whole weekend baking tons of these slice n’ bake cookies, they’re so cute!
I created this recipe in partnership with Rodelle as one of their brand ambassadors!
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Gingerbread Men Slice N’ Bake Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened (1 cup)
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp Rodelle Vanilla Extract
- ½ tsp Rodelle Almond Extract
- brown food coloring
- nonpareil sprinkles
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine the flour and baking powder. Set aside.
- Place the sugar and butter in a mixing bowl and using an electric mixer beat until creamy, about 2 minutes.
- Add in the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract, beat.
- Spoon the flour mixture into the wet ingredients, and mix gently until incorporated and dough forms with a spatula.
- Dye 1/3 of the dough brown with food coloring. Knead the dough until the color is incorporated.
- Roll the brown dough to about 1/2 inch thick.
- Use a lightly floured 1 inch cookie cutter to cut out your shapes. Re-roll the scraps to make as many gingerbread men as you can.
- Line up the gingerbread men together on a piece of plastic wrap, then wrap the gingerbread men in plastic and stick them in the fridge for 1 hour.
- 10 minutes before the gingerbread men come out of the fridge, begin to roll the outside dough into long narrow ropes. The ropes need to be long enough to cover all of the center cut outs length wise.
- Begin to place the ropes around the gingerbread men, gently pressing the ropes to fit around the gingerbread men.
- Continue until the gingerbread men are completely covered.
- Place some nonpareil sprinkles in a baking dish, and gently roll the cookie dough in the sprinkles, covering all of the sides.
- Wrap the cookie dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or over night.
- After the dough has been refrigerated, slice it into about 1/2 inch thick cookies. Place them on a baking sheet, at least 1 inch apart, and bake at 350º F for 8-10 minutes.
- Allow the cookies to cool for 3-5 minutes of the baking sheet then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Store in an air tight container.
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclosure
All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.
I don’t bake a lot of cookies because they require so much ‘baby sitting’. Meaning, far too much work spread over a long length of time. Which pies and cakes I always feel that I have more time (while they’re baking) to do things – whether that be rest, clean, or just sip coffee and enjoy the smells coming from the oven. Perhaps if I had more cookie ‘tools’ that would make cookie baking easier and more fun…
The gingerbread men cookie sure look cute and might be fun to try. Thanks for sharing your recipe and the very detailed instructions. Great pictures, too!
Cookies are work that’s for sure! But they are worth it!
I would like to see more pies, cakes and bars.
Oh those are my favorite!!
I would love to see a new recipe with different layers of flavor like caramel, peanut butter and chocolate. Thanks for the chance to enter.
Thanks for the ideas!
I would love to see more candy recipes, like fudge and candy apples.
Oh gosh! Both things I’m not so good at.. yet!
I’d like to see lots of no-bake cookies along with your yummy baked ones!
I’d like more no bake cookies too!
I would love peppermint bark recipes.
I have one!! https://thefirstyearblog.com/swirled-peppermint-bark/
So cute! So making these this xmas! But how many grams is a stick of butter??
1 stick or 1/2 cup butter is equal to 4 ounces, or 113 grams.
What beautiful cookies! They will be sure to please the kiddos. Speaking of kiddos, my son is dairy and egg intolerant so I’d love to see some vegan recipes to try out, or simply instructions on what sort of substitutes I can use for your recipes. I know it’s tricky to substitute egg and dairy but we’ve been fortunate enough to find some decent cake recipes using flax eggs. Coconut milk also works wonders instead of dairy. I enjoy reading your blog!
I would like to make these for two family cookie baking parties that are going to take place on two separate days. How far in advance can the dough be made?
I would say you can prepare the dough up to 2 days in advance!
This is such an original recipe. I thought the gingerbread boys were gingerbread until I read the ingredients. Have you tried using gingerbread cookie dough for the center? Would the baking time be the same for the inside and the outside of the cookies?