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Rum-Glazed Soft Gingerbread Cookies have ideal texture and the warmth of molasses, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, cocoa & black pepper. The perfect gingerbread. Simply Sated
4.37 from 44 votes
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Rum-Glazed Soft Gingerbread Cookies

This is an amazing soft gingerbread cookie. It has perfect texture and is filled with the warm flavors of molasses, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and black pepper. The rum glaze is a perfect finishing touch. This cookie was shared in the cookbook Sweet by Ottolenghi & Goh. They discovered the recipe in Tartine by Prueitt & Robertson, so I'm unsure to whom I should give credit. With that said, please, please check out both cookbooks - the word amazing doesn't begin to give enough credit. The only thing I changed about Ottolenghi & Goh's Soft Gingerbread Tiles is the addition of coarse sea salt. I find a tiny crunch of salt simply irresistible.
Course Dessert
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes
Servings 10 -12 cookies
Author Susie Gall

Ingredients

  • 6 tablespoons 85g unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons 90g, packed dark brown sugar
  • ¼ cup 100 g blackstrap or unsulphured regular molasses
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1 ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons 235g all-purpose flour, plus extra for pressing
  • 1 tablespoon Dutch-processed cocoa powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoon table salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon coarse sea salt
  • For the Rum Butter Glaze:
  • 2/3 cup 80 g confectioners’ sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon 15 g unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 tablespoon dark rum or lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon warm water

Instructions

  1. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer; mix butter, sugar and molasses on MED speed until smooth, about 2 minutes.
  2. Add the egg yolk and beat until fully incorporated.

  3. Over a large mixing bowl, shake the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, pepper and table salt through a large mesh sieve. Add the coarse salt directly into the flour mixture.

  4. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Beat on LOW just until the flour is fully incorporated.
  5. Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface and gently knead. On a sheet of parchment paper, roll the dough to ¼” thickness. Transfer the dough, with the parchment, to a cookie sheet and chill the dough at least 30 minutes.
  6. Preheat oven to 375°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  7. Remove dough from the fridge.
  8. To stamp the cookies: If using a cookie stamp without enclosed edges (like I did), you will also need a circle cookie cutter the same size, or a tad larger, to use with the cookie stamp.
  9. Dip the circle cutter and the bottom of the stamp in flour. Press the circle cutter into the dough then press the stamp into the dough inside the circle cutter. The dough will rise a little during baking, so be sure to press the stamp firmly into the dough to ensure an imprint. Transfer the stamped cookie to the lined baking sheet. Repeat until all gingerbread is used, rerolling the dough when needed. *See note.
  10. Bake 5 minutes, and rotate the baking sheets. Bake another 4-5 minutes or until firm to the touch. Don’t be tempted to bake the cookies longer than 10 minutes – they will continue to firm up as they cool.
  11. Since the cookies need to be glazed while warm, prepare the glaze while the gingerbread is baking.
  12. Make the glaze by sifting powdered sugar and cinnamon into a small bowl. Add melted butter, rum (or lemon juice) and water, and whisk the ingredients together until smooth. The glaze will thicken slightly as it cools, so if needed, add a small amount of hot water – it should be the consistency of maple syrup.
  13. Remove cookies from the oven and allow to cool 1 minute. Transfer the gingerbread to a cooling rack and let cookies cool 4 more minutes. Brush the Rum Butter Glaze over the gingerbread with a pastry brush.
  14. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

Note: After the dough has been made, it can be kept refrigerated up to 2 days before baking. Be sure to wrap the dough, tightly, in plastic wrap.
The cookies will keep up to 5 days in an airtight container, but I doubt they last that long.
*Cookie Stamps aren't necessary to make these cookies. The dough can be rolled then cut-out with any cookie cutter.