Next Post
Spicy Buffalo White Chicken Chili Tacos.
This post may contain affiliate links, please see our privacy policy for details.
Soft Gingerbread Latte Cookies with Brown Butter Icing. A cross between a really great soft, chewy gingerbread cookie and a delicious steaming gingerbread latte made with real espresso. These cookies are made with sweet dark brown sugar, molasses, ginger, and the real secret – espresso powder. They’re generously glazed with a sweet, thick, and creamy brown butter icing that melts in your mouth. You can make them as drop cookies or as Christmas cutouts, there’s really nothing not to love! They’re the perfect holiday cookie to bake, share, and gift this holiday season!
More cookies!! When I say I have been baking cookies non-stop, I mean it. These took me days. They’re the simplest cookie, but it took a long time to figure out how to get them from just ok to the amazing Christmas cookie I envisioned in my head.
The amount of gingerbread cookies I’ve baked in a week’s time is unreal, but look at these!! Oh, they are so, so yummy! And now I can look at them and truly say I really love these.
These are soft and chewy gingerbread. I did both drop cookies and cutouts, but I think I love the drop style more. Either way, they’re my favorite gingery cookie!
When I set out to make these, I really wanted to achieve a gingerbread that was chewy all around, soft, and not like other gingerbread cookies.
For some reason, the sound of a gingerbread latte cookie really excited me. I thought back to the gingerbread latte I created long ago, and then the mocha-cinnamon rolls I made last year. I love the added depth of flavor the espresso adds, so I knew these cookies needed three things. Lots of ginger, some espresso mixed in, and then, they also needed to be chewy.
Here are details
Beat the butter with dark brown sugar and a high-quality espresso or instant coffee powder. Then add egg and molasses. Next, add the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and salt. That’s the dough. It’s perfectly spiced and the espresso only helps to highlight the warming spices.
Roll the dough into decently sized balls. This is a sticky dough, but if you’re having trouble, add a couple of tablespoons of additional flour.
Then just bake. That’s literally it if you’re making drop cookies. Which are probably my preferred cookie, but only because they’re chewier than the cutouts.
If you want to make the cutouts, add some additional four flour to the dough. Then the key is to roll the dough out onto a piece of parchment paper.
Just as I do with my sugar cookies, I always like to roll out the dough, cut the cookies, and then freeze the cut cookies on a baking sheet for a few minutes. This ensures that the cookies hold their shape. To cut my cookies, I used Christmas tree cutters. But you can use any shapes you have on hand, or that your family loves the most.
On to the icing
This icing is everything. Just a handful of ingredients, but I love the nutty brown butter flavor and creaminess. It’s what makes these cookies really melt in your mouth.
The ingredients: butter, sugar, vanilla, a pinch of cinnamon, and salt.
The key is to brown the butter on the stove. Then add everything to the brown butter and thin it out with some milk. Ice each cookie quickly, the frosting does set up pretty quickly.
This combo of ginger, espresso, and brown butter is unexpected, but I’m finding that everyone LOVES it. You won’t even detect the espresso, it just compliments the ginger and cinnamon so wonderfully. The result is a perfectly chewy, gingery, molasses cookie with rich notes of espresso, vanilla, and ginger.
We couldn’t love these easy gingerbread cookies more. And the frosting really makes them special. Hope you guys love these just as much as I do!
Looking for Christmas cookie recipes? Here are a few ideas:
Chewy Frosted Cinnamon Swirl Snickerdoodles
Easy Slice ‘n’ Bake Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies
Easy Vanilla Bean Christmas Lights Cookies
Lastly, if you make these Soft Gingerbread Latte Cookies with Brown Butter Icing be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Soft Gingerbread Latte Cookies with Brown Butter Icing
Servings: 22 cookies
Calories Per Serving: 250 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 sticks salted butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup light or dark brown sugar
- 2-4 tablespoons espresso powder or instant coffee powder
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup blackstrap molasses
- 2 1/4 cups, plus 1-2 tablespoons, as needed all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- granulated sugar, for rolling
Brown Butter Icing
- 1 stick salted butter, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 -2 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoos milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean powder
- 1 pinch cinnamon
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. 2. In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter, brown sugar, espresso, and vanilla until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add the egg, mixing to combine. Then, add the molasses and mix to combine. Add the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and salt, beating until combined. 3. Place the sugar in a small bowl. 3. For drop cookies: Roll the dough into tablespoon-size balls (if the dough is too sticky, add 2-4 additional tablespoons flour), then roll through the sugar. Place on the prepared baking sheet, spacing the cookies 2 inches apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the cookies are just starting to set around the edges, the centers should be a little doughy. Let cool on the pan. 4. For cutouts: Divide the dough in half. Roll out the dough on a floured piece of parchment paper to 1/4 inch thickness. Make sure you're using enough flour or your dough will stick. Cut out the cookies into desired shapes. Transfer the cookies to a parchment-lined baking sheet. I recommend using a floured spatula to lift the cookies. Cover the baking sheet and place in the freezer until firm, 15 minutes. Roll out the leftover scraps, and repeat with the remaining dough. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until just set.5. Meanwhile, make the icing. Add the butter to a pot set over medium heat. Allow the butter to brown lightly until it smells toasted, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat. Let cool 5 minutes. Whisk in the powdered sugar, milk, vanilla, a pinch of cinnamon, and salt. Immediately spread the icing over the cookies, it will set quickly. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Sadly, this recipe just wasn’t written well. My advice to people— add the dry ingredients (spices and sugars) and mix separately, then add into the wet mixture before it’s too clumpy to mix.
The icing was terrible lol I’m so sorry it just didn’t work. Do your own thing or find a different Icing recipe. There are so many amazing gingerbread recipes out there and this one was lazily written, and not good.
Hi there,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback, sorry to hear it wasn’t enjoyed! xT
Love the cookies but the icing didn’t work for me either. Tried it twice and it was just completely separated and lumpy. I tried to put it on one cookie but it was really gritty 🙁 Otherwise the flavour of the cookies were amazing
Hi Alyssa,
So glad you enjoyed the cookies, sorry about the icing! It is definitely tricky, I think some warm milk would have helped it! Happy Holidays! xT
Don’t make this icing. I’m sorry Tieghan, I love all of your recipes but this icing is a flop. I’ve made the Espresso icing for your Chai Gingerbread cookies annually, and I tried to mix it up this year and try these gingerbread cookies instead. The cookies are perfect. My dough was too soft at first so I rolled it into a ball and chilled it for a few minutes in the fridge, then I rolled it out and cut my shapes fine. After freezing them on the tray they held their shape coming out of the oven. Now for the icing. I attempted to make this twice tonight. The first time it was clumpy and I thought it was my fault as I ran through a number of things to try for round two. Round two I sifted the powdered sugar into the pot while my boyfriend whisked thinking that might help prevent any clumps and make the icing thinner. It didn’t, it was just as clumpy and thick. We kept going trying to trust the process, but it didn’t look like other icings I’ve made from this website. I put it into an icing bag any way but it was too thick to squeeze out, even with a larger hole. The seam of the bag burst so I gave up and tried to spread it on the cookies, but they look awful. And the icing was still really hot as I was wearing mittens while holding the bag. After frustration and some tears, I read these comments and I’m so happy I’m not the only one who had issues with the icing! Comparing the ingredients of this and the Espresso Icing, the key ingredient missing was liquid, or 1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream. Otherwise they are almost identical. Looks like most of the comments say to add milk, and going back through the blog portion of this recipe it says “the key is to brown the butter and thin it out with some milk”. I’m really frustrated that milk wasn’t listed as an ingredient or included in the baking instructions or included as a tip at the bottom. I hope this recipe gets an update to save some Christmas tears. I’m going to finish decorating tomorrow with the Chai Gingerbread Espresso Icing as I know that one is a winner. But I’m out of powdered sugar since I tried to make this twice already tonight. 🙁
Can I sub almond flour..?
Hi Natalie,
I would probably recommend using a gluten free flour blend for best results. Let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xT
On a pass/fail grading scale, one son said they passed (but graded they a C), and another said they tasted like soy sauce. I used 3 tbs instant coffee, and it was too much coffee flavor. The icing didn’t blend, so my 3rd son heated it more and it blended for the most part. The cookies were cooked for 8 minutes and are not chewy.
Hi Brooke,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback, sorry to hear they were not enjoyed. Please let me know if there is anything that I can help with! xT
I tried this recipe today as we were iced in this winter. I ended up using instant coffee but not powder it was little flakes so had a little bit stronger coffee taste but still good. Also our cookies did not spread flat, they stayed in cute little domes which we didn’t mind baked at 350 for 8 minutes. But they stayed soft in the middle! My boyfriend somehow curdled the frosting but he somehow fixed it while I was away, that smelled and tasted lovely. Together as a finished product it was overall delightful!
Hey Lydia,
I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your review, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed! Merry Christmas! 🎁🎄
Cookies were great but icing was a no go – clumped together SO quickly.
Hi Morgan,
I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your review, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed! Sorry, the icing does set quickly, next time you can add some milk! Merry Christmas! 🎁🎄
I don’t know what I did wrong, but they were a total flop. I am an experienced baker & followed the instructions for the drop cookies exactly. The dough was very soft, but I rolled them in sugar & baked them as directed. They literally melted on the pan. Should I have chilled the dough first?
Same thing happened to me. Chilling the dough helped and I added more flour. Still did not rise enough or have the crackle effect as in the photos 🙁
YUM!! These cookies have a great flavor, not too sweet and the coffee added is a fun twist to the gingerbread! The icing does set very quickly, so dipping the cookies in the icing or drizzling it may have been easier, but chose to pipe it instead. Everyone loved them!
Hey Rebecca,
I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your review, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed! Merry Christmas! 🎁🎄
Hey Jeni,
Thanks so much for giving these cookies a try, so sorry to hear you had some issues! It does sound like your dough was too warm, I think chilling it would have helped! Again, sorry for the trouble! xx
THE BEST CHRISTMAS COOKIE! Omg so yum
Didn’t have espresso powder so used cacao instead, still turned out great 🙂
Thank you!
Hey Adriana,
I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your review, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed! Merry Christmas! 🎁🎄
SO GOOD! Gingerbread cookies are typically not my favorite, but the coffee in this really helped balance the ginger that can sometimes feel overpowering for me. I didn’t even do the frosting, thought they were great on their own.
Hey Brenda,
I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your review, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed! Merry Christmas! 🎁🎄
Just finished making these and they are amazing. The frosting is a must- so wonderful. I read some other comments that suggested cooling the brown butter first- but I disagree. If it’s too cool it becomes thick and you have to spread versus drizzle, and the drizzle just looks so beautiful. Amazing different cookie to share!
Hey Stephanie,
Thanks so much for sharing what worked well for you and giving these cookies a try, I love to hear that they were enjoyed! Happy Friday! xT
Absolutely one of the tastiest cookies I’ve ever had. Icing is incredible.
Mine came out kind of thick and cakey (still yummy) but not flat and crackled like in the photos – any suggestions?
Hey Yana,
Amazing!! So glad to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making them!! I would try tapping your baking sheet on the counter to see if that helps to flatten them! xT
These cookies are SO good! Do not be scared away by some of the comments about the frosting! I did read first and I’m glad because making sure the milk was warm made a huge difference. I also noticed that you do really have to use enough powdered sugar even though it’s tempting to do less. I noticed my icing looked like it was broken and adding more powdered sugar took care of that! You really just have to fiddle with it until the portions are right :).
Hey Rachel,
Happy Friday!!☃️ I love to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks so much for making it and your comment! xT
These are probably one of the best tasting cookies I’ve ever made before! However, they were more domed shape than the flat crinkle cookies that Teighan got. The icing is really sweet but it’s delicious and it does thicken really fast!
Hey Attia,
Thanks so much for giving these cookies a try, I love to hear that they were enjoyed! Happy Friday! xT
These were so yummy! I loved the strong coffee taste. The icing was great too! Mine ended up like a paste as other people mentioned, but nothing a little milk didn’t fix!! I loved it 🙂
Hey Sloane,
Happy Holidays!!☃️ I love to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks so much for making it and your comment! xT