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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.
The ada are ATROCIOUS. HbH used to be amazing! No longer my go-to.
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Hi Joanna! I am so sorry about that! Thank you for your feedback! xT
The cookies taste delicious! We made cut outs so kids could decorate them. If you have trouble with icing brown the butter like it says but then put it in a stand mixer along with the rest of the ingredients and whip it that way. If it’s still too thick add a splash of milk or heavy cream to help thin it some. That worked for us and the combo of the gingerbread/icing flavor was perfect!
Thank you so so much! Sooo glad you enjoyed this recipe! Have a wonderful weekend! 🙂 xT
Hello
I am wondering the same as last comment..Can you freeze these and how? Should you cook and then freeze or freeze dough?
Thanks
Hi there! Yes you can totally freeze them! You can either make them into balls and then freeze them or you can bake them and freeze them! xT
Hi, thank you for the recipe, they look AMAZING. I was wondering if they are ok to freeze?
Hi Helann! Yes, you can definitely freeze these! xT
I ran out of eggs! Christmas Crisis! Could I substitute a flax egg?
Hi there! I haven’t tried that in this recipe, so can’t say for sure! Let me know if you give it a try! xT
I enjoy your recipes, but your daily blog is so full of ads I don’t make them anymore. It gives me a headache just trying to scroll through to the end of the recipe because of all the pop-ups. Very disappointing. I am going to unsubscribe.
If you hit the “skip to recipe” button at the top of the page and then hit the “print” button (even if you don’t want to print it) it will open a new window and just be the written ingredients and directions with no pops/ads.
i have chosen the metric option but still get sticks of butter!!!! How many grams in a stick of butter please
It’s 113 gram to a stick of butter.
My local store only carries Grandmas Molasses and Brer Rabbit Molasses. Neither say blackstrap. Will that make a big difference?
I absolutely LOVE every recipe I make of yours!
Hi there! You can use regular molasses as well! 🙂 xT
Love these cookies. I also had issues with the icing. Added coconut oil as needed…. ended up using a piping bag with tip to create pretty little snowflake like pattern on the top of each cookie! Thanks for a great recipe!
Thank you Mary! xT
The recipe calls for 2-4 tablespoons espresso powder or instant coffee powder. How do we know whether to use 2 or 4? Could you describe the difference it would have in the cookies? I don’t want them to be too bitter.
Hi Jordan! It really just depends on how much espresso flavor you want in the cookies! They won’t be too bitter if you use the full amount, it’s really just a matter of how much of that espresso flavor you’d like in them! Hope this helps! xT
Thank you so much for the response! Can’t wait to try.
If I use non dairy butter, do you think it will come out the same?
Hey Amy! I haven’t ever tried this with non dairy butter so I can’t say for sure! So sorry! xT
I have used non dairy butter (and gluten free flour!) and they came out delicious.
SUPERB!!! I love the icing – easy to make, yet so decadent. The gingerbread cookie is soft, flavorful, and not too sweet. Everyone’s asking me to make more!
Thanks sooo much! Love to hear that this recipe was a success! xT
Made these last year and cannot wait to make them again this year. My favorite ever!!
Thanks sooo much! Love to hear that this recipe was a success! xT
The cookies are 5 star, but like so many others the icing didn’t work out! We tried twice before deciding to just make a traditional buttercream type glaze / icing. Both times, after browning the butter we added the rest of the ingredients super quickly and whipped it but it was far too thick so I followed the directions of adding some warm milk, but for some reason that caused the butter to separate and the sugar blob to get thicker / firmer. Should I have let the icing cool before adding milk?
These are delicious! The icing definitely had issues, but I’m glad I read the comments before throwing it out-added a splash of milk and that saved it!
Thank you Anne! Anything I can do to help with the icing? xT
I’ve made this icing 3 times now and I cannot get it to work! I mean it tastes delicious, but it looks terrible.