Gingerbread cookie sandwiches are soft gingerbread cookies sandwiching brown butter frosting. What could be better than that? I love these for Christmas cookies because they stay soft and don’t get stale. They’re full of gingerbread flavor and couldn’t be easier to make.

How to make gingerbread cookie sandwiches

I love a good drop cookie recipe and these are so flavorful and soft. You can even skip the buttercream and just enjoy the cookies.

Tools Needed

• Stand Mixer
• 2 oz Cookie Scoop
• Baking Sheet
• Mixing Bowl

Ingredients you’ll need

• Sugar. You’ll need brown, white, and powdered sugar to make gingerbread cookie sandwiches.
• Flour. Good old-fashioned all-purpose flour is the move here.
• Leaveners. You need both cream of tartar and baking soda to make these cookies soft and fluffy.
• Eggs. You will need 2 room temperature eggs for this recipe.
• Molasses. Opt for high-quality unsulphured molasses here. My favorite brand is Wholesome and can be found at Whole Foods.
• Spices. To get the gingerbread flavor I use ground cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.
• Sanding sugar or raw sugar. This is totally optional, but rolling the cookies in sanding (or sparkle sugar) sugar makes them so pretty and gives some great texture.
• Brown butter. This totally makes the frosting. Follow the instructions below on how to brown butter.
• Cream cheese. I love the combo of cream cheese and brown butter–best frosting ever!

How to brown butter

Making brown butter is so easy and it’s the perfect way to level up your baking.

1. Melt the butter. Start with a shallow saucepan and melt your butter over low heat.
2. Bubbling. After the butter is melted, it’ll start to bubble a bit. You’ll notice the color will change and the butter will get much clearer.
3. Foaming. Next, your butter will start to get foamy. I like to swirl the pan every minute or so while this is happening. The butter will start to brown and you’ll smell the change.
4. Browning. Keep a close eye at this stage because it’s easy to burn! You want the butter to just be golden brown at this point.

Once the butter is golden brown, remove it from the heat immediately. Transfer it to a heat-proof bowl and let it cool to room temperature. From here, it’s ready to use in a variety of baked goods! Don’t leave the little browned bits behind, that’s where all the flavor is.

Tips for avoiding flat cookies

If you end up with flat cookies, you may have made a wrong turn at some point. Here are tips to ensure that you have fluffy, soft cookies.

1. Accurately measure the ingredients. Flat cookies usually happen because the ingredients weren’t measured accurately, specifically the flour. The best way to measure is to weigh your ingredients. Too little flour and your cookies will spread too much and end up chewy.
2. Chill the dough. This step is essential for flavor and texture. Chilling the cookie dough lets the flavors really come through but also firms up the butter in the dough so they don’t spread too much during baking.
3. Don’t skip the cream of tartar. Cream of tartar really makes these into fluffy cookies so don’t skip it or substitute anything in its place. Baking powder is not the same and is not a suitable substitute.

HOW TO STORE GINGERBREAD COOKIE SANDWICHES

These cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. They can be refrigerated for a week, but I recommend bringing them to room temperature before eating.

Other Cookie recipes to try

• Eggnog Snickerdoodle Cookies

• Nutella Linzer Cookies

• Slice and Bake Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies

• Cranberry White Chocolate Cookie Bars

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Baking

Gingerbread Cookie Sandwiches

These gingerbread cookie sandwiches are soft and the perfect cookie recipe for the holidays!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 16 minutes mins

Makes: 9 large cookie sandwiches

Ingredients

Gingerbread Cookies:

• 2 sticks (8 oz/226 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup (210 g) packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup organic unsulphured molasses
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 2 3/4 cups (410 g) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• pinch of kosher salt
• sanding sugar or raw sugar for coating

Brown Butter Frosting:

• 8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
• 2 oz (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

• To make the cookies: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and both sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the vanilla, eggs, and molasses and beat until well combined. The mixture will look curdled at first, but keep beating until smooth.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon and cloves. Add to the wet ingredients and mix just until the dough clumps together.
• Using a 2 oz (4 tablespoon) scoop, portion the cookie dough and then roll it in the coarse sugar. Place the cookie scoops on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper at least 2-3 inches apart. Refrigerate for 1 hour before baking.
• Preheat an oven to 350 F. Bake for 15-17 minutes, until puffed in the middle but still soft. Repeat with the remaining tray. Cool on a wire rack until room temperature, then fill the cookies with cream cheese frosting using a piping bag and large star tip.
• To make the frosting: In a small saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Continue to cook until the butter is golden brown, but not too dark. Transfer to a heat-proof bowl and cool.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, pour the somewhat cooled browned butter over the cream cheese and beat together until smooth. Add the vanilla and cinnamon. Add the powdered sugar and mix well, adding the heavy cream while the mixer is running. Beat until smooth and store in a piping bag or airtight container until ready to use.