19 Gingerbread Recipes to Keep You Cozy All Winter Long

From fun new ideas for upgraded cocoa to traditional takes like cutout cookies, these sweet treats are sure to spice up your day.

November 08, 2022

By: Food Network Kitchen

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Photo By: Matt

Photo By: Matt Armendariz

Photo By: Renee Comet

Photo By: Matt

Photo By: Matt Armendariz

Our Best Takes on a Holiday Classic

If you ask us, there’s nothing cozier on a cold day than a freshly baked gingerbread cookie. The sweet-and-spicy blend of ginger, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, nutmeg and black pepper (yes, black pepper!) always warms us right up, evoking memories of happy holiday gatherings. That’s why we believe gingerbread shouldn’t be limited to Christmas (or cookie houses!). With these recipes, you can enjoy this quintessential treat any day, all winter long. And, if you make your own gingerbread spice mix you can easily add it to pancakes, coffee cake, hot cocoa and more — and treat yourself to comfort and warmth whenever the craving strikes.

Giant Gingerbread Cookie

This giant gingerbread snowflake cookie is a triple threat: super simple to prepare, a great baking project with kids and show-stopping enough to take center stage on your holiday dessert table.

Get the Recipe: Giant Gingerbread Cookie

Gingerbread Hot Chocolate

Ginger, cinnamon and allspice bring a gingerbread flavor to this hot chocolate. Intense Dutch-process cocoa powder balances the spices, and chopped milk chocolate is mixed in at the end for a creamy, rich texture.

Get the Recipe: Gingerbread Hot Chocolate

Gingerbread Spiced Nuts

Talk about sugar, spice and everything nice! These nuts are so simple to make and unbelievably delicious. If you’re a fan of a good salty-sweet-smoky combination, you’ll be snacking on these non-stop. These pecans and almonds also make a great addition to wintry salads — if you can manage to save a few when they come out of the oven.

Get the Recipe: Gingerbread Spiced Nuts

Gingerbread Granola Bars

These granola bars are the perfect way to get your gingerbread fix first thing in the morning without actually eating a cookie. They get the signature gingerbread flavor from molasses in the syrup, lots of ground holiday spices and a couple tablespoons of candied ginger.

Get the Recipe: Gingerbread Granola Bars

Gingerbread Pancakes with Cream Cheese and Rum Sauce

Warming spices add a measure of holiday cheer to these silver dollar pancakes. The warm cream cheese sauce can be made without rum if you're serving the pancakes to your kiddos.

Get the Recipe: Gingerbread Pancakes with Cream Cheese and Rum Sauce

Gingerbread Martini

Trisha plays up the gingerbread flavor in this festive martini by making a homemade simple syrup that’s infused with cloves, cinnamon and fresh ginger. The perfect finishing touch for her cocktail? A sprinkle of crushed-up gingerbread cookies.

Get the Recipe: Gingerbread Martini

Gingerbread Crumb Dump Cake

resenting the easiest ever holiday dump cake: All you do is dump your ingredients into a pan and put it in the oven. What emerges is a layer of spiced apples blanketed in moist spice cake and a crown of golden, buttery crumb topping.

Get the Recipe: Gingerbread Crumb Dump Cake

Double-Stuffed Gingerbread Cookies

These cookie sandwiches are packed with holiday cheer, thanks to a hint of molasses and gingerbread spice in the soft, chewy cookies, as well as a generous dose of spiced cookie butter spread in the filling. Plus, there's an extra dusting of sanding sugar to add the perfect sweetness and festive sheen.

Get the Recipe: Double-Stuffed Gingerbread Cookies

Gingerbread Cake

This simple cake, scented with warming spices and molasses, is a cinch to put together. Leftovers make a perfect breakfast treat!

Get the Recipe: Gingerbread Cake

Gingerbread Waffle Cake with Peppermint Frosting

This easy, festive cake is perfect for any winter celebration. Go nuts with the decorations, if you like. You can use candy canes, gumdrops or pretty much any holiday-centric candy that helps conjure up that gingerbread-house mood. 

Get the Recipe: Gingerbread Waffle Cake with Peppermint Frosting

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Orange Icing

Ina prepares the batter for her gingerbread cupcakes the same way as a full cake: by combining a mixture of flour, spices, molasses, melted butter and rum-soaked raisins. The sweet-tart orange icing balances the spiced cake.

Gingerbread Biscotti

These biscotti have the same warm spices and crispy-crunchy texture that you love in a traditional gingerbread person, but require less time and effort than the classic cutout cookie! Each one gets an extra dip of melted white chocolate and a sprinkle of sanding sugar, for a sparkly holiday treat fit for a cookie tin.

Get the Recipe: Gingerbread Biscotti

Gingerbread Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

As with most gingerbreads, this cake only gets better with time. When it's first baked, it will be light and cakey. If you wrap it and let it sit a day, it will become even more moist and the warm spices will intensify. Either way, it's homey and delicious and perfect for your holiday table. And if you don't have gingerbread cookies to decorate the bottom with, don't worry. This cake can easily stand alone and still impress.

Get the Recipe: Gingerbread Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Gingerbread Cookies with Royal Icing

Sandra Lee's secret for making shortcut gingerbread cookies: Use store-bought sugar cookie mix and flavor it with pumpkin pie spice, ginger and molasses.

Get the Recipe: Gingerbread Cookies with Royal Icing

Old-Fashioned Gingerbread

Ina Garten's gingerbread just smells like the holidays, with its mix of spices, crystallized ginger and raisins. Try putting a dollop of rum whipped cream on top to take this treat over the top.

Get the Recipe: Old-Fashioned Gingerbread

Gingerbread House

Once you build your gingerbread house, decorate it with whatever colorful candies you like, "gluing" them on with icing.

Get the Recipe: Gingerbread House

Gingerbread Sundaes

It only takes 5 minutes and a handful of common pantry ingredients to make this rich, flavorful sundae syrup.

Get the Recipe: Gingerbread Sundaes

Gingerbread and Lemon Curd Trifle with Blackberry Sauce

Bobby's trifle will happily feed any crowd during the holidays. Gingerbread cake is layered with lemon curd and blackberry sauce.

Get the Recipe: Gingerbread and Lemon Curd Trifle with Blackberry Sauce

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Caramelized Mango Buttercream

Leave it to an Iron Chef to dream up this unusual flavor combo. Bobby Flay's creative cupcakes are loaded with flavor: The cool mango frosting is refreshingly light and perfectly complements the warm gingerbread.

Get the Recipe: Gingerbread Cupcakes With Caramelized Mango Buttercream