Ultimate German Gingerbread Cookie Sandwich Recipe (2024)

Gingerbread sandwich cookies are one of the most delicious and decadent ways to celebrate the holiday season… or just autumn rolling in. Those warm flavors of ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg remind us of pumpkin picking, Christmas cookies and little crunchy gingerbread men.

What are gingerbread sandwich cookies?

Gingerbread sandwich cookies are a type of cookie made with two soft gingerbread cookies and a filling made with butter or cream cheese (sometimes both), powdered sugar, and spices like ginger, cinnamon, and cloves.

The cookies are often decorated with icing, sprinkles, or candy, but we keep our gingerbread nice and simple with just a sugar topping.

Gingerbread sandwich cookies around the Christmas holidays, but I’ve been known to make them throughout the year. These cookies pair perfectly with our Pumpkin co*cktail recipe too.

How do I make gingerbread sandwich cookies?

Most recipes call for simple ingredients such as butter, sugar, flour, eggs, and a healthy amount of molasses. You will then cook the cookies, let them cool, spread the cream filling on one cookie and press the second cookie on top.

Where can I buy gingerbread sandwich cookies?

Gingerbread sandwich cookies, sometimes called molasses cookies, can be found at grocery stores, bakeries and specialty shops.

Which are the best gingerbread sandwich cookies?

While we think our gingerbread sandwich cookies are the best, there are a few store-bought ones you can pick up if you aren’t a big fan of baking. Trader Joe’s molasses sandwich cookies usually hit the spot.

Enjoy your gingerbread sandwich cookie with this pumpkin co*cktail recipe!

Quick History of Gingerbread

While gingerbread cookies are popular in Germany, thanks to a little fairytale called “Hansel and Gretel”, gingerbread actually dates back to early Greece. Not until the Middle Ages did this tasty treat make its way to Germany and England.

According to a PBS article written by Tori Avery, “the termgingerbreadsimply meant preserved ginger and wasn’t applied to the desserts we are familiar with until the 15th century.” Rhonda Massingham Hart wrote in her bookMaking Gingerbread Houses, “the hard cookies… were a staple at Medieval fairs in England, France, Holland and Germany.”

Not until the 15th century did the Germans start making Gingerbread houses. They later brought this tradition with them when they immigrated to the United States. Some believe the tradition started with Hansel and Gretel, a German fairy tale published in 1812 in Grimm’s Fairy Tales tale, who found a house made of sweets.

It’s an easy leap to make.

Why Gingerbread Sandwich Cookies?

While many people make the traditional, crunchy gingerbread men and German gingerbread houses, I like to create a soft gingerbread that I can fill with frosting. My boys love them (we may have had a few for breakfast this weekend), and it’s a hit at every house we visit.

These soft and chewy cookies are best eaten within a few days of making them. If you can’t, freeze a few or give them to your favorite neighbor. As many of you already know, I “force” my neighbors to taste test all of my creations.

My family can be biased sometimes, so I go out of my zone for criticism. Ha!

Gingerbread Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Butter
• 1 cup Brown sugar
• 1 Egg
• 1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
• 3/4 cup Molasses or Treacle
• 3/4 tsp Cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp Ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp Ground nutmeg
• 2 tsp Ground Ginger + 3 tsp Ginger Paste (or 5 tsp Ground Ginger)
• 2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 3- 3 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour

Gingerbread Sandwich Cookie Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper (or you can use one large cookie sheet).
3. In a Stand Mixer, combine butter and brown sugar, beating the butter until light and fluffy.
4. Add molasses, egg and vanilla, whipping for 1-2 minutes (add ginger paste now if using)
5. Sift together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, clover, nutmeg and ground ginger.
6. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients until combined. You should have a a semi-dry dough, enough to make cookie balls in your hand without dough sticking, but not so dry it can’t hold together.
7. Scoop 1-2 level teaspoons of gingerbread mix and roll into a ball.
8. Roll in crystalized white sugar.
9. Place cookie balls in rows of three, leaving at least 2 inches between each cookie.
10. Bake for 7-10 minutes. Outside will looked cooked, inside will be soft.
11. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for a few minutes, before moving to a wire rack.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 8 oz Philadelphia Cream Cheese (block of cream cheese brought to room temperature)
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into cubes
• 3 cups powdered sugar (also called Confectioners Sugar)
• 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• Pinch of Salt

Cream Cheese Frosting Instructions

• Fit your mixer with the paddle attachment (or use a hand mixer)
• Combine butter and cream cheese together on medium speed, for about 2 minutes until smooth.
• Switch to low speed.
• Add salt, vanilla extract and powdered sugar.
• Mix until combined.
• Bring back up to high speed and whip for 1-2 minutes until you have a nice fluffy frosting.
• Add more powdered sugar if you need to thicken up your frosting.
• If you put frosting in the refrigerator, allow it to come back to room temperature and give it a good stir before using on your cookies.

Gingerbread Cookie Sandwiches

• Once cookies are cool, pipe or spoon cream cheese frosting onto the underside of one cookie.
• Place a second cookie on top of the iced cookie, top face up.
• Repeat and enjoy with a hot mug of apple cider or our favorite pumpkin co*cktail.
• Store gingerbread cookies in an airtight container or a plate covered in plastic wrap, or better yet, bees wrap.

Variation: Big and Flat Gingerbread Sandwich Cookies

If you want your gingerbread cookies to be flat, and not a bit puffy like I did in the recipe above, simply press each gingerbread dough ball down with a fork in one direction, and then turn 90 degrees and push down with the fork in the other direction, making a hash print on top.

They will spread out more this way, giving you more room to add cream to your cookies. Sprinkle with granulated sugar before popping in the oven.

How can I store gingerbread sandwich cookies?

Store your cookies in an airtight container. You can stick the frosting in the refrigerator before you make your sandwiches, but you will want to make sure you get it back to room temperature before you pipe it onto the cookies.

How long do gingerbread sandwich cookies last?

Like most cookies, including our favorite maple cream cookies, you will want to eat these within a week of making them. After 7 days your cookies will get funky and the cream will absorb into the cookies a little too much.