Cardamom Ginger Cat Gingerbread Cookies are the quirky Christmas cookie your heart desires. Bursting with baking spices, anyone who bites into these cookies will love all the flavor and chewy texture.
It’s cookie week! My friend Erin pulls together an amazing virtual party every celebrating the best thing ever: cookies.
This year’s Sweetest Season is no different. Last year I channeled my inner chocoholic for these Mexican Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies. The year before I channeled my inner zen to make time for these No-Bake Avalanche Cookies, which is a super popular recipe on Pinterest right now.
This year, I’m channeling my inner (no, outer) cat lady for these Cardamom Ginger Cat Gingerbread Cookies.
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I do not subscribe to the fact that holiday cookies always come in holiday shapes! I’m so in love with this cat cookie cutter and can’t wait to use it again. Here’s a cute dog cookie cutter, for you dog lovers out there!
I put lots of spices in these Cardamom Ginger Cat Gingerbread Cookies, so they are extra flavorful and fragrant.
Gingerbread is one of those special flavors that just screams the holidays. Always brings back childhood memories of baking with my mom. It’s fitting that I baked these with her at her house.
Also, her kitten Ollie snuck into a few shots… (Isn’t he the most adorable? I just love his little face!)
One thing to note about this dough: it seems to absorb flour rapidly. I had to work in lots of extra flour when I was rolling out the dough, and chilled it every so often to keep it from sticking to my counter and rolling pin. I highly recommend the use of a silicone baking mat for baking and parchment paper for rolling.
You’ll also need a good rolling pin, a baking sheet and a wire rack for cooling. I can’t live without this metal spatula when I make cookies — it’s perfect.
I hope you can make some Cardamom Ginger Cat Gingerbread Cookies for the cat ladies (and gentlemen) in your life this season. Because who says gingerbread cookies have to be weird little human shapes?
Vegan? Gluten-free? Here’s a Gluten-Free, Vegan Gingerbread Men recipe for you. It’s always a hit this time of year.
ABOUT THE SWEETEST SEASON
This recipe is part of The Sweetest Season, an annual virtual cookie swap co-hosted by Erin of The Speckled Palate and myself. Every year, we get a bunch of food bloggers together to share new holiday cookie recipes.
This year we are raising money for Cookies 4 Kids’ Cancer, which is a recognized 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to funding research for new, innovative and less-toxic treatments for childhood cancer.
This season, Cookies for Kids’ Cancer is in a matching window with their friends at OXO, meaning OXO will be matching every dollar raised through Dec. 31, 2022, up to $100,000. Whatever money we raise will automatically double on our fundraising page!
Cardamom Ginger Cat Gingerbread Cookies
Cardamom and ginger are a perfect pairing in these gingerbread cutout cookies. Punch out cat shapes — or any shape you choose!)
Ingredients
For the cookies
- 5 1/2 cup flour, plus more for rolling
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 1/2 tablespoons ground ginger
- 1 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups unsulfured molasses
For the Royal Icing
- 2 egg whites, room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and cardamom.
- In a stand mixer, combine butter and sugar until pale in color. Whisk in eggs one at a time, then add in molasses. Stir in flour mixture gradually.
- Divide into three balls and cover in plastic wrap. Chill for at least one hour.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out one ball of dough onto a lightly floured surface or parchment paper, about 1/4 inch thick. If dough is sticky, incorporate more flour 1/4 cup at a time. Cut cookies with a cookie cutter and place 2-inches apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 12-14 minutes until the cookies are crisp and firm, but do not allow them to darken in color. Let cool on a wire rack before adding icing.
- To make the icing, place egg whites in a bowl. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar. Put powdered sugar in another bowl. Spoon powdered sugar into egg whites 1 tablespoon at a time. Stir — don't whisk — until thoroughly incorporated. Repeat until icing holds its shape when you run a spoon through it. Icing should not be runny so it is easy to pipe. Add icing to piping bags and use to decorate cookies.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 36 Serving Size: 1 cookieAmount Per Serving: Calories: 151Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 11mgSodium: 105mgCarbohydrates: 34gFiber: 1gSugar: 18gProtein: 3g
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