Gingerbread Mummies
Soft, chewy and full of spice! These Gingerbread Mummies are a great way to get more use out of that gingerbread man cookie cutter you have lying around. Tons of fun to decorate with the kids and even more fun to eat!
Can’t wait any longer to bust out the gingerbread recipes? This recipe for Gingerbread mummies is your excuse to jumpstart the gingerbread baking season. There’s no reason you can’t roll out the gingerbread dough and dust off the gingerbread man cookie cutters….and so…..Gingerbread Mummies are born. They’re real and extremely tasty. Let’s merge easily into the cooler weather with some spicy, warm cookies.
Easy Mummy Gingerbread Cookies
When I first concocted this idea for gingerbread mummies…I thought fondant or royal icing for decorating. Something really fancy…and difficult….and not even remotely easy for a child to do. Which kinda sucks the fun out of cookie baking. My kids love to help and these Gingerbread cookies are the perfect way to get their tiny hands working.
It’s a great way to help develop those fine motor skills and a great way to give mom a break when her hand cramps up. It happens. So…messy, zig-zagging lines are the way to go….no fondant necessary. The only “accessory” you’ll need to buy are the Wilton Candy Eyes but they’re easy to find at any craft or baking store.
How to Make Gingerbread Cookies From Scratch
I used my recipe for Classic Gingerbread Cookies which is always fool-proof. These bake up the most soft gingerbread cookies that hold their shape while baking perfectly.
The icing does take a bit of time to dry so if you’re making these to give out or store in bags or take to school…I suggest making them a day ahead and storing them in a single layer on a baking sheet overnight.
If you’re making them just to eat at your leisure, just give the icing a couple of hours to set. It’s worth the wait. And then you can stuff your face like a starving zombie. I don’t judge.
Gingersnaps vs. Gingerbread
The main differences between gingerbread and gingersnaps are that ginger snaps bake for a longer period of time to get their crispiness–and gingerbread cookies are a little chewier (and almost always rolled out into different shapes like gingerbread men and other holiday figures).
How To Decorate Gingerbread
This is the easiest step to decorated your gingerbread mummies. And it’s so fun, too because you don’t have to make the lines perfect and neat. We like to use this easy Royal Icing because it’s just like the bakery cookies you know and love.
Simply fill the pastry bag with frosting.
Snip off the end.
Pipe the icing in a zig zag pattern and glue on the eyes with the frosting.
Allow the icing to harden, approximately 1-3 hours depending on the humidity.
And serve up with your favorite spooky snacks!
More Easy Halloween Treats
If you’re looking for more halloween fun to make with the kids, you need to try these easy Witch Finger shortbread cookies. They’re also fool proof because it adds to the charm if every cookie looks a bit different.
Or try these easy to make Oreo Truffles that look like eyeballs. Sounds weird but totally tasty.
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Get the Recipe: Gingerbread Mummies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- For the frosting:
- 2 cups sifted powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons whole milk
Instructions
- In a bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter until light and fluffy.
- In a separate small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, ground ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and salt. Set aside.
- Add the sugar to the butter and beat until light and fluffy. Turn the mixer to low and mix in the molasses, egg and balsamic vinegar. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the bowl and continue mixing until thoroughly combined.
- Cover and chill about 2 hours or until the dough is easy to handle.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Divide the dough in half and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll each half of the dough to 1/4″ thickness adding flour as needed, the dough is very sticky so use flour liberally to prevent your cutouts from sticking to the surface.
- Using cookie cutters, cut dough into shapes and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment approximately 1″ apart.
- Bake in a 400 degree oven for 5-6 minutes. Cool on baking sheets for one minute and move to a wire rack.
- In a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar, vanilla and milk. Whisk to combine. Spoon mixture into a pastry bag or zip top bag and snip off the tip. Add two small dots of icing where the eyes should be and then press one eye on each dot. Decorate the mummies using a zig-zag pattern across the surface of the cookie and allow to dry for 2-4 hours or overnight.
- Store in an airtight container.
24 Comments on “Gingerbread Mummies”
This is creative! Kids will surely love this!
So cute!!!
These are darling! Great idea!
Kellie, these are SO cute!!!
Adorable and totally doable!
these are adorable! and a great excuse to make gingerbread before it’s seasonally acceptable . 😉 It’s one of my favorites, so I’m all about this.
I love these! Super cute! Gingerbread cookies are my favorite. I love how you turned them into mummies!
These might just be the CUTEST gingerbread men EVER EVER EVER! I need to buy some candy eyes and try this with my little one. She’d have such a blast!
What a fun take on gingerbread cookies! LOVE it!