I got a set of the teeny tiniest cookie cutters last year. Ever since, I’ve been coming up with cute ways to use them. Since Christmas is coming, I made the littlest and cutest gingerbread people. They look so cute adorning my full size gingerbread cookies. Working with such small cookies can be challenging but I have a few tips to make it easier. The dough has to be rolled very thin, so I found it easier to manage by rolling it between sheets of parchment paper. Since the dough is so thin and fragile, it has to be kept very cold during the entire process , so pop it into the fridge if it becomes too warm. A toothpick dipped in melted white chocolate was the easiest way for me to draw on their little faces, but a black edible marker would work too. You can also use royal icing if you’re comfortable working with it.
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cookies
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- 3 1/4 cups (415g) all purpose flour, sifted
- 1 tablespoon (10g) cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, preferably freshly ground
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 tablespoons (24g) vegetable shortening
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (163ml) unsulphured molasses
- 3/4 cup (128g) white chocolate chips, melted
- assorted sprinkles I used candy cane sprinkles and green nonpareils
Ingredients
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- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, cornstarch, salt, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves together until well blended.
- In a separate large bowl, beat the butter, shortening and brown sugar together, with an electric mixer on medium speed, until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg until incorporated. Beat in the vanilla, then the molasses until well combined.
- On low speed, beat in the flour mixture in two additions. Beat just until combined. Set aside about 1/4 of the dough for the mini cookies. Form it into a disk. Divide the remaining dough into 2 portions and form them into disks. Wrap all of the dough disks in plastic wrap and chill them in the refrigerator until firm, at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Place the small portion of dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper. Roll to 1/16-inch thickness. Cut out 40-50 mini cookies using a 1-inch gingerbread man cookie cutter. Place the cut outs on a parchment paper lined tray. Freeze for 20-30 minutes. this will help the cookies keep their shape when baking.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the remaining dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Using a 2 3/4-inch or a 3-inch round cookie cutter, cut out 18 cookies. Re-roll the scraps as needed. place the cookies at least 1-inch apart onto the cookie sheets. Bake until the cookies are set and slightly puffed, about 8-10 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack.
- Place the mini cookies, about 1/2-inch apart onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake until the cookies are set and slightly puffed, about 5-6 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet. Decorate the cooled mini cookies with melted white chocolate, using a toothpick to make the eyes, smiles, etc.
- Spread melted white chocolate onto one side of each round cookie. Top with the mini gingerbread cookies and the sprinkles of your choice.
*To find the mini gingerbread man cookie cutter I used, click here.
To find round cookie cutters, click here.
