Description
These festive Mickey Mouse Gingerbread Cookies bring together classic holiday spices and sweet molasses with a fun Disney twist. Perfectly soft and chewy, they’re dipped in creamy Ghirardelli milk chocolate and adorned with holly and berry sprinkles for an enchanting seasonal treat that’s sure to delight kids and adults alike.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookie Dough
- 10 Tablespoons unsalted sweet cream butter
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar
- 2/3 cup dark molasses
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
Decoration
- 2 bags (8 oz each) Ghirardelli milk chocolate melting wafers
- 1 container Wilton Holly Melody sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat Oven: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit to ensure it reaches the perfect temperature for baking the cookies evenly.
- Prepare Baking Sheet: Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set it aside to prevent the cookies from sticking and to make cleanup easier.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: Using a standing mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and light brown sugar until the mixture is completely smooth and creamy, which helps create a tender cookie texture.
- Add Egg and Vanilla: Add the egg and pure vanilla extract to the butter mixture and beat until fully combined, ensuring even distribution of flavors.
- Incorporate Molasses: Pour in the dark molasses and beat on medium-high speed until well combined, contributing rich flavor and moisture.
- Scrape Bowl: Scrape down the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl as needed to incorporate all ingredients evenly into the batter.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a separate large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, allspice, and ground cloves until fully blended to evenly distribute the spices.
- Combine Wet and Dry: Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture on low speed, mixing just until combined to avoid overworking the dough.
- Prepare Dough Surface: Lightly flour a clean cutting board to prevent sticking, then place the dough onto the board for rolling.
- Roll Dough: Roll the dough out to approximately 1/4 inch thickness, ensuring uniformity for even baking.
- Cut Cookies: Using a Mickey Mouse head-shaped cookie cutter, cut the dough into shapes, transferring them to the lined baking sheet.
- Bake Cookies: Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 9 to 12 minutes, until they are set but still soft in the center.
- Cool Cookies: Remove the cookies and let them cool completely on a wire rack to firm up and prevent breakage.
- Bake Remaining Dough: Continue cutting and baking the remaining dough, allowing all cookies to cool completely before decorating.
- Melt Chocolate: Using a double boiler, gently melt the Ghirardelli milk chocolate melting wafers until smooth and fluid for dipping.
- Dip Cookies: Dip the ears of each cooled cookie about one-quarter of the way into the melted chocolate to create a decorative coating.
- Shake Off Excess Chocolate: Lightly shake each dipped cookie to remove excess chocolate, ensuring a neat finish.
- Decorate Cookies: Place the cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet; using tweezers, carefully place two holly leaf sprinkles and three red berry sprinkles onto the top right corner of each cookie for festive detailing.
- Set Chocolate: Allow the chocolate to harden completely at room temperature before serving or storing, ensuring decorations stay in place.
Notes
- The dough should be rolled to approximately 1/4 inch thickness (not 1 inch as incorrectly stated) to ensure the cookies bake evenly and have a tender texture.
- Use a double boiler or a heat-safe bowl over simmering water to melt the chocolate gently and avoid burning.
- If you don’t have a Mickey Mouse cookie cutter, any round or themed cookie cutters will work for this recipe.
- Store decorated cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.
- To keep cookies crisp, place a piece of parchment paper between layers when stacking.
