Have you ever wanted to make gingerbread cookies, but it wasn’t the holidays? Or just wanted to add some fun to the holidays? Well if you are a Star Wars fan, these Wookiee gingerbread cookies are an easy way to have some fun.
This recipe is fairly simple for a gingerbread cookie and tastes delicious. Since most of the decorating is done before the cookie is even baked, you don’t even need to be a good decorator for it to turn out well.
This recipe yields about 3 dozen large Wookiee gingerbread cookies.
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, at room temperature (salted or unsalted)
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 cup molasses*
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar
- 5 cups all-purpose flour flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- ½ cup of chocolate chips
- White chocolate chips
*No Molasses, no Worries!
What do you do if you don’t like molasses or just can’t find it in your grocery store? If you’re like me, you went to several grocery stores and none of them had molasses in stock. I substituted the molasses by using an equal amount of honey. This does change the flavor a bit since molasses does go into giving gingerbread its classic flavor. Instead, the cookie tastes more like a sweet honey cookie, but still delicious. The other item of note is that when you use honey, the dough is lighter in color, so if you really want it to look more Wookiee like than mine turned out, I would use molasses.
Instructions
- Cream butter, adding sugar gradually. Beat until well combined and light and fluffy, about 3 minutes
- Beat in egg, molasses, and vinegar
- Mix all of the dry ingredients together
- Blend dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, adding a little at a time, making sure to stir after each addition
- Divide the dough into two pieces, wrap each piece of dough in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 to 90 minutes
- When the dough is done chilling, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Working in sections, roll the dough to ½″ thick on a floured surface; cut into gingerbread shape. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a baking mat. Gather and reroll “scraps” of dough as needed, using all of the dough
- Score the dough using a knife or fork to create the Wookiee fur. I recommend making longer lines and deeper (but not all the way through), as they will shrink while baking
- Bake at 350 degrees for 9-11 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the pan for 5 minutes, and then move to a cooling rack
- Repeat with remaining dough
- Once all cookies are cool, melt the chocolate chips, pour the melted chocolate to create a sash across the body from one shoulder to the opposite hip
- While the chocolate is still melted, press in the full white chocolate chips
Notes
- The dough will be slightly tacky before it goes in the fridge, but after it rests, it will be much firmer. Though I would still coat the rolling pin in flour before rolling out the dough to make sure it doesn’t stick
- If you like a thinner, crispier cookie, roll the dough to be ¼” thick and cook closer to 11 minutes, if you like it to be a little chewier, roll ½” thick and cook closer to 9 minutes. I did notice, on the ones that I had rolled out thicker, there was more cracking along the indents created to show the fur, but didn’t experience that when the dough was rolled out thinner
Decorating Tips
I melted the chocolate in a liquid measuring cup and poured it out, using a spoon to guide the chocolate where I wanted it to go. If you want to get fancy, or want a neater look, you can pour the melted chocolate into a sandwich bag and cut a small hole in the corner and pipe out the chocolate.
Also, if you can, I would have someone follow behind you to add the white chocolate chips right after you add the chocolate so that it doesn’t set too much before you get back to it. This just allows the white chips to get a better purchase and be less likely to fall off once set.
The next time I make these Wookiee gingerbread cookies, I am going to make the indents for the Wookiee hair longer and more of them across the body and head. This will give it a little bit more of a Wookiee feel.
