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Gingerbread Men Recipe for Kids to Make

By Chaz Bagri6 November 20267 min read

Icing is piped onto freshly baked gingerbread people on a lined baking tray.

A gingerbread men recipe to make with children, with clear baking steps, jobs by age and simple icing ideas that keep the kitchen manageable.

How do you make gingerbread men with children?

This gingerbread men recipe uses golden syrup, brown sugar and warming spices. Make the dough together, chill it, then roll, cut and bake before decorating the cooled biscuits. Children can help with weighing and shapes while you handle the oven. Start on a free afternoon, with time to leave the biscuits alone between jobs.

Pair your baking afternoon with our Christmas activities to do together.

What do you need for a batch?

The biscuit quantities and baking instructions follow BBC Food's recipe, reproduced by Delta Primary School, which makes about 20. Your cutter size will affect the total. Set everything out before inviting your child over, including somewhere to put the finished trays.

350g plain flour, plus a little for rolling
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
125g butter, cubed
175g light soft brown sugar
1 egg
4 tablespoons golden syrup

For optional decoration, set aside 50g icing sugar and water, following Good Food's small-batch icing method.

You'll need scales, measuring spoons, bowls, a wooden spoon, rolling pin, cutters, baking paper, baking trays and a cooling rack.

This recipe contains wheat, milk and egg. Check ingredient and decoration labels for allergies. If you suspect a food allergy, speak to your GP or health visitor, as the NHS advises.

Which baking jobs can you hand over?

Start with a job your child wants to try, then add another if they're still interested. Good Food's cookery guide stresses that ability varies. These are suggestions, with you alongside, rather than a checklist of what children should manage by a birthday.

3 to 5, Jobs to offer: Spoon ingredients into the scales, stir, press plastic cutters and dab on icing.
6 to 7, Jobs to offer: Read the scales together, rub in butter and roll the dough with help.
8, Jobs to offer: Read out the recipe, check measurements with you and plan the decorating.

Before starting, wash hands with soap and water; wash again after handling dough, and clean equipment and surfaces. No raw dough tasting: follow the Food Standards Agency's flour guidance. Keep children away from the oven and hot trays, following Child Accident Prevention Trust advice.

For young children, including under-3s joining in, skip hard sweets and whole nuts as decorations: they're choking hazards identified by the NHS.

How do you mix, cut and bake the biscuits?

Work through the steps in order, but let your child leave and return between jobs. You can finish mixing while they watch, or save their involvement for cutting. Read the oven step before you begin so you know where the waiting comes in.

1. Get the bowls ready

Say, "Let's measure everything before we mix." Combine the flour, bicarbonate of soda and spices in a bowl. Let your child spoon ingredients into the scales while you check the amounts; if pouring is enthusiastic, hold the packet together.

2. Make buttery crumbs

Say, "Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips." Add the butter and rub until crumbly, then stir in the sugar. Take turns if their hands get tired. This rubbing-in job appears in Good Food's cookery guide above.

3. Bring the dough together

Say, "Stir until the crumbs join up." Beat the egg with the syrup separately, stir it into the dry mixture, then briefly knead smooth. If your child doesn't like sticky fingers, give them the spoon and finish bringing it together yourself.

4. Give it a fridge break

Wrap the dough and refrigerate for 15 minutes. While it's chilling, line the trays and heat the oven to 180°C, 160°C fan, gas 4. Say, "The dough's resting now," and leave the table rather than asking your child to wait beside it.

5. Roll an even sheet

Lightly flour the worktop and roll the dough 5mm thick. Say, "Let's make the middle and the edges the same thickness." Take over for a finishing roll if needed. Your child can choose the cutter while you check the dough.

6. Cut and lift

Say, "Press down, then lift." Cut the shapes and transfer them to the lined trays, leaving gaps. Gather the scraps and roll again. If a shape tears, press that dough back together for another attempt; nobody needs to rescue every little finger.

7. Bake, then leave to cool

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until lightly golden-brown. Leave on the trays for 10 minutes, then transfer to a rack until completely cool. This is the grown-up's job; offer your child paper and crayons to design their biscuit's outfit meanwhile.

8. Add faces, then sit down

Mix the icing sugar with water added drop by drop until thick. Say, "Shall we give yours a face or a jumper?" Dab icing on with a teaspoon. Finish by putting the tools down and sitting together while the icing sets.

Why have the gingerbread shapes spread?

Chill the dough before rolling, and give the shapes room on the tray. The BBC's Gingerbread Friends recipe explains that chilling helps them hold their shape. If the dough becomes sticky again while you're working, return it to the fridge until firmer.

Handle a wobbly outline with icing rather than starting over. A broad gingerbread person can wear a broad jumper.

If your child has lost interest, finish the batch yourself and offer decorating later. They don't need to do every stage for it to count as baking together. Keep the task they enjoyed for the next time, whether that was weighing flour or choosing faces.

How much time should you leave?

Keep an afternoon slot free rather than promising biscuits in an hour. As a planning example, allow 15 minutes for mixing, 15 for chilling, 10 for rolling and cutting, and up to 15 for baking: 55 minutes before the cooling stage.

Add the tray rest, full cooling and whatever decorating time you want. Allow longer if you're baking trays separately. The clock is a planning aid, not a deadline for your child.

How can you make the next baking afternoon easier?

Keep the cutter with your baking kit and let your child choose the job they'd like next time. You don't need to turn it into a weekly project. For a shorter session, bake first and invite them over once the cooled biscuits are ready to decorate.

For the waiting gaps, have our quiet activities for children ready.

For a different activity after the kitchen's cleared, explore our children's yoga mat, with 15 numbered poses laser-engraved into the surface.

Frequently asked questions

Should gingerbread men be soft or crunchy?

They can be either, depending on the recipe and baking time. A longer bake generally gives a crunchier biscuit. With this batch, follow the baking instructions and let the biscuits cool before judging them. Don't shorten the cooking just to keep them soft.

Do I need a gingerbread man cutter?

No. Use a round biscuit cutter and decorate the circles as gingerbread faces instead. Keep the same dough thickness and choose similarly sized shapes for each tray. Your child can still roll, press and decorate, without the fiddly job of lifting narrow arms and legs.

How can children decorate gingerbread without a piping bag?

Use the tip of a teaspoon to dab on icing eyes and buttons, or spread a little icing across the middle for a jumper. Put each biscuit on a plate to catch drips. A smile is optional, and the biscuits can stay plain if your child prefers.

Can I bake gingerbread men one day and decorate the next?

Yes. Let the biscuits cool completely, then keep them in an airtight tin until the next day's decorating session. Leave the icing off until then. Splitting the jobs gives you a baking activity followed by a shorter decorating session, without asking your child to stay at the table throughout.

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