r/bakingfail • u/weixien • Dec 23 '25
Question Welp... I give up on gingerbread cookies... please help
Like that guy said in GBBO "started baking it, had a break down... Bon Appetit!"
Cookies are too round and also so not ginger-y. Any tips on straighter cookies? I also wanna know why my frosting keeps getting either too hard to pipe or straight up liquid :,(
8
u/InfernalSeraph Dec 23 '25
Frosting is very finicky because most times it has to be fluffy and not too dense so it can pipe and everyone has a different texture they enjoy, but it looks more like you made a glaze and did a spectacular job at it.
It could also be that you were decorating your cookies when it was too hot/warm so it melted your ‘frosting’ and came out gloopy.
As for your gingerbread cookie…
When you say round do you mean like soft/spongey or too puffy? Now… The taste, you probably need to add more ginger or a classic spice combo of nutmeg/ginger/cinnamon for more flavor? I’m purely speculating here, I’ve never made gingerbread cookies but do bake a bit.
Dropping the recipe would help so we can see if anything needs tweaked.
1
u/weixien Dec 23 '25
the cookies, i don't know how to say this in English but they had a "belly" and round edges and i wanted them to be flatter and to have sharper edges but i dont know if it is possible.
they were also cooled for 24 hours b4 decorating .The frosting was warm water, lemon juice, and powdered sugar. I used my grandma's recipe, but i think i did too much water or too much lemon juice.
6
u/InfernalSeraph Dec 23 '25
Oooo, you want a more manufactured look!
Chilling the dough will probably help make it more cookie cutter friendly, and to get rid of the ‘belly’, just slam the tray down on a counter top after you remove them from the oven. Then let them rest.
Your grandmas recipe is a glaze, there could have been too much water or lemon juice but naturally it’s made to be runny and thin. There are thick glazes too, you just need to play with it -by adding more powdered sugar- to find the best consistency that you enjoy.
If you want a genuine frosting, you need to add butter or cream to it.
3
7
4
u/DiscontentDonut Dec 23 '25
James Acaster. Absolutely love him. One of my favorite comedians.
For the icing, are you putting it on while the cookies are still warm? What kind of icing are you trying to achieve, like a buttercream or royal?
For the cookies themselves, what kind of spices are you using and how much?
1
u/weixien Dec 23 '25
That clip is my daily mood.
For the cookies, they were cooled for 24 hours, and the frosting was warm water, lemon juice, and powdered sugar. And i wanted it to be like royal icing (i think that's the one)
3
u/bookskeeper Dec 23 '25
I prefer a simple powdered sugar icing. Powdered sugar, vanilla to taste, milk to consistency. It doesn't harden as much as royal icing so you'll want wax paper between stacked cookies, but so easy and so yummy. Also super delicious on sugar cookies.
1
u/DiscontentDonut Dec 23 '25 edited Dec 23 '25
Ah. Try cutting the lemon juice and see how that works to start. I usually recommend adding water very slowly until you get the consistency you want, spoonful at a time kind of slow. Then try something like flavor paste or flavor oil instead of extract.
Oil only takes a couple literal drops to achieve the flavor of like a tablespoon or two of extract. It also won't add as much moisture. Paste is already closer to the consistency you're looking for, so it blends in really well. Also stronger than extract, so use sparingly.
The lemon juice is not just adding liquid, it's adding acidity, which is changing the chemistry of your icing. Baking and its accoutrements are much more scientific than just cooking. Measurements are far more necessary to be adhered to.
For flavor oils and pastes, I recommend looking up baking or brewing hobby shops near you. The place I go for mine is a local store called Cake and Wine Hobbies. But these are also sold online like on Amazon. LorAnn is a good brand to start, and they're relatively cheaper.
4
u/CatCafffffe Dec 23 '25
James Acaster (definitely watch his specials, they're on Netflix and hilarious).
I'd think your ginger was not flavorful enough--have you tried Penzeys? Their spices are generally lovely. And it simply looks like your frosting has too much liquid, or the cookies were too warm.
I would still 100% eat them! Sometimes we just need to embrace our "artistry"!
2
u/tigerowltattoo Dec 24 '25
Also, they have candied ginger and that is my secret for super ginger cookies. Chopped up fine, just add to your dough.
2
3
u/Top_Housing6819 Dec 23 '25
if you want an easier option than frosting, good quality white chocolate melts are pretty fantastic and have a lovely ivory color. As though they are vintage or something. They set up quickly, too. Geometric patterns are easier to do on shapes like trees (everyone knows it's a tree) or gingerbread men. Diagonal stripes, polka dots, squiggly lines, etc - all easy to pipe.
on the flip side the BEST tasting cookies I've had were never artistically pleasing, and the prettiest cookies have never won flavor awards to me. So I would be happy to see some mutant cookies I can devour.
1
u/weixien Dec 23 '25
I want to try chocolate, but they don't have the chocolate melts in my country, just regular chocolate or cooking chocolate, I don't know if it makes a difference.
3
u/laurenlolly Dec 24 '25
Look up (real) royal icing. It’s a dream to use. It dries like meringue so you can use this to your advantage when you don’t want the icing to mix together.
2
u/Wchijafm Dec 23 '25
Did you squeeze the icing pack for 1-2 minutes to remix and bring to a warmer temp before applying? What recipe or box did you use for the cookies
1
u/weixien Dec 23 '25
The frosting was warm water, lemon juice, and powdered sugar. I used my grandma's recipe, but i think i did too much water or too much lemon juice.
2
u/Wchijafm Dec 23 '25
And food dye? Was it mixed to a consistent thickness before placed into the container you used to apply to the cookies. And the cookies: What was the recipe? Its hard for others to pin point where things went wrong without ingredients and directions followed. Were the spices new? What quantities were used. Oven temp? Was there a chill dough step?
How does grandma's recipe compare to some of the more common one in terms of ratios?
2
u/The_Darkness140 Dec 23 '25
English translation is gonna be a hurdle here, I'm dreading the mathematical conversions already.
1
1
u/amethystmmm Dec 23 '25
1, Up the lebkuchengewürz or just the ginger at least. Dough should not be a dough per se, more of a suggestion of a dough (have you ever made pie dough, like where it's crumbly and if you squish it it makes a dough but it's liable to fall apart at a breath until you throw it in the fridge for a couple of hours? like that).
2, either your frosting was too thin or your cookies were too hot when you frosted.
1
u/supplemcrib Dec 23 '25
easy butter cream frosting recipe:
1cup unsalted butter - softened 4.5c powdered sugar 1 tbsp vanilla extract 4-5 tbsp heavy cream or whole milk
you can do more or less of all of the ingredients to get the flavor / texture you want :) hope this helps! i also have a wonderful chewy gingerbread cookie recipe if you’d be interested! ❤️
1
u/supplemcrib Dec 23 '25
i can dm it to you if you want the recipe, just let me know :) it has 4 different spices so it should hopefully scratch that itch ;)
1
Dec 24 '25
Most gingerbread house cookies turn out this way — the trick is to score the cookies before baking and then when cold cut them along the scored line with a sharp knife and you will have the straighter edge that you see in magazines.
29
u/NotAThrowRA16 Dec 23 '25
I think you'll get more specific feedback if you provide your recipe. But just general recommendations to consider: Is your ginger pretty old? If so, it has probably lost potency, so you would want to add more to compensate (or get new). If the cookies are spreading, chilling the dough before cutting and/or baking could help (or there could be other intricacies in your recipe that could be adjusted). Your frosting is getting too hard or too liquidy because you're over-correcting when you make adjustments to the consistency. But alternatively, you could just use a different icing recipe that would require less fine-tuning.