Gingerbread Recipes To Spice Up Your Holidays

Rebekah Stuber of Bay Laurel Baking Company in Des Moines says her flavor-packed spice cakes always earn the most raves. Her secret to airy cream cheese frosting? Folding in whipped cream.

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The nose-tickling scents of ginger and clove float from ovens as pepparkakor bakes. Gingerbread is a Scandinavian holiday staple, with crisp cookies shaped into animals, hearts or petite cottage walls.

Our recipe yields cookies sturdy enough for houses but delicious for snacking in any shape. Whether you use a gingerbread house cookie cutter as we did or improvise, here are a few pro construction tips: Measure and trim the warm cookies for clean edges. Then decorate all pieces (walls, roof, chimney) separately and let them dry. Use soup cans or crumpled foil to support the joined walls from the inside as they dry, and wait until the walls are fully set to attach the roof. (Insert pins until the roof dries, if necessary.)

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A humble snack dresses up for company. With its nutty flavor and tiny flecks of toasted milk solids, browned butter elevates a simple cream cheese frosting to saintly levels.

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Gingersnaps, cream cheese, pumpkin and chocolate make an unbeatable combo. 

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Lemon glaze and a sprinkle of crystallized ginger enhance the flavor and presentation of this old-fashioned gingerbread.

Flavored with molasses, ginger, cinnamon and cloves, these traditional gingerbread cookies are perfect both for decorating and eating.

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This recipe features ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, molasses and fresh-picked apples sliced paper-thin.

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Store-bought gingerbread mix makes this warm, gooey dessert extra easy to assemble. 

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Ginger and molasses unite in our spicy breakfast bread. Ground ginger and crystallized ginger give a double dose of the popular seasoning.

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The B&B Southmoreland on the Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri, shared their recipe for spicy waffles.

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The cinnamon, molasses and maple glaze will transport you to bonfires and s'mores in just one bite.

We took a traditional holiday dessert ingredient—gingerbread—and turned it into a muffin. Crystallized ginger tops off these treats.

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These crackly-topped low-calorie cupcakes will remind you of gingersnap cookies.

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