3D Standing Gingerbread Men Sugar Cookies

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Inside: An adorable 3D Christmas treat – these Gingerbread Men Sugar Cookies stand up on their own!

After making mini Gingerbread houses with my kids, we decided to make Standing Gingerbread Men Sugar Cookies to accompany them! What’s a house without occupants after all?

Standing Gingerbread Men Sugar cookies are a super cute and unique Christmas treat to make this holiday season

Standing Gingerbread Men Sugar Cookies

You could definitely make these cookies with real gingerbread but we’ve learned that the majority of my daycare kids do not like gingerbread so we’ve just accepted that sugar cookies are our go-to.

These cookies were incredibly easy to frost and put together – my 5 year old actually did the two in the background of these pictures, so you don’t have to be a skilled dessert decorator to pull off these super cute Christmas cookies.

The possibilities for different combinations of “standing” cookies are endless – you can add Christmas trees, different animals, or build little scenes out of miniature cookies. And this is an idea that you can really translate to any holiday – maybe a little leprechaun or rainbow for St. Patrick’s Day or a bunny for Easter!

This is a fun engineering or “edible craft” activity for kids to experiment with and have fun.

Sugar Cookie Ingredients

  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg

For the Royal Icing:

  • 4 egg whites
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Brown (copper) and red food dye

Kitchen Tools You May Find Helpful

Cute and delicious gingerbread men standing on a snowy cookie - what a cute Christmas cookie idea!

How to Make 3D Gingerbread Men Cookies

In a large bowl, cream the soft butter with the sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Add egg, then vanilla, continuing to mix.

In a separate small bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda and salt.

Add dry ingredients to the wet mixture and thoroughly combine.

Form the dough into a ball, wrap with cling wrap and refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 325°F

Flour a cutting board and roll out the dough to a 1/2″ thickness (adding more flour if necessary).

Cut the cookie dough into equal numbers of circle, gingerbread and reindeer shapes.

Place cut cookies on a lined cookie sheet and bake for 8 minutes until set and slightly golden.

Let cool for one minute on the cookie sheet and then remove to a cooling rack.

To make the frosting:

Combine all frosting ingredients except food dye and adjust the consistency as needed. Divide into 3 bowls – one bowl receiving half of the frosting and the other two receiving smaller amounts.

Add the copper brown food dye to the largest portion of frosting and stir to combine, then red to one of the smaller bowls – leaving one white.

Scoop brown frosting into a piping bag fitted with a #2 Wilton tip and outline the gingerbread men and reindeer cookies.

Let set about 5 minutes before filling in the cookies.

(If needed, thin out the brown icing a bit with additional milk or water to fill in the lines.)

Let dry for 3 hours before adding details with the white and red frosting.

Frost the circle cookes with white icing and carefully set the gingerbread men and reindeer standing up on the cookies. Let dry for 2 hours before storing or serving.

Pin this Standing Gingerbread Man Sugar Cookie tutorial:

An adorable 3D Christmas treat - these Gingerbread Men Sugar Cookies stand up on their own! Guaranteed to "stand out" at a holiday party!

Grab your free printable copy of our Standing Gingerbread Men Cookies recipe:

3D Standing Gingerbread Men Sugar Cookies

3D Standing Gingerbread Men Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • For the Royal Icing:
  • 4 egg whites
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Brown (copper) and red food dye

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl, cream the soft butter with the sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
  2. Add egg, then vanilla, continuing to mix.
  3. In a separate small bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda and salt.
  4. Add dry ingredients to the wet mixture and thoroughly combine.
  5. Form the dough into a ball, wrap with cling wrap and refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.
  6. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 325F
  7. Flour a cutting board and roll out the dough to a 1/2" thickness (adding more flour if necessary).
  8. Cut the cookie dough into equal numbers of circle, gingerbread and reindeer shapes.
  9. Place cut cookies on a lined cookie sheet and bake for 8 minutes until set and slightly golden.
  10. Let cool for one minute on the cookie sheet and then remove to a cooling rack.
  11. Combine all frosting ingredients except food dye and adjust the consistency as needed. Divide into 3 bowls - one bowl receiving half of the frosting and the other two receiving smaller amounts.
  12. Add the copper brown food dye to the largest portion of frosting and stir to combine, then red to one of the smaller bowls - leaving one white.
  13. Scoop brown frosting into a piping bag fitted with a #2 Wilton tip and outline the gingerbread men and reindeer cookies.
  14. Let set about 5 minutes before filling in the cookies.
  15. (If needed, thin out the brown icing a bit with additional milk or water to fill in the lines.)
  16. Let dry for 3 hours before adding details with the white and red frosting.
  17. Frost the circle cookes with white icing and carefully set the gingerbread men and reindeer standing up on the cookies. Let dry for 2 hours before storing or serving.
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Do your kids like helping you make Christmas cookies? What kinds of standing or 3D cookies are you going to try?

More of our favorite Christmas recipes:

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5-Minute Peppermint Fluff

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Chocolate & Strawberry Santa Hat Cupcakes

 

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2 Comments

  1. Hi, I’m planning make the stand up 3D Gingerbread people on round cookie stands but don’t see how many the recipe serves. I need 17 of each. Please advise. Thanks, Viki

    1. Hi Viki,
      It’s been awhile since we made these, but I’m pretty sure the recipe made about 18-20 cookies, but we used somewhat small cookie cutters. (The smaller cookie cutters also helps with balancing – it’s easier to balance a small gingerbread man than a large one.)

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