Gingerbread Fall Leaves are the perfect cookies for fall! Chewy iced gingerbread gets dappled in fall colors using a fun, simple decorating technique for the easiest and most beautiful fall leaf cookies ever!
Why you'll love this recipe
These soft and chewy gingerbread cutout cookies are decorated with the glorious colors of autumn. They take a bit of planning because they require time for the icing and then the food coloring to dry, but the actual baking and decorating is very easy.
These delicious fall cookies start with a gingerbread roll out cookie recipe that tastes great and stays fresh for ages. The cookies don’t rise which keeps the edges defined on the baked cookie shapes.
Faux royal icing, also called corn syrup icing, is a trouble free way to get a smooth iced surface with minimal decorating skills. Then comes the fun part of the decorating.
Remember sponge painting when you or your children were in preschool? The awesome colored designs on these cookies are created by sponge painting with food coloring right onto the iced cookies.
I read about this food coloring “painting” technique on Klickitatstreet.com, where it was used to embellish flower cookies. Painting is the perfect way to mimic Mother Nature’s fall palate on these fall themed cookies.
I used natural food coloring made with vegetable colorants. When used to tint cookie dough, natural colors bake up soft and muted. When they are dabbed onto an iced cookie, they give the vibrant fall hues I was looking for.
Decorated gingerbread cookies are perfect fall cookies. They are a great way to add seasonal color and the flavors of fall to a care package or a holiday cookie tray. These sweet treats are also a great baking/decorating project to enjoy with your resident preschool sponge painting expert.
Recipe ingredients
- unsalted butter
- dark brown sugar
- molasses
- large eggs
- cinnamon
- ginger
- salt
- all-purpose flour
- confectioners’ sugar
- milk
- light corn syrup
- vanilla extract
Instructions
This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the recipe card below.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and molasses and mix until incorporated. Stir in spices and salt. Gradually add flour.
- Roll ⅓ of the dough out to ¼” thickness on a lightly floured surface. Hint: Because these cookies spread minimally, cutting them out directly on the parchment paper they will be baked on, eliminates the need to transfer the cut out dough. Roll the dough out on a sheet of parchment paper the size of your cookie sheet. Cut out the cookies about 1” apart. Remove the excess dough from around the cut-out cookies. Slide the parchment onto your cookie sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- Bake for 6-7 minutes. (Cookies will firm slightly as they cool.) Cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Cover the top of each cookie with white icing.
- You will need 1 paint dauber for each color. Cut a paper towel sheet into 4 pieces. Scrunch a piece of plastic wrap into a ball and place at the center of a paper towel square. Twist the paper towel around the plastic wrap and secure with a twisty tie.
- Dispense about 5 drops of each color food coloring onto a plate. Leave room between colors.
- Moisten a dauber slightly in the water. Dip the dauber in a food color, blot off excess color, then pat onto the cookie. Use a different dauber for each color.
- Cookies should be dry before they are stored. Drying time varies.
Storage
When wrapped and stored at room temperature in an airtight container, these long lasting cookies stay fresh for at least 2 weeks.
More molasses recipes
Molasses, chocolate, and spice make Chocolate Chip Molasses Cookies chewy cookies full of fall flavors that are hard to resist.
Gingerbread Pirate Cookies are the cutest crew of pirates you will ever see. This tasty cookie will delight children along with the book that inspired them.
Gingerbread Loaf Cake is an easy quick bread that is soft and deliciously spiced with cinnamon and ginger. A delicious way to usher in the holiday season!
If you love the flavor of gingerbread and the convenience of bar cookies, next time try Lebkuchen Bars, a deliciously spiced and chewy German treat.
Pumpkin White Chocolate Chip Cookies are deliciously soft and chewy cookies with the flavors of pumpkin pie spice and creamy white chocolate chips.
Ready to bake? Join the free membership group to get new recipes and a newsletter delivered to your inbox! You can also stay in touch on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’d love to stay in touch!
Gingerbread Fall Leaves Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
Icing
- 4 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 3 tablespoons milk add more to thin icing to desired consistency
- 3 tablespoons light corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Decorating
- food coloring gel or liquid
- paper towel squares 1 for each color being used
- plastic wrap 1- 6” strip for each color being used
- twisty ties 1 for each color being used
- small bowl of water
Instructions
Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350˚F.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and molasses and mix until incorporated. Stir in spices and salt.
- Gradually add flour, 1 cup at a time, until the dough is roll-out consistency. When baking immediately, I needed 4 ½ – 5 cups. For dough that will be refrigerated overnight before baking use only 4 cups.
- Roll ⅓ of the dough out to ¼” thickness on a lightly floured surface. Hint: Because these cookies spread minimally, cutting them out directly on the parchment paper they will be baked on, eliminates the need to transfer the cut out dough. For best results, roll the dough out on a sheet of parchment paper the size of your cookie sheets. Cut out the cookies about 1” apart. Remove the excess dough from around the cut-out cookies. Slide the parchment onto a cookie sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- Bake cookies for 6-7 minutes. (Cookies will firm slightly as they cool.) Cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Icing
- By hand or with an electric mixer, combine sugar and milk until smooth.
- Add corn syrup and vanilla. Continue beating together until smooth and glossy. Add additional milk in tablespoon increments until desired consistency. (Icing consistency should be thin enough to spread easily but thick enough not to drip off the cookies. It should resemble a thin paste but not glue.)
- APPLYING THE ICING: (choose 1 of the following suggested methods)
- SPATULA METHOD: Use icing that is a spreadable consistency. Spoon icing into a piping bag or ziplock bag with a small part of a bottom corner cut off. Pipe some icing onto a cookie and use a knife or offset spatula to spread the icing evenly over the surface of the cookie. Allow the icing to dry overnight.
- OUTLINE/ FLOOD METHOD: Two consistencies of icing will be used. First, spoon about 1 cup of icing (thin paste consistency) into a piping bag or ziplock bag with a small part of a bottom corner cut off. Outline the top of each cookie. Thin all remaining icing to the consistency of glue and spoon into a piping bag or ziplock bag. Set aside and allow the icing outline to dry for about 1 hour. When the outline has set slightly, pipe the remaining icing onto each cookie filling in the outlines. Allow the icing to dry overnight.
Decorating
- You will need 1 paint dauber for each color. Cut a paper towel sheet into 4 pieces. Scrunch a piece of plastic wrap into a ball and place at the center of a paper towel square. Twist the paper towel around the plastic wrap and secure with a twisty tie.
- Dispense about 5 drops of each color food coloring onto a plate. Leave room between colors.
- Moisten a dauber slightly in the water. Dip the dauber in a food color, blot off excess color, then pat onto the cookie. Use a different dauber for each color.
- Cookies should be dry before they are stored. Drying time varies. My India Tree natural food colors required overnight drying.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
Notes
- This delicious treat is the perfect fall cookie to bake for a back-to-school bake sale, Halloween party, or harvest party and a great cookie to complete a Thanksgiving feast with a creative fall twist.
- To turn these into pumpkin spice cookies, use pumpkin pie spice to replace the other spices in the recipe.
Nutrition
First published October 1, 2014. Last updated October 9, 2021. Updated for additional information and better reader experience.
kristy
I made these for my pumpkin carving party. They turned out wonderfully and I received a lot of compliments! Thank you for the recipe and this really cool technique!
themondaybox
Kristy, thank you so much for taking the time to let me know! I am really happy that your leaves were a success! I am not surprised that you got compliments. The leaves really do look wonderful with this fun easy technique! (Not to mention how good they taste! 🙂 )
Heidi
These are beautiful! Pinned to my Fall board!
themondaybox
Thanks, Heidi! Colorful leaves are my favorite part of fall!
Lokness
Wendy, these cookies are stunning! I have never thought of use sponge painting to decorate cookies. The blend of colors are perfect!
themondaybox
Thank you so much, Lokness! I was so pleased with the effect the sponge painting created. They are amazingly easy to do, but it is fun to pretend one is actually talented. 😉
chrisscheuer
These are gorgeous, love the colors Wendy. You did a fantastic job, they look like they came from a fine bakery!
themondaybox
Thanks, Chris! The India Tree colors were perfect for creating a "natural" look. Your grandkids would have so much fun with this. Perhaps snow sponge painted onto Christmas cookies?
Ashley
Wendy these are so so pretty! I cannot get over that sponge-painting type look! I usually make a batch of sugar cookies with royal icing for thanksgiving and may just have to give these a go! I especially love that gingerbread base!
themondaybox
Thanks, Ashley. You really do have to try the sponge painting. Everyone will be so impressed with your Thanksgiving cookies (though I am sure they always are) and you can keep it a secret that they are so easy to do! 😉 The gingerbread base is awesome. Great for making ahead because the dough or plain baked cookies can be frozen for months and once iced they stay delicious for at least 2 weeks!
Tricia @ Saving room for dessert
Wendy these are fantastic! What a beautiful creative way to decorate cookies. You nailed the leaves! Love, love, love them - hope you have a great weekend 🙂
Mackenzie
Your cookies are beautiful! I can't believe how real the colors look!
themondaybox
Thanks, Mackenzie! I think that using the dauber gives a splotchy look that is a lot like real leaves. I also think that the India Tree colors probably look like nature because they come from nature! 🙂
Faith
These look so good! This will definitely be one recipe we try!
themondaybox
Thanks, Faith! I hope you enjoy them!
judithsfreshlook
Love this recipe and how gorgeous they look afterwards!
themondaybox
Thanks, Judith! Making these cookies feels like capturing a bit of fall. 🙂
shannon
I LOVE the technique you used to do the leaf colors, Wendy! They turned out so beautifully, and the cookies underneath look delicious: i'll take a gingerbread...well, anything...any time of year. 🙂 The Wee One would love to make something like this; so much fun for her.
themondaybox
Thanks, Shannon! This cutout recipe is awesome for soft chewy gingerbread year round. I swear as I was daubing away making these, I thought, "This is such a Shannon and Wee One activity!" 🙂
Angi @ SchneiderPeeps
I love the sponge painting idea! These are so fun, I think the children in my preschool co-op class would have fun painting on cookies like this. Thanks for sharing.
themondaybox
Thanks, Angi! Given some iced cookies as their palate, I think preschoolers would have a great time dabbing away with food coloring paint! The mixing of colors would be a teachable moment! 🙂
Monica
What a labor of love. I can sit here and admire your work, knowing that I do not have the skills to achieve the same results. I love that sponge painting effect. The bright yellows against the reds...so realistic! Great job, my friend! Hope all is well. : )
themondaybox
You are seriously too kind, Monica! Truly, a preschooler could do this sponge painting. That's what it so cool about it. Everyone thinks you are talented when they see the cookies but really it's just blotting the dye onto the cookie with a tap tap. Painting 36 cookies took about 45 minutes!
kerenbaker
So very very cool- what a great technique and the end result is superb! I will HAVE to try this! Tfs x
themondaybox
Thanks, Keren! I this the texture and color this technique produces works particularly well for fall leaves!
Ilana
These cookies are absolutely beautiful! I've always admired decorative iced cookies but thought the process looked too complicated. I'm so excited to learn about this method and will try this with my daughter.
themondaybox
Thanks, Illana! The hardest part of these cookies is waiting for them to dry. The sponge painting is super easy and fun. I hope you and your daughter enjoy them!
Sheila @Life, Love, and Good Food
Oh, Wendy! These cookies are too lovely to eat!! And I do love gingerbread! Good job!
themondaybox
Thanks, Sheila! Cookie Month is starting off with a bang! I would happily swap a few leaf cookies for some of your Chocolate Ganache Pecan Shortbread!