Recipe: Grand Floridian Gingerbread

Bring some of the Disney holiday magic home!

One of the best parts of the holidays at Disney is the elaborate gingerbread houses that they have on display in the different resorts. The one at the Grand Floridian is always a must-see and they even sell gingerbread shingles for you to enjoy! If you can't buy a gingerbread shingle from the Grand Floridian this year, you have to make some at home. A few years ago Disney shared this recipe for gingerbread cookies from the Grand Floridian bakery and we just had to try it out.

Grand Floridian Gingerbread

Yields about 18 cookies

Recipe adapted from Disney Parks Blog

Ingredients:

• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened

• 1¼ cup powdered sugar, sifted

• 1 egg

• 1½ plus ⅓ cups flour

• 1¼ teaspoons cinnamon

• 1⅛ teaspoons ground coriander

• 1 teaspoon ground star anise

• ⅝ teaspoons baking powder

• ½ teaspoons ground fennel

• ½ teaspoon ground ginger

• ½ teaspoon ground cloves

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg

• 2 tablespoons milk

• Colored sugar

Instructions:

1. Add butter and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until smooth.

2. Add the egg and beat until smooth.

3. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, coriander, anise, baking powder, ground fennel, ground ginger, cloves, salt, and nutmeg.

4. Turn the mixer on low and slowly add the dry ingredients into the butter mixture.

5. Mix until the dough holds together.

6. Remove the dough from the bowl and wrap in plastic wrap.

7. Refrigerate the dough for 2-4 hours.

8. After the dough has chilled, remove it from the fridge and allow it to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes.

9. Preheat the oven to 350ºF and grease or line your cookie sheets with parchment paper.

10. Lightly flour your work surface and rolling pin, then roll the dough out to ⅛ inch thickness.

11. Use cookie cutters (dipped in flour for neat edges) to cut out your cookies and transfer them to the cookie sheets. Leave 1 inch of space between each cookie.

12. Lightly brush the cookies with milk and sprinkle with colored sugar (optional).

13. Bake for 10-14 minutes, until the edges of the cookies begin to darken.

14. Let the cookies cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Takeaway:

I cut the Disney Parks Blog’s recipe in half, which made for some small measurements. If you need a measuring spoon set with smaller spoons, we recommend this one from Amazon.

Instead of making the classic gingerbread person shape or the shingle shape that the Grand Floridian sells, I decided to put our Mickey Mouse cookie cutters to use to make Mickey-shaped gingerbread cookies. The ones with the sprinkles baked on top turned out really well. I also made some without the sprinkles to see how they would taste, but they turned out a little plain and dry, so I would definitely recommend the sprinkles on top. If you’re not a fan of sprinkles, you could also add icing to the baked cookies. Overall these turned out well and are perfect for bringing the holiday Disney magic to your home.

Make sure to check out our other Christmas cookie recipes!