We couldn’t help ourselves when we saw these cute teddy bear cookies! With Christmas only a few days away, we were excited to make a little toy lookalike cookie in the famous gingerbread flavor. While it may not be as fancy as when Queen Elizabeth I would make gingerbread characters for her honorary guests, these little bears are too adorable not to try. These cookies are prepping me for the next holiday activity tonight with my fiancé, gingerbread house decorating!

These gingerbread teddy bears are such a fun activity for little kids! The trick was that we used 3 different sizes cookie scoops to make our lives easier. We made these with my nephew and it was a blast!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, cubed
• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2/3 cup molasses
• 1 egg, room temperature and slightly beaten
• 1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• ¾ tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. ground cloves
• Miniature chocolate chips
• Decorating icing and sprinkles

Directions:

In a saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar, and molasses. Cook over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved.

Pour into a large bowl; let stand 10 minutes.

Stir in the egg and vanilla.

Combine the flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, and cloves; gradually add to the butter mixture and mix well.

Cover and refrigerate 2 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare 3 baking sheets with foil lining.

Shape dough into ten 2-in. balls, ten 1-in. balls, forty ½-in. balls, and twenty 3/8-in. balls.

Place the 2 in. balls on the prepared baking sheets for the body of the 8 bears; flatten to ½ in. thickness. Position the 1 in. balls for heads; flatten to ½ in. thickness. Attach four ½ in. balls to each bear for arms and legs. Attach two 3/8 in. balls for ears. Add chocolate chips for eyes and buttons.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until set.

Cool for 10 minutes before carefully removing to wire racks to cool completely. With frosting, pipe ears, muzzle and paws; add sprinkles for fingers, toes, and nose.

This recipe is courtesy of the Taste of Home Cookie Magazine 2020