Are you ready to create the most adorable, festive, and completely irresistible treat for your next Christmas party? A fun, edible craft so cute and cozy, it will have the whole family smiling from ear to ear? This incredible, from-scratch Gingerbread People in Gingerbread Hot Chocolate “Hot Tubs” is that perfect recipe! We’re talking a cute little gingerbread cookie, complete with a piped-on bathing suit and sunglasses, happily relaxing in a warm and cozy “hot tub” of a rich, spiced gingerbread hot chocolate, with fluffy marshmallow “bubbles.”
This isn’t just another cookie recipe; it’s a guide to your new favorite holiday tradition. We’ll show you the simple but crucial secrets to a flawless, “no-spread” gingerbread cookie that holds its shape perfectly, and the easy, fun techniques for creating this adorable, edible scene. This is a guaranteed, crowd-pleasing hit that is as fun to decorate as it is to drink!
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Recipe Overview: The Ultimate Cute & Festive Holiday Treat
What makes this Gingerbread Hot Chocolate so spectacularly fun is its brilliant, interactive design and its classic, cozy holiday flavors. This recipe is a masterpiece of festive creativity. The “hot tub” is a rich and aromatic, from-scratch gingerbread-spiced hot chocolate. The star of the show, however, is the adorable gingerbread person, a classic, from-scratch cookie that is decorated with royal icing to look like it’s ready for a spa day. The final, magical touch is the assembly: the gingerbread person is perched on the side of the mug, happily relaxing in a sea of whipped cream and mini marshmallow “bubbles.”
| Metric | Time / Level |
| Total Time | 4 hours (includes chilling & cooling) |
| Active Prep Time | 1 hour |
| Difficulty Level | Intermediate |
| Servings | 6-8 “hot tubs” |
Santa’s Bakeshop: The Essential Ingredients
This iconic party treat uses a handful of high-quality pantry staples to create its signature festive look and delicious flavor.
- The Gingerbread People (The Bathers!):
- The Spices & Molasses: A classic, from-scratch gingerbread cookie dough is flavored with a warm, festive blend of ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg, with a deep, rich flavor from molasses.
- Chilling the Dough: This is the single most important, non-negotiable secret to a cut-out cookie that holds its sharp, detailed shape in the oven.
- The Gingerbread Hot Chocolate (The “Hot Tub”!): A simple but incredibly flavorful hot chocolate is made with Dutch-process cocoa powder, real milk chocolate, and the same, cozy blend of gingerbread spices that are in the cookies.1
- The “Bubbles” & Decorations:
- Whipped Cream & Mini Marshmallows: The perfect, easy, and classic duo for creating the fun and fluffy “bubbles” in our hot tub.
- Royal Icing: The secret to the cute and detailed decorations! A simple, from-scratch royal icing made with meringue powder is the perfect, hard-drying “paint” for the bathing suits and sunglasses.
The Baker’s Masterclass: The Secret to a Perfect Cookie
This recipe uses a few simple but brilliant techniques that guarantee a flawless, delicious result.
- The “No-Spread” Gingerbread Dough: The number one secret to a cut-out cookie that doesn’t spread is to chill your dough thoroughly. By chilling your dough after mixing and again after cutting out the shapes, you are ensuring that the butter in the dough is very cold and solid. This is the key that will prevent your cookies from spreading out and losing their beautiful, sharp shape in the hot oven.
- The Perfect Fit: The recipe has a brilliant and crucial trick: before you bake, check to see if your unbaked gingerbread person will fit on the rim of your serving mugs. If the legs are too wide, you can gently push them closer together. This is the key that will allow your finished cookie to “relax” perfectly on the side of its hot tub!
Step-by-Step to the Best Gingerbread Hot Chocolate Tubs
This fun and festive project is a joy to prepare.
Part 1: The Art of the Perfect Gingerbread Cookie
Step 1: In a large bowl, beat together your 1/2 stick of room temperature butter and 1/2 cup of granulated sugar with an electric mixer until they are light and fluffy. Beat in the 1/4 cup of molasses and then the 1 large egg.
Step 2: In a separate medium bowl, whisk together your 2 cups of all-purpose flour and all your spices (ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg), along with the baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
Step 3: With your mixer on a low speed, gradually beat in the flour mixture until a sticky dough forms.
Step 4 (The Most Important Step!): Divide the dough in half, flatten each half into a disc, wrap them in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least two hours, or up to overnight.
Step 5: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). On a well-floured surface, roll out one of your chilled discs of dough to an 1/8-inch thickness. Use your 4-inch gingerbread man cookie cutter to cut out your gingerbread people.
Step 6: Place the cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze them for 15 minutes to firm them up before baking. Bake for about 12 minutes. Let the cookies cool completely on a wire rack before you decorate them.
Part 2: The Royal Icing Decorations
Step 1: To make the royal icing, combine your 8 ounces of confectioners’ sugar and 1/4 cup of meringue powder in a large bowl. Add 3 tablespoons of water and beat with a hand mixer until the icing is thick.
Step 2: Separate your icing into small bowls and color it as you desire with your food coloring.
Step 3 (The Fun Part!): Transfer your colored icings to piping bags and snip off the corners. Use the icing to decorate your cooled cookies, piping on fun bathing suits and sunglasses.
Part 3: The Gingerbread Hot Chocolate and Final Assembly
Step 1: To make the hot chocolate, combine the 6 cups of milk, the 1/4 cup of cocoa powder, the 1/4 cup of sugar, the 2 tablespoons of molasses, and all your spices in a medium saucepan. Cook over a medium heat, stirring, for about 5 minutes, until the milk is steaming. Whisk in your 7 ounces of chopped milk chocolate until it is smooth.
Step 2: To serve, divide the hot chocolate among your 6 to 8 mugs.
Step 3: Insert one of your decorated gingerbread people into each mug so that its arms are resting on the rim.
Step 4: Top with a generous amount of whipped cream and mini marshmallows to create the “bubbles” in the hot tub.
Gingerbread Hot Chocolate Tubs (A Fun Christmas Treat!)
A whimsical and festive recipe for ‘Gingerbread People in Gingerbread Hot Chocolate Tubs,’ a perfect treat for a Christmas or holiday party. This multi-part dessert features from-scratch gingerbread man cookies that are decorated to look like they are relaxing in ‘hot tubs’ of rich, spiced gingerbread hot chocolate, complete with whipped cream and marshmallow ‘bubbles.’
Ingredients
- For the Gingerbread People Cookies:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1 large egg
- For the Royal Icing:
- 8 ounces (about 1 2/3 cups) confectioners’ sugar
- 1/4 cup meringue powder
- Food coloring, as desired
- 8 gumdrops
- For the Gingerbread Hot Chocolate:
- 6 cups milk
- 1/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons molasses
- 3 teaspoons ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 7 ounces good-quality milk chocolate, chopped
- Whipped cream, for serving
- Mini marshmallows, for serving
Instructions
- Make the Cookie Dough: Whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, allspice, nutmeg, baking powder, and salt. In a separate large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the molasses, then the egg. On low speed, gradually add the flour mixture and beat until a sticky dough forms. Divide the dough in half, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least two hours.
- Bake the Cookies: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment. Roll one disk of chilled dough to 1/8-inch thickness on a well-floured surface. Use a 4-inch gingerbread man cookie cutter to cut out shapes. Gently push the legs of the dough cut-outs closer together so they will fit in your mugs. Transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheets and freeze for 15 minutes to firm up.
- Bake for about 12 minutes, until slightly firm. Let the cookies cool completely on a wire rack.
- Make the Icing and Decorate: Beat the confectioners’ sugar, meringue powder, and 3 tablespoons of water with a hand mixer until a thick, pure white icing forms. Separate the icing into bowls and color as desired.
- Transfer the icing to piping bags and decorate the cookies with bathing suits and sunglasses. Let the icing set for at least 1 hour.
- Make the Hot Chocolate: In a medium saucepan, combine the milk, cocoa powder, sugar, molasses, and all the spices. Cook over medium heat, stirring, for about 5 minutes until the sugar has dissolved and the milk is steaming. Do not let it boil.
- Whisk in the chopped milk chocolate a little at a time until the hot chocolate is smooth.
- Serve: Divide the hot chocolate among 6 to 8 mugs. Place a decorated gingerbread cookie in each mug, resting its arms on the rim. Top with whipped cream and mini marshmallows to look like bubbles.
Notes
- Special Equipment: The recipe requires a 4-inch gingerbread man cookie cutter, mugs, and piping bags.
- This is a multi-step project ideal for a holiday baking day. The cookies can be made and decorated in advance.
- Chilling the dough for at least two hours is a crucial step that makes the sticky dough manageable and helps the cookies hold their shape.
- The royal icing uses meringue powder, which allows it to dry hard and is a safe alternative to raw egg whites.
- The article references a ‘Cook’s Note’ that is not provided in the text.
Storage and Make-Ahead Tips
- Make-Ahead: This is the perfect make-ahead holiday project! You can bake and decorate the gingerbread cookies up to 1 week in advance and store them in an airtight container at room temperature.2 The hot chocolate base can also be made a day in advance and simply reheated on the stovetop.
- Storage: For the absolute best, most impressive result, the final “hot tub” scene should be assembled just before you serve it.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1: What is the absolute, number one secret to a cut-out cookie that doesn’t spread?
The most important secret is to use cold dough. By chilling your dough thoroughly before you roll and cut it, and then chilling the cut-out shapes one last time before you bake them, you are ensuring that the butter in the dough is very cold and solid. This is the key that will prevent the cookies from spreading.
Q2: What is meringue powder, and do I really need it for royal icing?
Meringue powder is a fine, white powder made from dried egg whites.3 It is the modern, secret weapon for a perfect royal icing because it is completely shelf-stable, easy to use, and eliminates any food safety concerns associated with using raw egg whites. It is the key to an icing that will whip up to a beautiful, stiff consistency and will dry to a hard, matte finish.
Q3: Can I make these ahead of time for a Christmas party?
Yes, absolutely! The best method is to bake and decorate your gingerbread cookies a few days in advance. Then, on the day of your party, you can simply whip up a fresh batch of the hot chocolate and let your guests assemble their own, fun “hot tubs.”
Q4: Can I make this with a boxed cookie mix?
Of course! For an even easier shortcut, you can absolutely use your favorite brand of a boxed gingerbread cookie mix for the cookie base.
Q5: What if my gingerbread dough is too sticky to roll?
A rich gingerbread dough like this one can be quite sticky! The key is to make sure it is very well-chilled, and to work on a generously floured surface. Don’t be afraid to add more flour to your work surface and to the top of your dough as you roll it out.