With this recipe for homemade gingerbread spice mix you can bake amazing holiday cookies and cakes, make desserts or have a DIY gift for Christmas!
I absolutely love gingerbread, and I love giving away homemade spice mixes. They are always such a great hostess or neighbor gift. And they are much less work/less time consuming than baking or cooking a DIY food gift, which makes them perfect for both the last-minuters and the weeks-in-advance-makers ?
Here I’m sharing my favorite Gingerbread spice mix. It’s gingery, full of flavor and will make your cookies, breads, oatmeal, pancakes… taste of Christmas!
Ingredients you’ll need
Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities!
Ingredient notes
- Ginger: If you want to make your spice mix milder, you can cut the ginger amount in half. You can also make it even more gingery by adding an extra teaspoon or two of ginger, but it already packs a punch as is, so be careful with this.
- Cardamom/coriander: These are completely optional, but they are traditional in especially German gingerbread spice varieties. I think they can add a great depth of flavor, but I frequently make the mix without and it’s still perfectly delicious.
- Nutmeg: Make sure to measure the nutmeg carefully and don’t add too much of it. It really makes the Gingerbread inedible if you overdo it.
- Allspice/cloves: If you are missing one of these, you can just double the amount of the other in its place. If you’re missing both, you can try using pumpkin spice mix if you have that on hand. Else, feel free to leave them out and replace them with more cinnamon – your spice mix will have less flavor though.
- Extras: If you like very traditional/German Gingerbread, feel free to add a few pinches of ground white pepper to the mix.
How to make Gingerbread spice mix
Make sure to have your jars on hand before you start making the mix. It really shouldn’t sit around in the open for too long – spices keep their flavor best when they are in a sealed container. The recipe makes enough for one jar, so make sure to increase the amounts for multiple jars.
I like to use these small Weck jars (affiliate link) for this spice mix – it’s just so pretty for gift giving! These small Ball jars (affiliate link) are also a very pretty option – they are a little smaller than the Weck jars and fit a bit less, but they’re also less pricey.
You can also print the labels right here. I added 9 per page because this way, they fit most small canning jar lids.
Now all you have to do is combining all your spices in a reasonably sized bowl – don’t pick one that’s too small, or you’ll have trouble combining the spices properly.
Then, spoon your mix into the prepared jar (or prepared jars, if you made a larger batch).
Make sure the jar is absolutely dry if you just washed it. Otherwise you’ll get moisture into the spices, which could develop mould.
Attach the label to the lid, seal… And gift away! If you want to be extra cute, tie some yarn around the jar. You could also attach a cute small spoon or a small gingerbread man cookie cutter to your gift.
What to make with Gingerbread spice
Another thing I like to do is to print out a few of my favorite recipes to use the mix in, and give them alongside the spice mix.
You can use the spice mix in even more ways though – try stirring it into your bowl of oatmeal in the morning, or use it in stewed apples (or in any apple dessert, really).
Storage tips
The spice mix should be stored sealed in its jar in a dark, dry space – inside a kitchen cupboard is ideal.
I would generally try to use it up within a year or two. It shouldn’t go bad, but the spices do lose flavor over time – even if they’re sealed. If you notice the spice mix tastes less strong after a few months, you may want to add a touch more to your baked goods.
More homemade spice mixes
PS If you try this recipe, please leave a review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram.
Printable recipe
Homemade Gingerbread Spice Mix
made it? tap the stars to add your rating!Recipe details
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons ground ginger
- 1.5 teaspoons ground allspice
- 1.5 teaspoons ground cloves
- ¾ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- pinches of ground cardamom and coriander optional for more flavor
Instructions
- Mix all spices together in a small bowl until well combined.
- To give away as a gift fill into small bags or jars and label with the printable gift tag and the recipe for perfect gingerbread cookies!
Notes
How to pack the mix up as a gift
Download, print and cut your free printable gift tags. There are 9 per sheet. If you don’t need them all… Well, give them to your kids as cutting practice ? The labels should fit the lid of most small jam jars. Just pop the spice mix into clean, dry jars, seal with the lids and attach the label on top. The recipe makes enough to fill around one 4-6 ounce jar.Storage tips
The spice mix should be stored sealed in its jar in a dark, dry space – inside a kitchen cupboard is ideal. I would generally try to use it up within a year or two. It shouldn’t go bad, but the spices do lose flavor over time – even if they’re sealed. If you notice the spice mix tastes less strong after a few months, you may want to add a touch more to your baked goods.What to do with the spice mix (apart from baking cookies)
Honestly, I use gingerbread spice for everything during the holiday season. I love it stirred into oatmeal or yogurt. It’s also pretty amazing in gingerbread pancakes or gingerbread muffins!Nutrition
More recipe information
Recipe first published on 11/22/2014. Updated with new photos and more helpful text on 12/12/2020.
Adam W says
Your recipe is spot on with the ingredients and cooking time. I made muffins and cooked for about 28 minutes, they turned out so moist, slightly chewy and scrumptious. Saving this one for future and will definitely make it again. Big thanks!
Kristen Dorsett says
How much of the mix is in the soft gingerbread cookies?
Nora says
2 tablespoons and 1 1/4 teaspoons – hope this helps, Kristen!
Bruce says
Made German style, coriander, cardamom and white pepper, no allspice. Tasted too much of cloves, added half again as much ginger, cinnamon (true, not cassia). Excellent!
Nora says
Glad it worked out, Bruce! And that’s the joy of homemade spice mixed – you can adjust them exactly to your taste.
rebecca says
How much of the gingerbread spice mix do you use in the gingerbread cookie recipe ou have published
Nora says
Rebecca, I use 2 1/2 tablespoons! Hope this helps.
Kathy R. says
Hi Nora,
I’m starting very early on my holiday baking–besides I Love Gingerbread any time of year! I’m making your Homemade Gingerbread Spice Mix tonight & I’m wondering if you really use 1 whole Tablespoon of ground cloves in the mix?? It just sounds like a LOT to me. Please let me know so if it’s an error in the recipe I can adjust the other spices to get the ratio right for peak flavor. Thank you for sharing your lovely recipes with all of us!! Happy Baking!!!
Nora says
Hi Kathy, yes, that’s correct for the traditional German recipe! You can cut back on it if you want a milder spice.
Jim Brown says
Hi,
I am making Lebkuchen ginger cookies and would like to use your ginger spice mixture. I figure that by using your mixture at 3 tablespoons per recipe, with the exception of the Cinnamon the rest of the spices will be close to one third less than what I have used in the past with a time honored family recipe. Do Lebkuchen’s use more spice than a standard ginger cookie? I am also using close to the same amount of flour as you use in your ginger cookies.
Thanks,
Jim
Thanks,
Jim
Nora says
Hi Jim, my recipe does have everything that goes into a decent commercial gingerbread spice mix in Germany. But you’re right, it has been a bit “Americanized” by using more cinnamon and less other spices. It makes it milder and less herby, because most people outside of Germany aren’t used to the traditional Lebkuchen spices. Feel free to use less cinnamon and more of the other spices. Just be careful with the ground anise – it gets very overpowering if added in too large of a quantity. Hope that helps!
Dana Lucas says
Thanks so much! Very cute idea! Already getting xmas gifts going over here! 🙂
Nora says
No problem! And yay, way to go!
Dana Lucas says
How can we print these out smaller? Can you leave some step by step instructions for those of less “techy?” I’m on a mac. When I click on them they are very large and I don’t see a print option to print 9x or 4x. Ideas or suggestions?
Nora says
Hi Dana! Try right clicking on the big image and saving it to your computer. If you open it on your computer and pick to print it, can you choose to print it several times onto one page? That’s how I did it. Otherwise you could also paste it into a new Pages document, drag a corner to make it smaller and then copy and paste it several times into that page. Let me know if that doesn’t work for you and I’ll figure out something first thing tomorrow morning! Hope that helps!!
Lucia says
Hi Nora,
Came across your blog the other day when searching for common ingredients in gingerbread spice mix. (One of my recipes calls for ginger bread spice mix and where I live you can’t find a ready made mix, so I set out to make my own)
I loved your version. My question is; when you say ground anis,do you mean ground anis star or ground anis seeds? I’m not able to find either ground but both whole, and am willing to ground it myself but not sure which one your recipe calls for. I know this is an old post but hoping to hear back.
Thank you for a great blog!
Nora says
Hi Lucia, thanks so much for asking! It’s ground anise seeds in my gingerbread spice mix. I’ll add that to the recipe, in case anyone else runs into into this, thanks for bringing it to my attention. If you have more questions, please just ask away 🙂 Have a lovely day!
Lucia says
Thank you so much for your reply Nora. I’ll be making your gingerbread cookies next!
My 8 year old daughter can’t wait! They look so delicious!
Happy New Year!
Lucia
Nora says
I’m always happy to be of help! I hope you and your daughter will enjoy the gingerbread cookies.
Happy New Year to you and your family as well!
Sarah says
Would this recipe work for a ginger bread house?
Nora says
I originally planned on making a gingerbread house with this, I had it all cut out but then I was short on time. It definitely works! I would just bake the parts a few minutes longer than usually to make sure they’re hard enough!
dina says
this is a nice idea for a gift to go along with a baking gift.
Nora says
Thanks so much Dina!
Jess @ Flying on Jess Fuel says
I love making gingerbread cookies!! Such a fun tradition and great way to spend time with family!! Your little printables are so cute!
Nora says
It really is a fun family holiday activity! Thanks Jess!
Cyndi @ My Kitchen Craze says
Nora, how adorable are these little guys and that printable…so cute and festive! I love gingerbread cookies and molasses cookies too. These are my favorite type of Christmas cookie. And I totally agree with you, if Starbucks is selling their christmas stuff then you can bake all the festive stuff you want. Pinned!
Nora says
Mine too, gingerbread just screams Christmas! Haha, Starbucks rules the world 🙂 Thanks Cyndi and thanks for pinning!
Natalie @ Tastes Lovely says
This is so great Nora! How perfect of a hostess gift would this gingerbread spice mix be? I love this! And your gingerbread cookies really do look perfect : )
Nora says
Thank you so much Natalie!