Gingerbread Faces: Cute Ways to Decorate

Updated May 21, 2021
Gingerbread Man Cookie

Seeing gingerbread faces wherever you travel is a sign that the holiday Christmas season is in full swing. Get a breakdown of different faces and expressions that you can add to your gingerbread cookies.

Fun Facial Expressions

Not every gingerbread face is a happy one. Plenty of artistic licenses can be taken when making a gingerbread face on a cake or cookie. Popular alternatives to a happy look include:

  • Surprise: Use a "take a bite out" cookie-cutter with a fake bite taken out of the gingerbread man's head. Draw high eyebrows and a small "o" for a mouth to indicate surprise.
  • Grumpy: A wrinkled nose and frown make any happy face upset. To add a little charm, give the grumpy man some downward-pointing dimples.
  • Winking: A smiling face with a winking eye is a whimsical alternative to a simple happy, gingerbread man's face.
  • Kissing: Give your sweetheart a face with lips puckered and eyes shut (straight lines in icing).
  • Bashful: Add some pink cheeks and eyebrow lines with a little upward tilt.
  • Ecstatic: Make little curved lines for eyes and a big smile with teeth.

Different Types of Gingerbread People Faces

While you can create unisex gingerbread cookies with different fun facial expressions, you can also customize your gingerbread to make them even more adorable.

Gingerbread family

Grandparents Faces

Create a special face just for grandparents. Add glasses, whiskers, or a pipe for grandpa; an old-fashioned bonnet is perfect for grandma.

Baby Faces

A baby face is easily made out of gingerbread. Make the cheeks as chubby and round as possible. At the top of the face, add a single curled tuft of hair in white icing. A bow in the middle of the curl could identify a baby girl.

Gingerwoman

While most gingerbread faces are that of men, females can be made with ease. Long eyelashes and brighter cheeks are typical characteristics of a woman's gingerbread face. Adding a large bow at the top of the head is another way. Making the mouth red or pink can help, too.

Precious Ginger Faces

You've probably seen those Precious Moments collectible figurines with the large eyes and chubby faces. Mimic this with your ginger people by giving them large eyes that take up a good majority of their face. Add a little button nose, line smile, and some blushing cheeks. What a precious ginger face you've created.

Gingerbread People Collection Assortment

Fancy Ginger Man

If you want to make your gingerbread fancy, then add a large mustache and monocle. You can even add a little top hat to really deck him out.

Nerdy Ginger Faces

Large eyes and smiles are great, but if you want to get your nerd on, add some glasses and a few freckles to your ginger person. What could be cuter than a nerdy little cookie?

Cool Ginger Face

Make your gingerbread man look cool by adding a stocking cap. Add half eyes along the line of the cap and a smirky smile.

Famous Christmas Gingerbread Faces

While you can add your own custom faces to your ginger people, you can also get them into character. This is next-level gingerbread face creations.

Christmas gingerbread cookies

Santa Face

To make your gingerbread man look like Santa, add a white beard and red hat. He also needs some rosy cheeks.

Rudolph Face

Add a big red nose and some antlers to turn your gingerbread cookie into Rudolph. Add a small mouth and eyes to round out your gingerbread character.

Penguin Face

To make a penguin-looking gingerbread face, add a white triangle in frosting. Put an orange peak at the end of the triangle and two round black eyes. Round out your character with a black tuxedo.

Ginger Snowman

Gingerbread cookies don't always have to be little people. You can make a snowman face by adding an orange carrot shape nose and two black eyes. Finish it off with a little smile.

Gingerbread Cookie Decorations

When it comes to decorating your gingerbread cookies, it's important to have fun with them. Go all out and create a little troop of cute ginger people. Everyone in your family will be impressed with your cookie decorating skills.

Gingerbread Faces: Cute Ways to Decorate