Bake gingerbread cookies in mini muffin tins and then decorate them with a swirl of frosting sprinkled with cinnamon or Christmas nonpareils and a tiny gingerbread man cookie.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Beat the butter in a mixing bowl until creamy using a hand mixer or silicone spatula.
Add the gingerbread cookie mix, egg, and water.
Beat until well combined. I mixed the dough with a silicone spatula to combine the ingredients, and then I mixed the dough into a ball using my hands. You can use a mixer instead.
Spray the inside of the 24 mini muffin cups with baking spray.
Scoop about 1 tablespoon of cookie dough into the 24 mini muffin cavities. Reserve the remaining dough to make the tiny gingerbread men.
Roll the cookie scoops into balls and then press each ball into an even layer in the mini muffin cups. They should fill the cups about ⅔ full.
Bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes, rotating after 8 minutes, until set around the edges. If the cookies look wet in the middle, bake for an additional minute or so.
Remove the pan from the oven and allow the cookies to cool for 15 minutes. Then, turn them out onto a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely.
Meanwhile, dust your work surface lightly with flour.
Roll out the remaining cookie dough and cut out the dough using the tiny 1-inch gingerbread man cookie cutter, rerolling the dough as needed.
Place the little gingerbread men on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
Bake these tiny cookies for about 8 minutes, rotating the pan after 5 minutes until the edges are set.
Remove the pan from the oven and allow the cookies to cool completely.
Fill a pastry bag with a large open star tip (Wilton 1M tip).
Fit a pastry bag with a #2 small round tip and spoon in some of the white frosting. Pipe eyes, smiles, and buttons onto some of the tiny gingerbread man cookies.
Spoon the remaining fluffy white frosting into the pastry bag.
Pipe a swirl of frosting on top of a gingerbread cookie cup and immediately sprinkle on some cinnamon or Christmas nonpareils. Then add one or two tiny gingerbread cookies.
Serve and enjoy!
Store your gingerbread cookie cups in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. You can freeze the unfrosted cookies for up to 3 months.
You may have more than 24 mini gingerbread cookies. You can add two cookies to some of the cookie cups or just enjoy a snack.
Gingerbread Cookie Cups https://hungryhappenings.com/gingerbread-cookie-cups/