Best Gingerbread Mix, Taste Tested and Ranked

Gingerbread is one of the best holiday flavors. Maybe it’s the blend of sweet, dark molasses and spicy ginger that really sets it apart from the typical mix of super-sweet sugar cookies and super-dense fruitcakes. Or maybe it’s gingerbread’s versatility. After all, how many other dessert mixes can be made into cookies, cakes, or building material for tiny houses?

While we’ve found some great gingerbread cookies at the store, the best gingerbread is warm out of the oven. So we sampled a bunch of gingerbread mixes to find our favorites.

What we looked for in the best gingerbread mix:

Spice. Personally, I like a lot of ginger, mixed with a lot of sugar.
Ease of baking. Because, if there’s one thing you don’t have a ton of during the holidays, it’s time.

Here’s the best gingerbread mix to buy this season.

Best Gingerbread Mixes, Ranked

This article contains affiliate links that may generate a small commission to us when you make a purchase through the link. Learn more about how we work with affiliates here.

Best Premade Gingerbread Cookie Dough

Pillsbury Gingerbread Cookie Dough

Pillsbury

If you want to bake some gingerbread cookies, but don’t want to deal with all that mixing and stirring, this 30oz refrigerated tube of gingerbread cookie dough is here for you. Of course, you’ll still have to roll the dough out on a floured surface and cut it into shapes, but it’s a lot less hassle than assembling from a powdered mix. Taste-wise, it’s also really good—although it’s a little light on the ginger for me. The best part of this mix is that it uses pasteurized eggs in the recipe, so it’s safe to eat raw. As an added bonus, the ginger flavor is a little stronger when it’s raw. And you can’t be more hassle-free than “eating straight out of the tube.”

Credit: Merc / Pillsbury

Rating:

8/10

Sporks

Best Gingerbread Cake Mix

Betty Crocker Gingerbread Cake & Cookie Mix

Walmart

Sometimes you want gingerbread rather than cookies. If that’s the case, I have to recommend this mix, which creates a moist, tasty cake with plenty of molasses and ginger. The whole thing tastes a bit like a gingerbread fruitcake, although it’s much lighter than a typical fruitcake. As for prep, you have to mix it and bake it. But you can still get the whole thing done in around 30 minutes, which is great when you’re balancing a ton of prep time for your holiday meals. And if you do end up wanting some cookies, it comes with a recipe for gingerbread cookies. But honestly, I think this mix is better as a cake. (Plus it looks a lot more impressive, especially decorated and frosted.)

Credit: Liv Averett / Walmart

Rating:

8/10

Sporks

Best Gingerbread Cookie Mix

Betty Crocker Gingerbread Cookie Mix

Walmart

I’m of the opinion that cookies are the best delivery system for gingerbread. They’re quick, easy, and you can always justify eating another one. And this was the best gingerbread cookie mix I taste tested. It delivers a delicious and soft cookie with just a bit of crunch, too. It has a good, strong ginger flavor balanced with a healthy amount of cinnamon and slightly less molasses taste than the others. (It also has a buttery richness, which might be because the box calls for a whole stick of butter in the recipe.) To me, these cookies were the best of the bunch and definitely on my “nice list.”

Credit: Liv Averett / Walmart

Rating:

9/10

Sporks