Chewy, spicy gingersnap cookies belong on every cookie table and dessert tray. These are an easy drop cookie made festive with spices and colored sanding sugar.
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Chewy Gingersnaps for the Holiday Win
My grandma made the best gingersnaps, usually at Christmas.
But if it's not Christmas when you're here reading about these crinkled molasses cookies, make them anyway!
These easy holiday cookies are delicious year-round.
If you're in holiday cookie mode, you might also like No-spread cut-out cookies or Gingerbread Snowflakes or Speculaas cookies or a super simple graham cracker bark.
For more desserts with spice, consider this easy three layer spice cake or creamy pumpkin pie.
Ingredients
- all-purpose flour
- baking soda
- sea salt or kosher salt
- ground cinnamon (I prefer Vietnamese)
- ground cloves
- ground ginger
- brown sugar
- egg
- butter (room temperature)
- molasses
- sanding sugar (for rolling) not shown
See recipe card for ingredient amounts
How to Make Chewy Gingersnaps
Be sure to break eggs one at a time in a separate cup or bowl before adding to the mixture to be sure eggs are fresh. (You don't want to add a bad egg to a bowl of ingredients).
Chewy Gingersnaps Step by Step
- Start by beating butter in a large mixing bowl until creamed.
- Add brown sugar and continue beating the butter and sugar with a hand mixer or a stand mixer until a soft dough forms.
- Add egg and molasses and continue beating another minute or until incorporated into the dough.
- Add cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, salt and baking soda and mix.
- Add all-purpose flour and beat until just combined and white streaks of flour remain.
- You should have a soft but not sticky dough, which should be chilled for at least an hour or overnight before rolling into sanding sugar and baking.
Cookie Baking Advice
You may find these baking posts helpful, from How to Freeze Cookie Dough, Room Temperature Butter for Baking to Salted or Unsalted Butter for Cookies? to Do I Need A Cookie Scoop?, Cookie Size Chart to What Should a Beginner Bake? to Where Can I Buy Sprinkles?, Why is my sugar cookie dough too sticky? and Cookie Holidays. What is Sanding Sugar and Where Can I Buy Sprinkles might also be helpful.
Gingersnap Cookie Recipe Notes:
- These molasses cookies will be easier to make with an electric mixer but if you don't have one, you can make this dough with a strong arm and a sturdy spatula.
- These are gingersnap cookies made with butter. You can use shortening instead if you'd like or lard.
- Molasses is another critical component of this recipe. You won't get gingersnaps if you try to substitute dark corn syrup or maple syrup.
Gingersnap Spices
Traditional gingersnap recipes call for a trio of ground spices: cinnamon, ginger and cloves.
My grandma, who would have been approaching her 100th birthday if she'd lived, always included a dash of ground black pepper.
I haven't included black pepper in my cookies in many years but you could. By pinch, I'm talking an ⅛ of a teaspoon or less.
- Spices are an integral part of gingersnap cookies so make sure your spices are fresh.
- If it's been a year or even six months since you baked or cooked anything with ginger, cinnamon and cloves, throw those old spices out and replace them before you make this recipe.
- Pro tip: replenish spices at your natural food store or food cooperative. You can purchase tiny amounts of spices, which are most likely going to be much fresher than bottles of spices that have been lingering on a grocery store shelf. You'll also pay less.
Sanding Sugar Essentials
A significant part of the wow factor this molasses based cookie is the use of sanding sugar to roll the balls of dough in before baking.
The use of sanding sugar, which is just like granulated sugar only with larger crystals, which are often colored in bright and pastel hues for various holidays, is essential.
The larger crystals give the cookie a satisfying sparkle and crunch that you're just not going to achieve with granulated sugar.
Of course, if you're in a pinch and want gingersnaps, use granulated sugar. But make every effort to source sanding sugar.
You can find sanding sugar really anywhere, the grocery store, Michael's, the big chain stores and the tiny gourmet shops.
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Recipe
Gingersnaps (Just Like Grandma's!)
Chewy gingersnap cookies will spice up your dessert table. Roll the cookies in colored sanding sugar for a festive touch.
Ingredients
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- ¾ cup butter, room temperature
- ¼ cup molasses
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup sanding sugar (for rolling cookie balls before baking)
Instructions
Start by beating butter in a large mixing bowl until creamed.
Add brown sugar and continue beating the butter and sugar with a hand mixer or a stand mixer until a soft dough forms.
Add egg and molasses and continue beating another minute or until incorporated into the dough.
Add cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, salt and baking soda and mix.
Add all-purpose flour and beat until just combined and white streaks of flour remain.
You should have a soft but not sticky dough, which should be chilled for at least an hour or overnight.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°.F.
Portion dough into balls using a #30 or #40 cookie scoop.
Roll in sanding sugar.
Bake on a parchment lined baking sheet two inches apart. This means you can fit 12 dough balls comfortably on a half sheet pan for ten to 12 minutes.
Don't overbake or the gingersnaps will be crunchy instead of chewy.
Notes
These molasses cookies will be easier to make with an electric mixer but if you don't have one, you can make this dough with a strong arm and a sturdy spatula.
These are gingersnap cookies made with butter. You can use shortening instead if you'd like or lard.
Molasses is another critical component of this recipe. You won't get gingersnaps if you try to substitute dark corn syrup or maple syrup.
Recommended Products
This post and/or recipe may contain affiliate links, which means if you click through and make a purchase, I'll earn a commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. See Disclosure policy.
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The Sugar Lab Confectioners Sugar - Extra Coarse Sugar - 1 Pound - Con AA - Sugar Crystals for Baking and Cupcake Decorations - Excellent for Decorating Candy - Perfect for Bakeries Sanding Sugar -
Winco Ice Cream Disher with Purple Handle, Size 40, Stainless Steel
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Reynolds Kitchens Parchment Paper Roll, 60 Square Feet
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Nordic Ware Naturals Half Sheet, 2-Pack, Natural
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Half Sheet Pan
Nutrition Information
Yield 36 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 68Total Fat 4gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 1gCholesterol 15mgSodium 121mgCarbohydrates 13gFiber 0gSugar 7gProtein 1g
Jennifer
Gingersnaps are my favorite cookie. And i Love to use them as a crust for pies. Your recipe looks divine!
Jennifer
Ooooh! Gingersnaps for pie crust sounds great. Do you mean a crust for cheesecake? I've had a pumpkin cheesecake before with gingersnap crust. It was divine! Thanks for stopping by.