Big, soft and perfumed with fall baking spices, these ginger cookies are a treasure-trove of cozy flavors. We bake smoky molasses, zippy ginger, sweet cinnamon and spicy cloves into pillowy, golden brown cookies. Take one bite of these ginger cookies and you’ll feel as if you’re eating fall itself.
Ingredients for Ginger Cookies
- Sugar: You’ll need 1 cup granulated sugar for the cookie dough and about 3/4 cup to coat the cookie dough balls before baking.
- Molasses: Dark molasses is commonly used when making ginger cookies to give them their dark golden brown color, chewiness and rich flavor. If you don’t have dark molasses, use light molasses instead.
- All-purpose flour: We’ve found that all-purpose flour gives this recipe just enough structure and tenderness to create soft, chewy cookies.
- Ginger: The star of the show! Grab whichever ground ginger from the store fits your budget. No need to get anything fancy for this ginger cookies recipe.
- Spices: Sweet cinnamon and spicy cloves pair excellently with ginger’s peppiness, creating a cookie that tastes as welcoming as fall.
Directions
Step 1: Create the dough
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
In a large bowl, use a hand mixer or stand mixer to cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, five to seven minutes. Beat in the room-temperature egg and the molasses.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and beat well.
Step 2: Shape into balls and coat in sugar
Roll the dough into 1-1/2-inch balls, then roll each ball in a small bowl that’s filled with sugar. Place the balls 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
Editor’s Tip: Portion out the dough with a cookie scoop for consistency and ease.
Step 3: Bake the cookies
Bake the cookies until they’re puffy and lightly browned, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove the cookies onto wire racks to cool to room temperature.
Recipe Variations
- Add more ginger: Chop up crystalized ginger and incorporate it into the dough of this recipe. Or, take a stab at our triple-ginger gingersnaps that include minced gingerroot, ground ginger and crystalized ginger in every bite.
- Create more texture: When it comes to rolling the balls of dough in sugar, swap in coarse sugar for the granulated, as we do in Lara’s tender gingersnaps. Coarse sugar creates a rickety texture with crunchy bites that are filled with sweetness, and the sugar glitters in the light as if each cookie is studded with diamonds.
- Frost the cookies: Finish the cookies with a cushion of brown sugar frosting, as with our frosted ginger cookies. This frosting pairs excellently with the smoky molasses and lively ginger.
- Finish with a honey glaze: Add just a touch of extra sweetness and a subtle shine with a honey glaze finish. Grab the two-ingredient recipe from our citrus gingerbread cookies.
How to Store Ginger Cookies
The best way to store the cookies so they stay soft and chewy is to keep them on the counter in an airtight container with a slice of bread. The cookies will absorb the bread’s moisture, preventing them from getting crispy. Keep the cookies for up to four days.
Can you freeze ginger cookies?
Yes, you can freeze baked or unbaked ginger cookies. To freeze baked cookies, make sure they are first cooled down to room temperature. Transfer them to an airtight container, and place a piece of parchment or waxed paper between each stacked layer to prevent sticking.
To freeze unbaked ginger cookies, make the dough and roll it into balls. Transfer the balls to a parchment-lined baking sheet, and freeze them for one to two hours. Remove the frozen cookie dough balls from the baking sheet and place them in a freezer-safe resealable bag. The cookie dough can be stored in the freezer for up to two months. Thaw the cookies overnight in the fridge, roll the balls in the sugar and bake according to this recipe.
Ginger Cookie Tips
How can you make these cookies crisp?
To make ginger cookies crisp, leave out the baking soda. The main difference between a soft and crispy ginger cookies recipe has to do with this leavening agent.
Why are these ginger cookies flat?
There are plenty of reasons why cookies turn out flat. To avoid flat cookies, make sure to cream your butter and sugar until it is pale yellow and fluffy. This usually takes five to seven minutes on medium speed. Doing this adds air and structure to the dough. If your cookies are still turning out flat while baking, refrigerate the unbaked dough balls for 10 to 15 minutes before baking to prevent excessive spreading.
