Chewy Gingersnap Cookies
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Soft and Chewy Gingersnap Cookies infused with molasses, cinnamon, and cloves. These will make the perfect edible gift this holiday!
Old-fashioned chewy gingersnap cookies
Gingersnaps are one of my favorite cookies to make around the holidays. Every year I whip up a batch and ship them off to family.
You really can’t go wrong with a ginger cookie. Like with these molasses cookies and salted caramel ginger macarons, they’re so good!
Growing up I would look forward to my godmother’s old-fashioned gingersnap cookies. They were the absolute best!
She would bake them every year for the holidays.
Sometimes she’d wait for me to visit and we’d make them together. I always enjoyed spending time in the kitchen with her.
I’ve made her recipe countless times over the years and it never fails to bring back sweet childhood memories.
The soft chewy texture is exactly what I love most when it comes to cookies and these chewy gingersnaps are exactly that.
They are flavored with molasses, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and brown sugar. The spices are perfectly balanced.
Chewy ginger cookies
There are a couple of factors that aid the chewy texture of today’s cookies.
A combination of white and brown sugar is used and we all know brown sugar is amazing for creating a chewy texture.
It also adds more molasses flavor which is a bonus. The white sugar isn’t moist like brown sugar so adding some of that helps create a crispness on the outside of the cookie.
Molasses is also a culprit in the chewy factor. I used ¼ of a cup which is just enough liquid to make the cookies spread a bit.
Shortening! My beloved shortening. I am known for adding shortening to my cookie recipes to help keep them soft. I’ve used it in classic snickerdoodle cookies and the results were phenomenal.
However, it works a bit differently in today’s cookies. Yes, they are still soft in the center but the shortening works with molasses to create chewiness.
I roll my gingersnaps in granulated sugar before baking. This will add to the crispiness of the exterior but does nothing for the soft, chewy center.
I’m all for contrasting textures but you can skip the sugar rolling if you want. Or you can roll them in coarse sugar for more of a crunch!
The great thing about these cookies is they retain their chewy texture for several days so they perfect for giving away as holiday gifts.
The outer appearance of today’s chewy gingersnap cookies reminds me a lot of crackle cookies.
The cracking happens during baking. The cookies will puff up then begin to spread which results in a crackly top.
I’ll never stop making these chewy gingersnap cookies loaded with ginger, cinnamon, and molasses. They’ll remain close to my heart.
More holiday cookie recipes you’ll love
- Best-Tasting Sugar Cookie Icing Recipe
- White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
- Cranberry White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
Chewy Gingersnap Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (153 g) vegetable shortening, at room temperature
- ⅓ cup (66 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (110 g) light brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup (84 g) unsulphured molasses
- 2 cups (260 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar, for rolling
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the shortening and sugars until fluffy and blended. Beat in the egg and molasses.
- In a separate bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients. Stir with a whisk. Slowly stir the dry mixture into the molasses mixture just until dough forms. Cover and chill the dough for at least 2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF degrees. Roll the dough into 1-tablespon sized balls, rolls the balls into the remaining sugar, and place them 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake 9-11 minutes.
- Cool the cookies on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- The cookies will remain fresh for 1 week stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
- The cookie dough can be made up to 3 days in advance. Cover tightly and store in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature and continue the recipe instructions.
- Baked cookies can be frozen for up to 3 months.
- Cookie dough can be rolled into balls and frozen for up to 3 months. Roll frozen dough balls in sugar and bake as directed. You may need to add an additional minute or two to the bake time.
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided is for convenience and as a courtesy only. It is not guaranteed to be accurate because nutrition information can vary for a variety of reasons. For precise nutritional data use your preferred nutrition calculator and input the exact ingredients and brands you used in the recipe.
So I just made a batch of these cookies, and WOW they are as good as advertised. Thank you for sharing the recipe. My family ate the whole batch, in fact they were gone well before the chocolate chip cookies and that is rarity in my family.
I baked a batch of these last night as a trial run.
I chose them for my cookie exchange at work. They are amazing! I ate some for breakfast this morning hahaha.
They look perfect and taste even better! I will be tripling the batch and packaging them up for my coworkers on Sunday. Thank you for this awesome recipie!
I baked a batch of these last night as a trial run.
I chose them for my cookie exchange at work. They are amazing! I ate some for breakfast this morning hahaha.
They look perfect and taste even better! I will be tripling the batch and packaging them up for my coworkers on Sunday. Thank you for this awesome recipie!
I love soft and chewy gingersnap cookies! Yours look so delicious and perfect! I could eat a dozen!
It would be so easy to eat them all before you even realize it.
These are seriously one of my FAVORITE holiday cookies! Love gingersnaps!
Thanks, Amber! Ginger snaps are simply the best.
Gingersnap cookies are one of my favorite holiday flavors! I love that these are chewy and so full of flavor. They look perfect, too!
Thank you for the compliments, Gayle!
the cookies look wonderful Jen! and you are inspiring me to try shortening now..I never bake with shortening either..I once had a cake frosted with buttercream made entirely of shortening and I hated it..It was so bad..since then I am scared to even touch shortening…maybe I need to give it a try!
Eeeeewwww! Buttercream made with shortening!? That sounds terrible. I wouldn’t want to cook with either after that experience. I hope you change your mind and try shortening in cookies. It’s also good for pie crusts and biscuits.
Ginger snap cookies are such a classic cookie that works well with many flavors. These look delicious.
Mmmm, I love gingersnaps! But sometimes they’re a little too crispy for me. So your chewy version sounds amazing! These would be perfect to put on Santa’s cookie plate. Although I can’t guarantee we’d have enough left over for him. 🙂
I don’t care for the crunchy ginger snaps either. I’m a sucker for a chewy cookie instead. I hope Santa enjoys his cookies. 😉
Hi Jen,
I love gingersnaps. Now I have a total crave going on! I think I’ll do a little baking tommorow! Thanks, I love your blog. Fantastic recipes.
Janelle
California
You are too sweet, Janelle. Thank you for the kind compliments!