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.
Can these cookies be frozen?
Yes, baked cookies can be frozen for up to 3 months.
I love this gingersnap recipe, I always use coconut oil with them because I don’t keep shortening on hand and they turn out perfect every time! The only thing disappointing about them is that I only ever get 28 cookies out of it using a tablespoon to measure them out and really wish I got 36 like the recipe claims. Only because we want to eat more of them every time I make them lol
Try using a 1-tablespoon sized cookie scoop and level it off so it’s not a heaping tablespoon.
I made these cookies 2x this holiday season, once as stated in the recipe (made by weight… except for the flour, where I used 250 grams to halve the distance between the correct amount for 2 cups and the 260 grams listed), and a second time with King Arthur’s Gluten Free Flour (used the 260 grams of flour). They were magnificent the first time and turned out pretty well the second time, considering they were gluten-free. If I make them GF again, I will use 240 grams of flour and whip them out a little early, because they were a touch dry. Thanks so much for the recipe, it is a keeper and I will make it again next year!
They don’t seem cooked after nearly 15 minutes
Your oven temperature may be inacurate. I suggest using an oven thermometer to ensure it’s reaching 375°F.
Fantastically delicious cookies!!
My four year old and I baked these cookies yesterday and they came out perfectly! We even made them into ginger cookie girls. My wife said she liked ginger cookies, so I set out on a quest to find a great recipe. I like chewy cookies so I chose yours. This is as we call them “a printable recipe”.
Thank you for sharing!
My four year old and I made these cookies together and they came out perfectly! We made them into ginger cookie girls. My wife said she really likes ginger cookies and this is definitely a printable recipe as we call them. Thank you for sharing!
These cookies are absolutely perfection. My fella says that these are a must at least a couple times a month. Thank you for an amazing recipe!
Hi!
For the shortening, I was wondering if it would be OK to use Nutiva shortening instead of vegetable?
Thanks!
I’ve never used Nutiva shortening so I’m unsure of the results.
My cookies didn’t snap, and I found the interior to be a bit more crumbly than I would’ve preferred. I used butter, but given what I know about butter you’d think I would’ve gotten a flatter, snappier cookie.
This recipe is for a chewy gingersnap cookie, it’s not meant to snap. And I can’t guarantee how the recipe will turn out when you change up the ingredients.
I made this dough last night before realizing I was out of ginger. I put it in the fridge and I’m picking up ginger now. Can I mix the ginger in at this point when the dough is already complete? Or should I start over?
I don’t recommend it. This will cause the dough to be overmixed and that leads to tough cookies.
After I followed the recipe temperature and baked the lowest recommended time of 9 minutes
…and subsequently burnt the cookies
The next day I figured I’d bake 4 cookies as a trial run at 350 degrees for 8 minutes
…the cookies came out perfect
What’s the deal?
I suggest getting an oven thermometer because it sounds like your oven is running hotter than the set temperature. Or you have a hot spot.
Your oven may run hotter than what is shown. You might want to get an oven thermometer to check.