These gingersnap cookies are chewy with crispy edges, warmly spiced, and rolled in crunchy sugar for the ultimate holiday cookies! The dough is quick and easy to prepare with no chilling required, so you can have these ready for the oven in minutes.
Looking for more delicious treats to add to a holiday cookie platter? You might also love these homemade snickerdoodles (or try gingerdoodles!), classic sugar cookies, and spiced chai shortbread.
When it comes to baking for the holidays, gingersnap cookies are a classic. Gingersnaps are a chewy, sometimes crispy cookie flavored with plenty of ginger and cinnamon spice. The name comes from the fact that original gingersnaps would “snap” when broken in half. They are very similar to a molasses cookie, or even gingerbread, but it’s all about the thin, crispy texture with a good gingersnap. If you love a thicker, softer cookie, my soft gingerbread cookies might be more up your alley. Now, let’s bake some cookies!
Tell Me About These Gingersnap Cookies
- Perfect for the holidays. I think gingersnap cookies are easily the most festive of holiday cookies. They’re warm and cozy and just perfect for enjoying with a cup of coffee or tea.
- Crisp yet chewy. This gingersnap cookies recipe has the PERFECT texture. The cookies have that classic “snap” when you break them in half, but they’re still chewy in the center.
- Super easy. All you’ll need is one bowl and a baking sheet to prepare these cookies. The dough is quick and easy, with no chill time required. Plus, they only require 15 minutes in the oven!
Ingredients You’ll Need For This Recipe
This gingersnaps recipe is made with molasses, warm spices, and pantry staples. Scroll down to the recipe card below for measurements.
- Butter – Brought to room temperature.
- Sugar – You’ll need sugar for the cookie dough, and also extra sugar for rolling. I use granulated sugar, but light brown sugar will also work.
- Molasses – I recommend pure, unsulphured molasses for a rich, sweet flavor. Make sure you’re using dark molasses and not blackstrap molasses, which is more bitter.
- Egg – The egg can also be brought to room temperature for best results.
- Baking soda – Check the expiration date on your baking soda (also make sure you’re not confusing baking soda with baking powder, which isn’t the same product). If your baking soda is expired, the cookies will come out dense and flat.
- Spices – Ginger (obviously) and cinnamon give these cookies their classic warm, spicy flavor. You can adapt the amount of spice to taste.
- Flour – Measure the flour using the spoon and sweep method to avoid overmeasuring. Spoon the flour from the bag into your cup measure, and level off the cup with the back of a knife. Never scoop directly from the bag, as you’ll end up with too much flour and the cookies will turn out crumbly.
Yes, if you don’t have molasses, you can substitute it with honey or brown sugar instead. Substitute equal parts honey. If you’re using brown sugar, you’ll need about 25% less packed brown sugar than molasses.
How To Make Gingersnap Cookies
Here’s a quick overview of how to make the best chewy gingersnap cookies. Scroll down to the recipe card below for more measurements.
- Make the dough. Begin by creaming the butter and sugar for 2 minutes. Then, add the molasses, egg, baking soda, salt, and spices. Mix for an additional minute. Turn the speed to low and add in the flour.
- Form the dough balls. Now, use a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop to portion out the dough. Roll the dough into balls, and roll the balls in the remaining sugar to coat.
- Bake. Place the balls of gingersnap cookie dough 2 inches apart on a lined baking sheet. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until the edges are golden and crinkly. Cool on a wire rack, and enjoy.
Pro Tip: Make Gingersnap Sandwich Cookies!
For an extra-indulgent treat, I love to fill the baked and cooled gingersnaps with buttercream or cream cheese frosting to make soft, chewy gingerbread sandwich cookies.
Baking Notes
- Don’t skip the sugar. Rolling the dough balls in sugar is what gives them the “crackly” appearance. Without it, you won’t get the same effect.
- Leave space on the cookie sheet. Gingersnaps do spread out a decent amount as they bake, so be sure to leave at least 2 inches between them on the baking sheet. I made the mistake of placing them too close together and they baked into each out!
- Don’t under (or over) bake. Unlike some other cookies, you don’t want to really underbake gingersnaps as you won’t get that classic crisp texture, but you also don’t want to burn them. The edges should be just starting to brown and appear crinkly.
How To Store Gingersnaps
- Store at room temperature. Homemade gingersnap cookies will stay crisp and chewy at room temperature for 3-4 days. Keep the cookies airtight.
- Freeze. You can freeze these cookies for up to 2 months. Store them in a freezer bag or freezer-safe container. Thaw the cookies at room temperature.
More Holiday Cookie Recipes
Gingersnap Cookies
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 13 minutes
- Total Time: 23 minutes
- Yield: 30 cookies 1x
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Dessert
Description
These classic gingersnap cookies are warmly spiced, crispy on the edges, and chewy in the center. There’s no chilling required, so the cookie dough is ready for the oven in minutes!
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup unsulphured molasses
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter and sugar together on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add in the molasses, egg, baking soda, salt, ginger, and cinnamon. Mix for another 1 minute, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Turn the mixer to low and add in the flour. Mix until just combined.
- Place the remaining sugar in a small bowl, set aside.
- Using a medium (2- tablespoon sized) cookie scoop portion out dough. Roll the dough into balls and then roll the balls in the sugar. Place on the prepared baking sheet 2- inches apart.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes until the edges are lightly golden and appear “crinkly”.
- Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.
Notes
Store airtight for up to 5 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 111
- Sugar: 9.6 g
- Sodium: 127 mg
- Fat: 4.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 16.1 g
- Protein: 1.1 g
- Cholesterol: 18.4 mg
Would you recommend salted or unsalted butter? I have both so want to set out the right one!
I prefer salted, but you can use either!
Someone said these spread a lot and that’s because they lack sufficient flour or some other binder. Also it was not at all chewy, but crunchy, and burned easily. There was no crinkle as the author said would appear as they cooked so I took them out of the oven too late. Next batch I tried to undercook but again crunchy and too spread as others mentioned.
If you look at the measurements in the recipe there are 2 cups of flour and 3/4 cup butter, which is very similar to most other cookie recipes in proportion. Along with the combination of other ingredients they shouldn’t spread too much. i make these all the time and have results as pictured. The additional baking soda is what causes the crackling on top, as they puff up a bit and then settle as you remove them from the oven. Sorry you had this experience, but give them another try. Possibly you butter was too warm or you didn’t add enough flour 🙂
Love the recipe but it spread so much I had just one giant cookie shaped like a sheet tray! Used cookie cutters while it was still warm out of the oven and made cute snowman ginger snaps. Is it possible to refrigerate teh dough, roll it out, and stamp it?
Update to my question above – I ended up going out to get granulated sugar and these cookies are EXCEPTIONAL! A fairly easy and quick recipe + the cookies taste divine. I’m so excited to have found such a good option for ginger snaps! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Do you think turbinado sugar would work as well? I want to make them today and I have everything else on hand except the granulated sugar.
If you have a food processor or blender, pour the turbanado sugar in and pulse it until you have the consistency of granulated sugar. You will have to remeasure it afterwards and you will probably have to add a couple of tablespoons to a quarter cup more since it will lose volume.
I LOVE a good ginger snap but I’m confused. In the description of the cookie, you note it has ginger and nutmeg but there is no nutmeg in the recipe. And there is cinnamon. Huh?
Oh that is a typo in the post, thank you! I don’t use nutmeg in my cookies, just cinnamon and ginger. The recipe is correct!
Perfect cookies! I have celiac so I substituted the flour for a gluten-free flour blend and they still worked perfectly. Just the right amount of spreading on the baking sheet, and exactly the flavor and texture I was hoping for. I’ll make these every Christmas I think!
I made them EXACTLY as the recipe was written. I placed the cookie batter in the refrigerator for 2 hours to make them easier and LESS STICKY to form into balls. I added a cream cheese mixture to the my final batch. These were absolutely delicious.
Thank you so much for the review and the pictures!! LOVE seeing them, and oh yum that cream cheese filling looks great!
The perfect ginger snap recipe! Not too spicy or hard. So easy and delicious. Thank you, Shelly!
So glad you liked them!!
Perfect.. I did half molasses and half honey. I doubled the ginger and also added clove. I did have to refrigerate due too sticky to work with. Came out delicious and just like the picture!
thanks for sharing your adaptations!!