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These gingersnap cookies are crisp on the edges, chewy in the middle and full of warm ginger and molasses flavor. This is one of those recipes I’ve made more times than I can count, and the best part is you can make them chewy or crispy just by changing the bake time. I make a big batch every December for cookie platters, and they never last long!
If you love ginger cookies, you have to try my chewy ginger cookies and my gingerbread cookies, too. And for even more holiday baking, here are all of my favorite Christmas cookies!
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What Makes These Gingersnap Cookies So Good
- I’ve been baking these for years, and they’re always one of the first cookies to go at holiday parties.
- They’re crisp on the edges and chewy in the middle, or you can bake them a little longer for a real snap.
- They’re made with simple pantry ingredients like butter, brown sugar, molasses and warm spices.
- Rolling the dough in sugar gives them that sparkly, crackly top.
- The dough can be made ahead and frozen, so you can bake fresh cookies anytime.
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“Great recipe. I chilled the dough overnight and baked the next day. Dough was easier to work with. My friends that love gingersnaps love this recipe.”
— Jan, Sugar and Charm reader
Gingersnap Cookie Ingredients
Butter: Use unsalted butter at room temperature so it creams up light and fluffy.
Granulated Sugar and Brown Sugar: Using both gives you crisp edges and a chewy middle. I use dark brown sugar for a deeper molasses flavor.
Egg: Use a room-temperature egg so it mixes in smoothly.
Molasses: I use Grandma’s Original Molasses. I don’t recommend blackstrap molasses for this recipe because it’s much stronger and more bitter.
Flour: All-purpose flour works perfectly. I like King Arthur.
Baking Soda: This helps the cookies spread and get those pretty cracks on top.
Spices: Ground ginger, cinnamon and cloves give these cookies their warm, cozy flavor.
Sugar for Rolling: Rolling the dough balls in granulated sugar gives the cookies a sweet, sparkly outside. You can use coarse sugar for extra sparkle.
How to Make Gingersnap Cookies
- Cream the butter and sugars. Beat the butter and both sugars for 3 to 5 minutes, until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg and molasses. Mix until smooth.
- Add the dry ingredients. Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt and spices in a separate bowl, then mix them in on low until a soft dough forms.
- Chill. Cover and chill the dough for 30 minutes to 1 hour, or overnight.
- Roll in sugar. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls, roll them in sugar and place 12 on a lined baking sheet.
- Bake. Bake at 350°F for 10 minutes for chewy cookies or 12 to 14 minutes for crispy ones.
- Cool. Let them sit on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then move them to a wire rack.
Watch me make them in the video below, and you’ll find all of the ingredient amounts in the recipe card.
Eden’s Tips For Gingersnap Cookies
I’ve been baking and developing recipes for Sugar and Charm for over 16 years (and I have a degree in Home Economics!), and these are my best tips for perfect gingersnap cookies.
Use room temperature butter and egg. They mix together so much more easily, and the cookies bake up evenly.
Don’t skip the chill. Chilled dough is easier to roll, spreads less and gives you those crackly tops. Jan chilled hers overnight, and that works great too!
Roll them generously in sugar. The more sugar on the outside, the prettier the cracks.
Watch them closely. A minute or two makes a big difference between chewy and crispy, so keep an eye on them toward the end.
Adjust the spices. If you like a little more kick, add a bit more ginger. If you love cozy spice, add more cinnamon.
Make them gluten-free. King Arthur’s gluten-free 1:1 flour works in place of the all-purpose flour.
How to Store and Freeze Gingersnap Cookies
Store: Keep gingersnap cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 5 to 7 days. They make a sweet gift in a cookie tin, too!
Keep them crisp: If you love them crispy, store them on their own, away from soft cookies, so they don’t soften. Skip the slice of bread trick for these, because bread keeps cookies soft. If they lose their snap, warm them in a 300°F oven for about 3 minutes, and they’ll crisp right back up as they cool.
Freeze the dough: Roll the dough into balls, freeze them on a baking sheet, then move them to a freezer bag for up to 3 months. Bake them straight from the freezer and add a minute or two to the bake time.
Freeze baked cookies: Let them cool completely, then store them in a freezer bag or container for up to 3 months. Let them thaw at room temperature.
What to Serve with Gingersnap Cookies
Gingersnaps are perfect with a mug of homemade hot chocolate, peppermint hot chocolate or pink hot chocolate, and they’re so good with a glass of homemade eggnog.
For a holiday cookie platter, I love them next to snowball cookies, jam thumbprint cookies, spritz cookies and Christmas sugar cookies. They’re also a fun treat at a gingerbread house party with mini gingerbread houses!
Gingersnap Cookies FAQs
They all have molasses and warm spices, but they’re different cookies. Gingersnaps are rolled in sugar and have crisp edges and crackly tops. Gingerbread cookies are a firmer dough that you roll out and cut into shapes, like gingerbread men. Molasses cookies are usually soft all the way through, like my chewy ginger cookies.
Yes! Chilling makes the dough easier to roll, helps the cookies hold their shape and gives you those pretty cracks on top. You can even chill it overnight.
I use Grandma’s Original Molasses for that classic gingersnap flavor. I don’t recommend blackstrap because it’s much stronger and more bitter.
Dark corn syrup, maple syrup or honey can work in a pinch, but the cookies won’t have quite the same flavor or color. Here are more substitutes for molasses.
No cracks usually means the dough was too warm or the dough balls didn’t get enough sugar. Chill the dough until it’s firm, roll each ball generously in sugar, and make sure your baking soda isn’t old.
Warm dough and warm baking sheets make cookies spread. Chill the dough, let your baking sheets cool between batches and line them with parchment paper.
They baked a little too long. Next time, take them out as soon as the edges are set if you want them chewy.
Christmas Cookie Recipes
Holidays
Christmas Sugar Cookies
Cookies & Brownies
Easy Jam Thumbprint Cookies (6 Ingredients)
Holidays
Christmas Wreath Cookies
You can find all of my favorite cookie recipes here, including my soft and chewy snickerdoodles, classic peanut butter cookies, peanut butter blossoms, chocolate chip cookies without butter and roly-poly Santa cookies!
If you make these gingersnap cookies, please leave a 5-star rating and a comment below. I love hearing from you, and it helps other people find the recipe!
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Gingersnap Cookies
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup butter, unsalted, room temp.
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1 large egg
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar, for rolling
Instructions
- In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat 3/4 cup butter, 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Add 1 egg and 1/4 cup molasses and mix until combined. Scrape down the bowl.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together 2 cups flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt, 2 tsp ginger, 1 tsp cinnamon and 1/4 tsp cloves.
- With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients until just combined.
- Cover and chill the dough until firm, 30 minutes to 1 hour, or overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and roll each one in granulated sugar. Place 12 on each baking sheet, about 2 inches apart.
- Bake 10 minutes for chewy cookies or 12 to 14 minutes for crispy cookies, until the edges are set and the tops are crackly.
- Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then move to a wire rack to cool completely.
Video
Notes
- For chewier cookies: Start checking them at 10 minutes. The edges should be set with a little softness left in the center.
- For crisp gingersnaps: Bake 12 to 14 minutes and let them cool completely. They’ll keep crisping up as they cool.
- Molasses: I use Grandma’s Original Molasses for that classic gingersnap flavor. I don’t recommend blackstrap molasses for this recipe because it’s much stronger and more bitter.
- Make ahead: Cover the dough and refrigerate it overnight. When you’re ready to bake, roll the dough into balls, coat them in sugar and bake as directed. You can also freeze the dough balls for up to 3 months and bake them from frozen, adding 1 to 2 minutes.
- Storage: Let the cookies cool completely, then store them in an airtight container at room temperature for 5 to 7 days.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Best Ginger Snap recipe ever! I followed the recipe exactly as it is listed and they came out perfect! Thank you for sharing your recipe with me!
Cheryl
Absolutely perfect recipe. I had to substitute brown sugar for molasses as I didn’t have any at home but they turned out amazing. I definitely ended up with more then 24 cookie, closer to 40 but I’m not complaining.
That is great to hear Bree! Thanks for leaving a nice review and so happy you loved them!
I was looking for a cookie with a little bit of “attitude” to liven up the book club dessert table and this recipe fit the bill. I made one minor change by adding a cup of chopped crystallized ginger at the end. (I cut back a little on the sugar because the crystallized ginger was coated in sugar) I baked them a little longer so the edges would be crispy to hold up to dunking in coffee or milk because you just have to dunk your ginger snaps. The crystallized ginger added a bit of chewy bite to an otherwise well spiced cookie. This recipe is a keeper. Thank you. I noticed when I was adding it to my recipe box that the step of adding the dry ingredients to the wet mixture is missing. I automatically did it without thinking but you might want to fix it.
Wow! These are excellent. Crispy and flavorful! the knucklehead that said they tasted like salt must have rolled them in salt instead of sugar. Can’t wait to try more recipes from sugarandcharm!
Is it OK to use blackstrap molasses or will the flavor be way too strong? I can’t find light or dark in my country…
It should work but yes the flavor will be stronger and the color will be different to!
my sister would bake a lot for my grandparents. they would make special requests and would pay her for the baked goods. the last request my grandma made was ginger snap cookies but she passed away yesterday. he asked us to make ginger snap cookies so that it will make him think of my grandma because of how much he loved her! thank you so much for this recipe!
Oh Abby! I am so sorry about your grandma, sending your family love! I’m glad you loved the cookies 🙂
Great recipe. I chilled the dough overnight and baked the next day. Dough was easier to work with. My friends that love gingersnaps love this recipe.
Really good recipe, made just under 4 dozen
Excellent cookie recipe!
What type of molasses light, dark or black
we use Grandma’s Molasses for these.