This gingersnap cookie recipe creates the most flavorful, gingery, and snappy cookie! This classic gingersnap recipe has the exact texture and flavor of the ones we know and love. Not only are they delicious, but they also make for a great make-ahead dessert option. You can either bake them beforehand or store the frozen cookie dough in the freezer for later.
If you’re looking for a delicious cookie recipe this holiday season, try these gingersnaps! For more recipes, check out all of our favorite cookie recipes too!
A year-round favorite worldwide, gingersnap cookies are prevalent around the holidays. With spices that warm you up from the inside, these treats are perfect for dunking into hot chocolate or tea on chilly winter days.
Serve them with my Roly-Poly Santa Cookies or festive Gingerbread Spritz for a holiday cookie party. Also, check out our Chewy Ginger Cookies too! They’re made with ginger syrup and candied ginger.
Serve them with homemade eggnog or hot chocolate.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- They have been made hundreds of times by readers who enjoy these cookies. This recipe works and is easy to follow.
- These gingersnap cookies have the perfect chewy and snappy texture—a crispy buttery edge and slightly chewy center. Gingersnaps are traditionally hard cookies, which is good, but these are perfection.
- They are great year-round but are especially festive during Christmas. They’re one of our favorite Christmas cookies and would be perfect for gifting a cookie swap or a cookies and cocktails party.
Gingersnap Cookie Ingredients
Here is a list of all the ingredients you need to make these ginger cookies:
Unsalted Butter – Use high-quality, organic butter.
Granulated Sugar – Also known as white sugar, sweetens the cookies.
Light Brown Sugar – This sugar is rich in molasses and deeply flavors the cookies.
Egg – Organic, large eggs are always best when baking
Molasses – We use Grandma’s Molasses, which is light molasses, for this recipe. Grandma’s Molasses is made of uncultured sugarcane molasses and contains no preservatives, artificial flavors, or artificial colors. You can also use blackstrap molasses for a more profound, chewier cookie.
All-purpose Flour – We use all-purpose flour like King Arthur to make these cookies. Check out our guide to flour to learn how to measure flour when baking correctly.
Unsalted Butter – Use high-quality, organic butter when baking. Butter plays an essential role in the cookie structure. Fat and moisture can enhance the structure of gluten, which impacts the shape, spread, and texture of your cookies.
Baking Soda + Salt – Baking soda is used as a leavening agent for the cookies. Salt enhances all of the flavor ingredients.
Ground Ginger + Ground Cinnamon + Ground Cloves – Spices give this recipe a classic gingersnap cookie taste.
Pro Tip – Molasses is a unique sweetener. If you’re in a bind or need to switch it out, try one of these molasses substitutes. No matter what you use, the texture and flavor of the cookies will be different.
How To Store For Freshness
The best way to store delicious gingersnap cookies is to put them in an airtight container once extraordinary.
Put a little bread into the cookie tin or airtight container to remove excess moisture. This helps the cookies retain a just-baked crispiness.
If you’re giving these cookies as gifts, wrap them in parchment paper and put them in an airtight cookie tin.
How to Freeze Cookie Dough
You can save extra cookie dough or make this recipe ahead of time by freezing the cookie dough.
Freeze scoops of dough on a sheet pan before moving them to a Ziploc or freezer bag. The next time you get a craving, you’ll be good to go in 15 minutes of oven-time away from satisfying it.
How to Bake From Frozen Cookie Dough
To bake cookie dough that has been frozen, remove the dough from the freezer and let it sit until the dough is cold. Preheat the oven and bake as usual but at a lower temperature of 325°F / 160°C.
As the dough thaws, the surface may become slightly sticky. This is normal and helps the sugar stick to the outside of the cookie for added sweetness and crunch.
Tips for Making the Best Gingersnap Cookies
- Use room temperature ingredients.
- For a chewy cookie, bake for 10 minutes.
- For a crisper cookie, bake for longer, about 15 minutes.
- When your cookies aren’t as crisp as you’d like after storage, pop them back in the oven at 300 °F (148.89 °C). A few minutes of crisping on a wire rack should do the trick.
- Spice to your preference. Gingersnap lovers prefer a subtle level of spiciness. While others crave after a strong taste of ginger.
- Gluten-Free Gingersnaps: Most gingersnap recipes use all-purpose flour, but you can try a gluten-free flour blend instead. Gluten-free flours that work include nut and oat flour and coconut or garbanzo flour.
Frequently Asked Questions
The baked cookies should keep well for at least five days and up to a week, provided they’re stored properly. Frozen cookie dough will last for two or three months in the freezer. Ask about order
Gingersnap cookies are not the same as gingerbread. These cookies are buttery, chewy, and taste different. Gingerbread is dryer and has a different texture. However, gingerbread cookies are perfect for making cookie shapes.
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Gingersnap Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup butter, unsalted, room temp.
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 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
Instructions
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, using a paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars until light in color, creamy, and fluffy.
- Add in egg and molasses and mix on high speed.
- In another bowl sift together, flour, salt, baking soda, and spices.
- Turn the mixer to low and slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl.
- Cover the dough and chill until firm. 30 minutes to 1 hour or overnight.
- Roll 1″ balls in a bowl full of sugar.
- Place 12 cookies on a lined baking sheet.
- Bake in a 325-degree oven for 12-15 minutes until the edges are light brown.
- Let the cookies rest on a cooling rack.
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.