These soft Gingerbread Cookies get more compliments than any other cookie recipes I have ever made. Even people who say they don’t like gingersnaps end up loving these easy homemade cookies!
No exaggerating, every time I make these gingerbread cookies, people go crazy for them. The responses are always the same. “These are the best ginger cookies I’ve ever had.” “I didn’t even know I liked gingersnap cookies until now.” “You have to give me this gingerbread cookie recipe.”
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Hands down, these are the best gingerbread cookies that I, and most of my friends and family, have ever tasted. Truth be told I’ve never been a big fan of gingerbread. My feelings on gingerbread and ginger cookies have always been lukewarm at best.
Often in the past ginger bread cookies didn’t even make it on to my Christmas cookies list. These easy gingerbread cookies totally changed that. This past year at our Christmas gathering, my friends and family inhaled them so fast that I made a second batch Christmas night.
If you are wondering how to make soft gingerbread cookies or looking for the best gingerbread cookie recipe, I’ve got you covered.
Gingerbread Cookies
Everyone seems divided on what to call these. Are they ginger cookies, gingersnaps or gingerbread cookies? Maybe they are molasses cookies or ginger molasses cookies! Clearly they aren’t gingerbread man cookies, but is there a hard fast rule on ginger cookie names? To me a gingersnap should have, well, some snap.
Given that these ginger cookies easy to make, and are soft and chewy gingerbread, I call them easy gingerbread cookies. Call them whatever you like, just make them. Trust me, you won’t regret it!
How To Make Gingerbread Cookies
The only thing that might be better than the taste of these cookies is how easy they are to make. There is nothing complicated about this gingerbread cookie recipe. They are quite similar to making snickerdoodles actually.
Chilling the dough isn’t even required for these, so as a result you can whip these cookies up in no time. If you need a great cookie for a cookie exchange or Christmas party but are short on time, I would certainly recommend these.
Ingredients At A Glance (printable recipe at bottom):
- Butter
- Sugar
- Egg
- Molasses
- Flour
- Baking Soda
- Salt
- Cinnamon and Ginger
Directions At A Glance:
- Combine the wet ingredients, then combine the dry ingredients, then mix together.
- Scoop dough into balls and place on baking sheet.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes.
Molasses Cookies
Molasses is not something I use often. These molasses cookies and my gingerbread bars are probably the only recipes I use it in. Growing up my Dad would put molasses on all the things. He’d use it on pancakes, in oatmeal, anything was fair game. Between you and me, for that reason it kind of always turned my stomach a bit.
If you think about it, molasses looks a lot like tar. That is probably why I steered clear of gingerbread recipes for a long time. However this gingerbread cookie recipe has helped me get over my molasses phobia. So if you are thinking I don’t like molasses, don’t worry, I don’t either. But I sure do love these ginger molasses cookies! Now let’s get baking!
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Want more delicious holiday and Christmas Cookie recipes? I have some great recommendations for you below the recipe card. Don’t miss them. And if you like this recipe, sign up to get my free Favorite Cookies e-Cookbook!
Gingerbread Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter (softened)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup molasses (unsulphured )
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon (if you like a strong cinnamon flavor, increase to 2 tsp total )
- ½ tsp dried ground ginger (if you like a strong ginger flavor, increase to 1-2 tsp total)
- Optional: granulated sugar to roll cookie dough balls in
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- First, mix together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, approximately 2-3 minutes with an electric mixer.
- Next, add egg and molasses and mix well.
- In a separate bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger, stirring to combine.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until well combined.
- Form or scoop balls of dough that are slightly smaller than a golf ball. If desired, roll dough balls in granulated sugar after forming. Place them on a baking sheet approximately 2” to 3” apart to allow room for cookies to spread.
- Finally, bake for 10-12 minutes, remove from oven and allow cookies to cool on baking for approximately ten minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Video
Nutrition
The nutrition facts provided are calculated using a third-party tool and are estimates only. Actual nutritional content may vary based on the ingredients and brands you use, as well as portion sizes. For accurate results, please consult a registered dietitian or nutritionist.
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If you are looking for Gingerbread Man Cookies, I’ve got those for you as well!
I hope you and your family enjoy these delicious soft gingerbread cookies as much as my family does! Also check out all the cookie recipes and Christmas cookie recipes here on Love From The Oven!
Looking for more delicious gingerbread recipes? These are certainly some of my favorites!
- Fun Gingerbread Snowballs by Crazy For Crust
- Breakfast ready Gingerbread pancakes by Love From The Oven
- Easy Gingerbread Fudge by Spend With Pennies
- Slow Cooker Gingerbread Latte by The Cookie Rookie
- Crunchy Gingerbread Biscotti by She Wears Many Hats
- Gingerbread Loaf Cake by Crunchy, Creamy, Sweet
- Party ready Gingerbread Martini from Nutmeg Nanny
Now grab that ginger, run to the store for some molasses, and get baking!
Originally published September 2018
Meet Christi, Love From The Oven
I’m Christi I love sharing easy & delicious recipes that your family & friends will love. I’m a mom, baker, cookbook author and lover of sprinkles.
What are molasses? Can I submit molasses with anything else?
Thank you
Helen…
Can’t wait to try these! In the UK these are gingersnaps…https://images.ecosia.org/sUDz7wn5PG4K-jmyrFNPnoJyHes=/0x390/smart/http%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F-oNW2e2QgFSo%2FTWp1Z-8pxjI%2FAAAAAAAAALA%2Ff9vNfjW5sUw%2Fs1600%2FHPIM0444.JPG
These were delicious! AND I took them to work and got the exact same feedback you said I’d get! My only question is why didn’t mine look like yours? Mine never flattened out and didn’t not spread. They stayed in ball shape pretty much. I’m pretty sure I follow the recipe exactly…do you flatten them when they are warm or something?
Tammy, so glad that you enjoyed them. They really have become one of my favorite cookies! For the not spreading, how did you measure your flour? Did you use a spoon to spoon it into your measuring cup or did you scoop the flour with the measuring cup? Usually when they don’t spread at all it’s because there is too much flour in them. I always make sure to stir up my flour well before measuring, and then gently spoon it into my measuring cups to avoid compacting it at all. Could that have been it?
Double the ginger, next time I’ll add chopped candied ginger. The cookie is really good.
Can I substitute honey for molasses & wheat flour for white?
Hi Renaie, I haven’t tried so I can’t speak to what the results will be.
can you use this recipe to make the traditional cut out gingerbread cookie?
Eileen, I’m thinking these would be too soft. I am doing a cut out gingerbread cookie in the coming week though, so it will be on the blog soon!
Hei, I’d like to make these. However, I do not have molasses. Can I replace it with brown sugar?
Hi Claudia, I haven’t tried it but I think you would probably be okay.
I am excited and nervous all at the same time to try this! Quick question…I was wanting to make actual gingerbread men. Could I use this recipe and use cookie cutters? Should I refrigerate first so the dough can hold it’s shape better? Or should I use a completely different recipe if I am wanting to use a cookie cutter instead of just dropping dough on the cookie sheet? Thanks!
Hi Hattie, I haven’t tried this with cookie cutters, but my instinct is that’s a different recipe. I do plan to have one of those up in the next week or two!
these look beautiful – I was wanting to mail them to my daughter she wouldnt get them for about 4 days – are they a cookie that goes stale quickly? thank you so much and I just love your blog – great job!
Nancy, one thing you could do is put a slice or two of plain old white sandwich bread in with them, and make sure they are wrapped tightly. The bread can go along way in helping to keep them soft.
You can also pack with plain popcorn. My mother would send cookies to my brother when he was in Vietnam. Not only where the cookies a big hit but also the popcorn.
Do you not roll these in sugar before baking like a snikerdoodle? In your pictures I see pretty sugar dusting the cookies but it’s not in the instructions? 🙂 This look wonderful and I plan on making them for Xmas
Hi Josie (that was my grandmother’s name, love it!) sometimes I do, sometimes I do not. Honestly depends on the amount of time I’ve got. You can certainly roll them in sugar, but they are delicious just the same if you don’t. 🙂