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.”
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
Disclaimer
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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
Dan says
These are amazing! i did 2 tsp of both ginger and cinnamon. So delicious!
Briana says
The texture is hands down the best ginger cookie I’ve ever had. Really a delicious cookie. My only suggestions would be to add more of the flavor, I feel like it’s just barely enough. I used 1.5 tsp of ginger (3x) and 2 tsp cinnamon (2x). I would also like a tad more molasses, though not enough to warrant messing up the texture, haha. I rolled mine in sugar too and I’m glad I did. Overall a super fantastic cookie, I just like my ginger cookies to really pack a punch 😉
Christi Johnstone says
So glad you enjoyed them. Many people are put off by too strong of a ginger flavor, thus why it’s more on the mild side, as that seems to fits most people’s tastes. But by all means, definitely increase if that suits your palate better!
Catherine says
hi was wondering can i use golden syrup instead of molasses??
Christi Johnstone says
I’ve never used golden syrup so I’m afraid I can’t speak to the results. That said, I’ve always thought it was a bit more like a corn syrup, and if that is the case I don’t think it would be an ideal replacement.
Angel says
The batter tastes nice… But isn’t batter for me. I followed all of the ingredients and instructions to precise measurements, did no substitutions at all, and somehow ended up with ginger flavored sand. Is there a wet ingredient missing? All of the reviews are just raving and positive, so I’m confused. Is it supposed to be like this?
Christi Johnstone says
I’m confused as well. I’ve made these dozens of times, and yes, as you can see they get rave reviews. I have no doubt this recipe is solid. If you somehow have the texture of sand, my best advice would be to double check the ingredients, I’m guessing there actually was an inadvertent mixed up measurement along the way. The only other thing I can think of is if you compacted your flour when measuring, which would result in too much flour. Did you measure your flour by spooning it into a measuring cup, then leveling it off?
Misty says
These are really good and very easy. I can really taste the salt, though. Is that normal?
Christi Johnstone says
I don’t ever recall tasting salt. If you are very sensitive to salt, you can reduce or leave it out.
Sienna Murphy says
Do I need an electric blender for these? Can I just use a whisk?
Christi Johnstone says
If you don’t have an electric mixer, you can stir by hand.
Diane says
These cookies are fabulous! They were super easy to make and very delicious! We absolutely love them
Christi Johnstone says
So glad you enjoyed them, they are a family favorite around here!
Maritza says
These turned oug AMAZING. I had to resist not esting the whole batch myself!. Soft, chewy, and the perfect mix of flavours and exactly what I crave for in the fall. Thank you for the recipe!
Christi Johnstone says
So glad you enjoyed them, they really are one of my all time favorite cookies!
Nicole says
I made these for my mother’s birthday and they turned out amazing!!!! I was shocked how perfect they turned out. These are such a great for my mom. Thank you so much!?
Glen Hudson says
Either I missed something or a wet ingredient is missing from the recipe, because I followed it exactly, with these variations: (1) gluten-free all purpose flour, because of my thyroid issue, (2) granulated stevia in place of sugar, and (3) extra ginger and cinnamon. as specified. The dough was dry and difficult to mix, but I did mix it thoroughly — I had an urge to add some water or other liquid, but stuck with the recipe. The balls formed nicely and after baking 12 minutes at 350°, they were still balls — no flattening or spreading out at all. So I had 24 well-formed, slightly cracked but well baked balls, not flat cookies! They taste good, as expected, but they’re very dry and almost chalky in texture. Can you tell me what must have happened? To my mind, only one large egg, 1/4 cup blackstrap molasses, and what little moisture there can be in 3/4 cup softened butter are hardly enough to moisturize 2 and 1/2 cups flour and the sugar (stevia), salt and spices. Believe me, I really wanted these cookies to be exactly as you and the 5-star reviews here have described. Was it because I used blackstrap instead of regular molasses, or the gluten-free flour, or the granulated stevia? Your reply will be very welcome, because I would like to make the recipe again and have it turn out as deliciously and perfectly as you and the other reviewers describe. Thank you!
Christi Johnstone says
Glen, thank you for your comment. So a number of things.
First, you basically did not make my recipe, you made a gluten and sugar free cookie based off of my recipe. This recipe was neither written nor tested to be made with those substitutions so there really is no knowing what result you will get.
As you can see from the great reviews, when made as written, this recipe makes an incredible cookie. But when you start replacing the fundamental ingredients, especially multiple fundamental ingredients, it’s kind of an all bets are off situation. You are now creating your own recipe more than making the one I shared here if that makes sense. Honestly I would not expect a gluten and sugar free version of this cookie to be equal to the original version. That would go for any cookie, really.
Second, while I do not bake with flour substitutes and really have no idea how they react, it sounds as though you have too much of whatever you used in place of flour. Are you measuring by giving it a stir, spooning it into the measuring cup and leveling, or are you measuring by scooping? Scooping will always results in too much as it compacts.
Wish I could be more help, however when I create, test and share recipes, I can only vouch for the results when made as I have shared them. My best advice is that if you want a sugar free and gluten free gingerbread cookie is to maybe look for a recipe that was actually tested and written that way. I’m not sure if she has one, but for those looking for such recipes, I typically recommend https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/. Good luck.