Gingersnap Cookies
on Dec 17, 2021, Updated Jun 28, 2024
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Looking for the perfect gingersnaps cookie recipe? Look no further! This recipes yields thin and crispy gingersnap cookies that border on the edge of spicy (in a good way!) and are packed with ginger flavor. These are just like your favorite store bought gingersnaps, but better.
Gingersnap cookies are nostalgic and one of my favorites. I wanted to make a gingersnap cookies that was perfectly crisp (without being crumbly), thin, and packed with so much ginger and spices that it boarders on spicy. After many batches we’ve landed on the perfect cookie. This is one of those recipes that you’ll make again and again during the holiday season and every gingersnap lover in your life will ask for the recipe.
Today I’m working with Bob’s Red Mill on my annual holiday post for them and I’m so glad to be bringing you this recipe using their products. I use Bob’s Red Mill flours exclusively in my home (and developed a whole sourdough cookbook with their flour!). It’s a brand I use, trust, and love to support.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- You brown the butter! It adds tons of flavor.
- You add the spices to the hot butter which makes them taste amazing with a deeper, stronger, and more pleasant taste.
- When the cookies come out of the oven, you flatten them with the bottom of a glass. This does something magical to the texture.
Recipe Ingredients
- Flour – I use Bob’s Red Mill all-purpose flour because it is a high quality flour with wheat is grown in Oregon and Washington.
- Butter – We brown the butter on the stove top! This steps helps to ensure that the cookies get crisp by removing some of the water from the butter and it adds a deep flavor to the cookies.
- Spices – Ginger, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, salt
- Eggs – You will need one egg plus the yolk from another egg
- Sugar – You will need brown sugar in the mix and granulated sugar for rolling the cookies in
- Molasses – This helps to add depth of flavor to the cookies and helps make them that classic deep golden brown color.
- Baking soda
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities
How to Make Ginger Snap Cookies
Step 1. Brown the butter, mix in the spices, then add the brown sugar, molasses, egg, and egg yolk. Combine with flour, baking soda, and salt. Chill the dough for 30 minutes.
Step 2. Preheat oven to 300°F and line baking sheets. Place granulated sugar in a small bowl.
Step 3. Roll dough into balls, coat in sugar, and place on baking sheets. Bake for 20 minutes.
Step 4. Press cookies flat with a glass, cool for 5 minutes on the sheet, then transfer to a rack. Store in an airtight container.
Recipe FAQs
Gingersnaps are thin, crispy, and very prominent in ginger flavor. Gingerbread cookies tend to be a soft cookie that are sweeter and have a more balanced flavor between the ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. You can find my amazing soft gingerbread cookie recipe here.
These cookies have been around for hundreds of years. They originated in Germany and they called the cookie “schnappen”. This is the word for a snap of the fingers, referring to the snapping sound. They are called gingersnaps because they are so crisp they make a snapping sound when broken and are full of ginger.
I didn’t try it myself but I have great luck using Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1to1 Baking Flour in recipes and I think because these cookies are crisp, they would work great with that flour.
Here are several reasons why your ginger snap cookies might have turned out hard:
Overbaking: Cookies can become hard if they are baked for too long. Make sure to bake these cookies for 20 minutes at 300 degrees F.
Too little moisture: If you didn’t add enough liquid to the dough, the cookies can become dry and hard. Make sure to measure your ingredients carefully and follow the recipe instructions.
Too much flour: If you add too much flour to the dough, it can make the cookies dry and hard. Make sure to measure your flour carefully.
Not enough fat: Fat, such as butter, helps to keep cookies moist and tender. If you didn’t use enough butter the cookies can become dry and hard.
To avoid making hard ginger snap cookies, make sure to measure your ingredients carefully, follow the recipe instructions, and keep a close eye on your cookies in the oven.
Expert Tips
- Make sure your spices, such as ginger, cinnamon, and cloves, are fresh and not expired. This will ensure that your cookies have the best flavor possible.
- After you’ve mixed the dough, chill it for at least 30 minutes before rolling it into balls. This will make the dough easier to handle and will prevent the cookies from spreading too much in the oven.
- Rolling the dough balls in granulated or white sugar before baking will give the cookies a crunchy exterior and a slightly caramelized flavor.
- Gingersnap cookies should be slightly crispy on the outside but chewy on the inside. Don’t leave them in the oven for too long or they will become too dry and hard.
- Lining your baking sheet with parchment paper or a baking mat will prevent the cookies from sticking and will make clean-up a breeze.
How to Serve and Store Gingersnap Cookies
Serve the cookies warm or at room temperature. They pair well with a glass of milk, a cup of tea, or coffee. For an extra treat, sandwich two cookies with a scoop of ice cream or spread of frosting. You can arrange these cookies on a holiday table or in a gift box with an assortment of cookies such as white chocolate gingerbread blondies, rice crispy treats, old fashioned molasses cookies, and Christmas sugar cookies.
To keep your gingersnap cookies fresh, once you have allowed them to cool completely, store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. You can also freeze them for up to 3 months if you want to make them in advance.
More Cookie Recipes to Consider
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Thin and Crispy Gingersnap Cookies
Ingredients
- 12 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk
- 2 1/2 cups Bob’s Red Mill all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar for rolling
Instructions
- In a medium sauce pan, add the butter and melt it over medium heat. When the butter is melted and starts to foam, stir it often. Let it cook 2-4 minutes while stirring until it turns a nutty brown color. Don’t walk away from it as it can burn.
- Pour the browned butter into a large mixing bowl.
- Add the ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and pepper, and stir to combine. Let the mixture cool slightly, about 2 minutes.
- Add the brown sugar to the butter mixture and stir to combine.
- Add the molasses, egg, and egg yolk to the butter mixture and stir to combine well.
- Add the flour, baking soda, and salt to the butter mixture and stir to combine well. I’ll use my hands to almost “knead” the dough a little at the end if it gets too thick to stir. Make sure it’s fully combined.
- Cover the bowl tightly and chill the dough for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or a baking mat.
- Place the reserved granulated sugar in a small bowl.
- Roll one heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball in your hands (it should be about the size of a large shooter marble, so not huge) and then roll the dough into the sugar to coat the outside.
- Place the dough balls on the baking sheet 2 inches apart, roughly 12-15 per baking sheet.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and use the bottom of a glass drinking cup to press the cookies flat. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.
- Repeat with remaining dough.
- The cookies will finish crisping up as they cool.
- Store leftover fully cooled cookies in an airtight container.
Notes
- Don’t skip browning the butter. It helps to remove some of the water from the butter which lends to a crispier cookie.
- Flattening the cookies when they come out of the oven does something magical to the texture.
- I do think these cookies would lend well to gluten free baking and though I haven’t tired it, I think that the Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-t0-1 Baking Flour would work well in this recipe.
- Lining your baking sheet with parchment paper or a baking mat will prevent the cookies from sticking and will make clean-up a breeze.
This recipe works great using 1-1 Gluten Free Flour. I was challenged by a friend who eats GF, it took a total of 3 different recipes and your’s won. I did tweak it slightly by adding the same amount of fresh Ginger as the Dry Ginger as well as 1/2tsp of pepper more than you stated. Thanks again,
Gary Gunnell
Can you substitute shortening for the butter? I need a non-dairy version
Yep should work great!
Although nothing “ magical” happened after flattening my cookies when they came out of the oven… the recipe still worked fine !
I really wasn’t expecting these to be so perfect. Every bit as good… or better than Archway ginger snaps, which I usually buy . I needed this type or cookie for a rum ball recipe. Thanks ! Gary D.
Can you suggest a perfect ‘drizzle’ to spruce up the tops of these for gift giving? While I love then as is( I’ve loved gingersnaps since I was a child, the spicier the better!), but think they might benefit by a little decor for taking to a gathering, or presenting…also, would more ginger, or more pepper( or both) make them even spicier? Thanks for any help, AND for the excellent recipe!
If you want your spice at the next level, I’d add a tablespoon or two of FRESH super finely grated ginger, fresh ginger had such a great zing and a few recipes I looked at in my research used it! Maybe consider using the glaze from my old fashioned iced oatmeal cookies for the top! Here’s that recipe: https://www.blessthismessplease.com/old-fashioned-iced-oatmeal-cookies/