Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Gingerbread + chocolate = bliss!
Texture: These cookies are perfectly chewy, gooey, and decadent with a slight crunch from the sugar coating.
Ease: There’s more prep work involved with this recipe – but it’s worth every second, promise!
Pros: My all-time favorite Christmas cookie. It isn’t December without these cookies.
Cons: No immediate gratification here unless you freeze the dough balls for baking off whenever the craving hits (which I definitely do).
Would I make this again? I’ve been making this recipe every Christmas for about a decade now!
This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.
Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies are the ultimate Christmas cookies!
They’re bursting with perfectly-spiced flavor, loaded with gooey chunks of chocolate, and are ultra soft and chewy throughout.
Plus, the sugar coating makes these cookies sparkly and crunchy and so beautifully Christmassy – perfect for gifting or any cookie exchanges.
Struggling with Flat or Dry Cookies?
My free guide shows you how to fix texture problems and bake cookies you’ll love.
Sadly I cannot claim this recipe’s genius as my own creation. I adapted it from Martha Stewart’s Cookies cookbook, one of the first baking cookbooks I ever owned! I first made and shared this recipe in 2009 and I’ve made it every holiday season since.
I hope you love these fabulous cookies as much as I do!
Sprinkle of Science
How to Make Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies
Tips for Soft, Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies
- Be sure to measure your flour correctly by weighing it with a digital scale. If you don’t have one, use the spoon and level method to avoid creating cakey, dense, or tough cookies that don’t spread.
- Measuring your dry ingredients accurately is one of the best ways to improve your baking.
- If you don’t measure your flour correctly, you could end up with crumbly dough and dry, hard cookies lacking in flavor.
No Eggs?
Yes, this is an egg-free recipe, so it’s perfect for friends or family members who can’t eat eggs!
The Best Baking Pans for Cookies
I always use an unlined aluminum half-sheet pan, like this one, for baking cookies. Additionally, I always use parchment paper for baking cookies. Never use dark-colored pans to bake cookies, as they tend to overly brown or even burn the bottoms of the cookies. Learn more about the best baking pans here.
What Can I Use Instead of Molasses?
If you cannot get molasses where you live, you can try substituting golden syrup, honey, or dark corn syrup, though the results will not be the same.
Do I Have to Use Fresh Ginger?
Yes! I promise it’s seriously worth the extra effort, and it gives these cookies the most incredible taste and aroma.
The Spices
Check your spices to ensure they’re not expired. Even if they’re not expired, check they’re still very aromatic. Older spices carry less flavor and fresh spices will carry much more flavor. So, just be aware of that and feel free to adjust accordingly.
The Chocolate Chunks
I recommend purchasing a bar of baking chocolate and chopping it up, for the most delicious, ooey-gooey chocolate chunks throughout the cookies. You can use prepackaged chocolate chunks if you prefer.
Do I Need to Chill Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookie Dough?
This Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies dough must be chilled for at least a couple of hours, but overnight is even better. Here’s why:
- Chilling cookie dough is very similar to marinating meat – things just get so much better!
- The texture becomes chewier and thicker and the flavor intensifies.
- If you don’t have time, no worries. You can bake the dough off as soon as it’s firm enough to portion out (about 2 hours), but note that your cookies may be a little thinner that the pictures here.
- Learn more about the magical things chilling cookie dough does here.
How to Store Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies
Store Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. The cookies are gooey when warm, but become more chewy as they cool.
Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies
Email This Recipe
Enter your email, and we’ll send it to your inbox.
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups (286 grams) all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup (22 grams) Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 stick (113 grams) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature (67°F — warm butter will make your cookies spread)
- 1 tablespoon peeled and grated fresh ginger
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) lightly packed dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (170 grams) unsulphured molasses
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 8 ounces (227 grams) semisweet chocolate chips, divided
For rolling:
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, salt, cloves, and nutmeg until combined.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and fresh ginger on medium speed until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the brown sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- Add the molasses and beat until combined. Then add the egg and vanilla, beating until very well combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl again.
- On low speed, gradually add the flour mixture. Stir in three-quarters of the chocolate chips (170 grams) until just combined. Dough will be sticky.
- Using a medium spring-loaded scoop, divide the dough into 1 1/2-tablespoon-sized scoops.
- Place sugar in a shallow dish and roll each scoop in the sugar. Gently form each scoop into circular balls before placing on baking sheets. Dot each scoop with a few chocolate chips.
- Bake for 10 minutes, or until the tops are set.
- Let cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before removing to cooling racks to cool completely. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Recipe Notes
The Ultimate Cookie Handbook
Learn the sweet SCIENCE of cookie baking in a fun, visual way to customize your own recipes frustration-free. Plus, my best 50+ homemade cookies!
This post was originally published in 2009 and has been updated with recipe improvements, additional baking tips, and a new video.
Reader Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies Photos
If you make any HTH recipe, post it to Instagram, tag me, and use the hashtag #handletheheat – I love to see your creations! Check out lovely HTH reader Alikane’s beautiful Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies:
Correction to me previous post – meant they get very hard upon cooling with all that SUGAR, not chocolate. Sorry.
These are awesome. I made them twice, first time they were perfect, but the second time I used a different brand of molasses, and “regular” chocolate chips. I also over baked them the 2nd time. SO – use quality molasses and great chocolate, and don’t over-bake, as they get very hard upon cooling with all that chocolate.
Nou – Black treacle should substitute fine for the molasses I think.
Hi Tessa
Thanks for all your great recipes.
You quite convinced me to try this one, but unfortunately I dont have molasses, nor do I know where to find it here in France. What do you think could be a good enough substitute ? Honey ? Maple syrup ? Thx in avance. Keep up the good work
So good! They turned out perfectly. I rolled them in cinnamon sugar instead of regular sugar because I just love cinnamon. Thanks for the recipe!
Those gingerbread cookies look to die for! They will definitely be on my list for next year!
I’ve got BAGS of pumpkin Hershey kisses. Would that work?
I don’t see why not!
I’ve never had chocolate and gingerbread together–I know, crazy, right? 🙂 Well, I almost died over the looks of these cookies so it’s probably happening tomorrow! Pinned!
Those gooey centers are calling my name!!!
Dying over the chocolate oozing out! I feel like i wanna face plant in there. I was never curious to try the gingerbread and chocolate combo, but girl you had me convinced! These look A-MAZING!
I love pairing seasonal flavors with chocolate and gingerbread is at the top of my list right now! So so good! These cookies look fantastic! Packed with chocolate! Pinning!
Tessa, your pictures are always amazing! And you’ve totally convinced me to try these. They look perfect!