Tessa's Recipe Rundown
Taste: The perfect balance of sweetness and spice.
Texture: Thin and crispy, these cookies break in half cleanly and have a satisfying crunch.
Ease: Super simple 30-minute recipe. No chilling required.
Pros: The perfect easy, festive addition to any Christmas cookie box.
Cons: None.
Would I make this again? I make these cookies every holiday season!
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These Crispy Gingersnaps Cookies are the perfect classic, crispy gingersnap cookie.
Typically, I prefer a chewy cookie, but every once in a while, I crave that satisfying crunch and crispness of something sweet.
So, I tweaked my Chewy Gingersnap recipe (which is included in my cookbook – available on Amazon!) to make them thin and oh-so-satisfyingly crunchy.
These cookies are perfectly spice-forward, with that beautiful snap. Plus, they look so pretty next to beautifully iced Cut-Out Sugar Cookies and Christmas Brownies on your Christmas dessert table!
These cookies have become one of my most popular cookie recipes ever, with hundreds of wonderful reviews like this comment from reader El below:
Reader Love
My husband loved these cookies. He is a grumpy old man and doesn’t praise much of anything, so when he said, “These are the best cookies I have ever tasted!” I figured that was a super rubber stamp of approval. Great cookie!
–
Enjoy on a cozy day with a glass of milk or a cup of coffee or tea.
Sprinkle of Science
How to Make Thin & Crispy Gingersnaps
What are Gingersnaps?
Gingersnaps are just what they sound like: a cookie flavored with ginger, plus other spices that we’ll talk more about below. They are typically crunchy or have a brittle texture, thus the “snap”. The spiciness of the ginger and richness of the molasses pair perfectly with coffee, tea, hot cocoa, or mulled wine.
A year-round favorite all over the world, Gingersnaps are particularly popular to welcome in the fall and winter holiday seasons. Perfectly spiced, these cookies have the most beautiful cracked, sugary tops. I love these cookies in the fall, when the temperatures are slowly beginning to drop. They’re delicious with a glass of cold milk or even lemonade – and even better when used in place of graham crackers for over-the-top Gingersnap S’mores or to make ice cream sandwiches!
What Makes Cookies Crispy and Crackled?
- A heavy amount of baking soda interacts with the molasses in this recipe to encourage spread.
- This allows cracks in the dough to develop where moisture escapes, creating that beautiful crackled appearance and crunchy texture.
- Ensure your baking soda is fresh and active – learn how to test leavening agents for freshness here.
- There’s also much more granulated sugar than brown sugar in this recipe. White sugar encourages more spread and has less moisture to make for a crisper cookie.
- Lastly, a longer baking time ensures a crunchy texture all the way through the center of these cookies.
Why Roll the Dough in Sugar?
Rolling the cookie dough balls in sugar contributes to the overall texture of the cookies as well as the cracky tops. It helps to draw moisture out from the surface of the cookies while they bake, though the majority of the “crackliness” comes from the baking soda and molasses.
Feel free to skip this step if preferred, but your cookies won’t be quite as crisp and won’t look as pretty.
Measure Your Flour Correctly to Ensure Gingersnaps are Crispy!
- To avoid ending up with Gingersnaps that are thick, hard, or dense instead of perfectly crispy, make sure to measure your flour accurately with a digital kitchen scale.
- It’s so easy to accidentally add too much flour if you’re measuring by using cups.
- If you don’t have a scale, use the spoon and level method to measure.
- Just take a look at what a difference too much flour can make:
How to Make Flavorful Gingersnaps
- Make sure your spices, especially the ground ginger, are fresh and of high quality.
- If your spices no longer smell very aromatic, toss them and purchase new spices.
- The fresher the spice, the more flavorful it’ll be.
- While I haven’t tried it, you can also experiment with crystallized ginger, but expect your cookies to be a little more sugary.
- If you want more spice in your gingersnaps, add a tablespoon or two of freshly grated ginger.
- You can also add a pinch of cayenne pepper or a little black pepper.
- In addition to the spices, the molasses used is also important. More on this just below.
The Molasses
Make sure to use unsulphured molasses. Never use blackstrap molasses in baking, it’s extremely bitter. Brer Rabbit or Grandma’s in their ‘mild’ or ‘original’ flavors tend to work best.
Can I Make these Cookies Smaller?
Sure! Use a small 1 tablespoon-sized cookie scoop for small Gingersnap Cookies and reduce the bake time by a couple minutes.
Can I Double This Recipe?
Yes! Simply double all ingredients to yield about 56 medium-sized cookies. No other modifications needed.
Can I Use This Recipe to Make Gingerbread Men?
No – this recipe was written to be a simple drop-style cookie, so it won’t hold its shape well when rolled out and shaped using cookie cutters. Instead, try my Gingerbread Cookies Recipe!
How to Store Homemade Gingersnaps
Store baked, cooled Gingersnaps in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 7 days.
How to Freeze Gingersnap Cookies
Store baked, cooled Gingersnap Cookies in the freezer inside an airtight container for up to 1 month.
Alternatively, portion out the balls of cookie dough, roll in sugar, place them on a baking sheet, and freeze for 1 hour or until solid. Transfer to an airtight container and store in the freezer for up to 2 months. Bake cookies from frozen, reducing the temperature to 325°F and adding a couple minutes to the baking time. Learn more about freezing cookie dough here.
More Christmas Cookie Recipes:
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Ingredients
- 1 1/2 sticks (170 grams) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar, plus 1/2 cup (100 grams) for rolling
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) lightly packed light brown sugar
- 1/3 cup (113 grams) unsulphured molasses (NOT blackstrap)*
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 teaspoons baking soda**
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 1/4 cups (286 grams) all-purpose flour,
measured correctly
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment to beat the butter, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the molasses and egg and beat until combined. Add in the salt, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and flour, and beat until combined.
- Place the remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a shallow dish. Scoop the dough into 1 1/2 tablespoon balls and roll in the sugar before placing on the baking sheet, leaving plenty of room for spread. Bake for 15 minutes or until the cookies are spread and the surface looks crackled.
- Let cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 7 days.
Notes
This post was originally published in 2020 and has been updated with additional baking tips. Photos by Ashley McLaughlin.
When I made these the first time I weighed everything but didn’t understand the difference between soft enough butter and room temperature. My cookies were not spreading so after about eight minutes I mashed them down with a fork before continuing to bake them. They turned out chewy and delicious, maybe better than crispy.
For my second batch I added chocolate chunks—fabulous!
Sooooooo goooooood!!!!!!!
Good recipe. Very cronchy and spahcy. Next time I want to make them even more cronchy and spahcy. Thank you
This was the absolute best thing I have tasted in a very long time! 🙂 I would bake this on a regular basis!
So happy you love these cookies!
These are delicious! Mine didn’t spread as much as I thought they would, but they looked, smelled and tasted great! I’m making them for my husband when he gets home. I know he’ll be pleased!
Do you not chill the dough an hour prior to baking?
No need to! Chilling the dough will result in a bit thicker of a cookie as they won’t spread as much in the oven and may not turn out as crispy. Just depends on your preference
Awesome cookie! I made them exactly how you said and I used a scale which I will do from now on! I actually don’t like baking but unfortunately I love homemade things lol. Now to get them out of the house so I don’t eat them all!
So happy to hear how much you loved these cookies, Deb!
Hi
I just made these cookies and was hoping for thin and crispy but they are thicker and softer than expected. I weighted all ingredients but softened the butter in microwave. Would that make a difference? I also added homemade candied ginger. Tastes great anyway. Thanks
Update, once they cooled, they were crispy and so delicious. Yum. Thanks
So happy to hear they turned out great, thanks for letting us know!
Finally! I found the recipe I’ve been looking for-for years! These cookies are just like the super crispy ginger snaps Grammy Loraine made for her family. Thank you thank you. Can’t wait to send small boxes to all the grandkids.
Aw yay!! So happy to hear this 🙂
These Crispy Gingersnaps cookies seems so delicious and crunchy . my husband love cookies , will surprise him with this one . Thanks for ingredients and instructions with us .
I am SURE I must have done something wrong. They look delicious on your website, but mine came out like small muffins. They tasted delicious, but they were anything but thin and crispy. Maybe my butter wasn’t the right temperature? I tried making with Crisco instead and used less flour (1/4 less) but they still were not thin. Any suggestions? I will try again, but I don’t want to waste the ingredients. Thanks for your help.
Hi there! Sorry to hear of your issues, do you use a digital scale to measure your ingredients? It sounds to me like too much flour may have been added. To ensure thin gingersnaps, first make sure to not substitute any ingredients, and you want to make sure you use room temperature butter (around 67°F) as well as measure your ingredients, especially your flour, with a digital scale. Adding too much flour to a recipe can result in thicker cookies. If you don’t have a digital scale, follow the Spoon & Level Method in THIS ARTICLE. I hope that helps! Please let me know how it goes with your next attempt!
It’s was to liquidly needed more flour and not spicy enough they cooked up in 10 min so that was good
But over all disappointing
I will say directions were very clear
I will try other recipes in the future
We haven’t come across the issue of the cookie batter being too liquidy before, do you use a digital scale to measure your ingredients?