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.
If I replaced the ground ginger with fresh grated ginger, would the cookies still be crispy? I have a ginger plant and I’m trying to find recipes to use it in.
Feel free to add some fresh ginger in as well – or give these cookies using fresh ginger a try: Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies – they’re soooo good 😉
I love this Gingersnap recipe. I use it all the time and they taste amazing every time
Hi, made these last year for Christmas cookie boxes to ship across the country and they shipped wonderfully and everyone loved them! Wondering if you have any recommendations for making ahead and freezing (freezing baked vs unbaked dough etc) so I can make plenty
Hi Becky! So glad these cookies were such a hit for you! Either way works well for freezing these cookies. Check out Tessa’s tips for this at the bottom of the pink tip box (above the recipe) 🙂
Of all the recipes I’ve tried, this one is my favorite because I like them crispy.
I made your cookies today and they are amazing!! Thank you so much for the recipe!!
I made these yesterday and they turned out perfectly! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe.
I’ve been a home baker for more than 3 decades. These days, I’m helping a “kitchen challenged” friend learn some basic baking. She asked for us to make gingersnaps. I don’t make them often because the recipe I’ve had (think red checked, usually decent cookbook) just never did it for me and I couldn’t be bothered to find another or create my own.
I searched and came upon this article and recipe. First, it’s fantastic to have so much food chemistry and taste information included for newer bakers. Second, I like the idea of using granulated versus all brown sugar because of the moisture in brown sugar. Third, it’s an easy recipe for a newbie baker. Fourth, listing ingredients by both volume and weight is always helpful and gave me a chance to explain to her why weight for flour and sugars is almost always better.
And now on to the actual gingersnap. She had an easy time with my guidance, which allowed her to really do the work and “be a baker” herself. They came out beautifully, crackled and crispy, with a perfect ginger-molasses flavor. My friend was so happy and proud.
Small alterations: We added an extra 1/3 tsp or so of ginger and used a nut-milk based butter instead of dairy butter (mostly because that’s what I had leftover from baking with a vegetarian friend).
We are so happy to hear that you enjoyed all of Tessa’s tips and baking science information in the post, Caroline! And yay for your beginner-baker friend nailing these cookies with your guidance!! We hope you’ll try more of Tessa’s terrific recipes 🙂 Happy baking!
Made these today. I made the ginger 2 teaspoons and added 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper. Wish I could post picture, they cracked n r perfect. Thank you
Aloha! I made these today and they turned out delicious and crispy except the first batch. They turned out a bit chewy but still delicious! The rest all turned out crispy even though I ended up only baking them for 13 minutes. My oven is new so it bakes a bit hot. I did use 2 tsps. Of ground ginger as well as some fresh grated along with some cardamom. They came out crackly and perfect. Absolutely a keeper. Mahalo for the recipe
hi. just wondering why not black strap molasses for your ginger snap cookies?
thank you
Hi Tina! The extremely bitter flavor of blackstrap molasses will overpower the flavor of the spices, and you won’t taste much else, so that’s why we don’t recommend it. As Tessa mentioned in the pink tip box, above the recipe, “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.” I hope you enjoy these cookies 🙂
I made these for the first time today. I gave 4 stars because I needed to add 5 minutes to the cooking time and these are very mild in taste. Therefore I will add cayenne next time. I like mine to be a little spicy.
Hi Sooner! Glad to hear that you enjoyed these cookies! A couple quick tips:
– Your spices might be a little old. I recommend checking the age of your spices (expiration dates should be printed on the packaging). Spices lose their potency as they age, so purchasing newer spices (we recommend McCormick or another high-quality brand) for the best, most powerful flavor.
– As you needed to add 5 minutes to the bake time, I wonder if your oven might be running a little cool. Do you have an oven thermometer to check that? Check out Tessa’s article here about ovens, full of tips!! If you don’t have an oven thermometer to ensure your oven is at the temperature it says it is, invest in one now! They are inexpensive and really help your baking so much! This oven thermometer is one of Tessa’s favorites.
I hope this helps! Happy baking 🙂
hi! just made these..no cracking snd bs was fresh! weighed everything. made 35. taste is incredible!! i like the idea of cayenne!!!