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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.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe: It’s a classic you’ll return to every year!
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.
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!
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!
TOP TIER ginger snap recipe. These turned out better than any other recipe I’ve tried! 10/10 would recommend.
Enjoy on a cozy day with a glass of milk or a cup of coffee or tea.
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.
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.
- While I haven’t tried it, you can also experiment with crystallized ginger, but expect your cookies to be a little more sugary.
- 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.
Storage & Make ahead
Room Temperature: Store baked, cooled Gingersnaps in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 7 days.
Freezer:
- Baked Cookies: Store baked, cooled cookies in the freezer inside an airtight container for up to 1 month.
- Cookie Dough: 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. Under-baking will result in chewy, not crispy cookies.
- 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
Frequently Asked Questions
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!
Sure! Use a small 1 tablespoon-sized cookie scoop for small Gingersnap Cookies and reduce the bake time by a couple minutes.
Yes! Simply double all ingredients to yield about 56 medium-sized cookies. No other modifications needed.
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!
This post was originally published in 2020 and has been updated with additional baking tips. Photos by Ashley McLaughlin.
This is the BEST recipe my friends beg for me to make. I do triple the ginger!
I made these cookies according to the recipe but used 2 tsp of ginger. Next time I think I’d use 3 tsp. My preference is more ginger flavor. They are good.
I followed this recipe using my scale, all ingredients are new. These did not flatten out? Are the supposed to be quite poofy looking? They are not thin and snappy like the cookie I am looking for unless I did something wrong?
I wonder what it could be…mine flattened out perfectly. Maybe check the accuracy of your oven temp?
I’ve made these for 2 Christmases and are a family favorite. Though, they don’t turn out as pictured. Mine turn out thin and lacey. (My fam loves them this way)This year I noticed how soft the dough is. I’m not sure if that’s why my cookies turn out the way they do. Any suggestions?
My dough was soft so I put it the in the fridge overnight. The cookies baked beautifully.
I add a lot of candied ginger, and these have been a hit every single time I’ve made them!
Can you use margarine instead of butter
Never substitute margarine for butter in baking. Margarine has too much water in it.
I haven’t tasted one yet but the house smells wonderful and the cookies look just like your photograph 😍
It made 28 exactly as I used a 1.5 T measuring scoop
Thanks so much!
We love hearing that, yay! Hope you loved them 🙂
This is a delicious gingersnap cookie, and so easy to make! I got a request from one of my kids to make a batch of gingersnaps, and this recipe was perfect. Crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside! This recipe is a definite keeper!
I made these in hopes of a nice crispy cookie. These did not crisp at all. Mind you, they are delicious. I make another gingersnap cookie with fresh milled flour and oil which is delicious but literally falls apart when you pick it up (I’ve taken to eating them out of the freezer, oh YUM). So I was looking for something that would hold together. These definitely hold together but came out nice and chewy. I still see that as a win. Maybe it’s because its very wet and rainy here in the PNW right now. This recipe is going into my rotation with added fresh ginger and candied ginger as additions.
This recipe is incredible! Super easy & the best gingersnap recipe I’ve ever tried. It’s a keeper!
My wife’s favorite cookie is a gingersnap. I have been baking them for her for 45 years now, Although tweaked a bit, this is the best so far.
I cut the sugar some: 1/3 cup granulated and 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar. Then used maple syrup instead of molasses. Finally, used ground ginger per the recipe but added 1/4 cup minced crystalized ginger. Otherwise followed recipe and directions to the letter.
Crispy but with chewy centers for a week now. Best gingersnaps ever. Many thanks!
Absolutely delicious! Ive searched for the perfect recipe for Gingersnaps and this is it!!