A Recipe for Easy, Chewy Gingersnaps

This recipe for soft gingersnaps comes together easily and quickly. It’s an easy, chewy cookie flavored with molasses and perfectly spiced.

Gingersnaps are a fall cookie favorite, and for good reason. They’re perfectly spiced with a sugared outside that creates a lovely texture. The warmth of the flavor makes it the perfect cookie for fall or winter (especially served up with some pumpkin fluff dip), but they’re delicious enough to be enjoyed any time.

Gingersnaps fall into two categories– soft and chewy or crunchy. If you love soft, chewy gingersnaps, this recipe is perfection! These spiced cookies come together quickly and simply and are perfect for baking with kids. This is the recipe I grew up making, so there’s nothing but soft, chewy gingersnaps for me.

Bake them for 8 minutes, for soft, almost doughy cookies. They’ll be fully baked and safe to eat, but still have a soft bite and almost melt in your mouth. If you bake them for 10-12 minutes, they’ll still be chewy but the bottoms will be crispy with a slight snap.

Ingredients for Gingersnaps

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup (200 grams) white sugar
• 1 large egg — If possible, let the egg sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes to come to room temperature. This helps it mix into the rest of the ingredients more easily.
• 1/4 cup molasses — You can read up on the different kinds of molasses at this link. The short version is that I recommend using unsulphured dark or medium molasses. It is sometimes found with the maple and pancake syrup in your grocery store.
• 2 1/4 cups (315 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt — I recommend fine ground sea salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves — Ground cloves can have a very strong, spicy flavor, so you may want to start with 1/2 teaspoon if you aren’t a fan
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground, dried ginger — This is the kind you find in the dried herbs and spices section of your supermarket
• 1/2 cup white sugar — This is for rolling the balls of cookie dough in before baking

How to Make Chewy Gingersnaps

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Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Place the softened butter and sugar in a bowl. Cream them together for a couple of minutes, or until the mixture is light and fluffy.

Add the egg and molasses, and stir them into the creamed butter and sugar until they are completely mixed in.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, and spices.

Stir the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until well combined. The dough will be soft but not gooey.

Scoop the cookie dough into 1 tablespoon balls. I like this scoop from OXO for quick, easy, uniform cookies.

Place the extra 1/2 cup of sugar in a bowl. Roll each ball of cookie dough in the sugar until it’s completely covered on all sides. Place the balls on the parchment-lined baking sheet at least 2 inches apart.

Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes. At 8 minutes, they’ll be done but very soft and chewy, with a gooey center. If you give them a couple of extra minutes in the oven, the bottoms will be a bit crispier.

Remove the gingersnaps from the oven and let them cool and firm up on the baking tray for a couple of minutes. Remove them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Storing the Gingersnaps

These cookies have an amazing shelf life. If you store them in an airtight bag or container, they will stay soft and chewy for at least a week.

If you want to make them ahead of time, these gingersnaps freeze very well. Simply place the bag or container of cookies in the freezer, then remove them to thaw at room temperature a few hours before you wish to eat or serve them.

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