Soft Gingersnap Cookies are the best kind of ginger cookie! Made with butter, powdered ginger and molasses; this simple cookie will be your family favorite year after year!
I love this recipe for Soft Gingersnaps because it can be made three different ways, depending on how you like your ginger cookies topped! The first option is to top the cookie with granulated sugar. This is often the easiest version of this cookie, because everyone has good old granulated sugar in their pantry!
Raw, or Turbinado sugar is the second option for topping this Soft Gingersnap. What is Raw Sugar? I like the light brown appearance of this type of sugar. It has a hint of caramel flavor and is a fun way to make the top of your ginger cookies sparkle in a natural way! Turbinado sugar is sold in the grocery store near the granulated sugar.
Brown sugar is not a substitute for raw sugar, although both have a light brown color! Sometimes, you can find Turbinado sugar in the natural food section of grocery stores.
The last option is to use powdered or Confectioner’s sugar to top this cookie. If you use powdered sugar, the cookie will have an white appearance on top and as it bakes will crackle. If you like the look of a white cookie, try this option!
Soft Gingersnaps are perfect for make ahead! I think ginger cookies taste better after they sit for a while, and this cookie is no exception. I love to make the dough ahead and refrigerate or freeze the dough for easy baking later.
For best results, scoop the dough and place into a ziplock bag. I can usually fit 9-12 balls of dough into a gallon size bag. Seal and freeze until ready to use. When ready to bake, let dough thaw for about an hour before baking.
You can also go ahead and bake the cookies and freeze after baking. Let the cookie cool completely, then freeze. When you’re ready to serve, let thaw on counter top for a couple of hours. The key to success in baking a cookie and freezing is to under bake. Follow baking instructions carefully for perfect results!
Soft Gingersnap Cookies
Soft Gingersnap Cookies are a long time favorite for their soft chewy texture! We love this ginger cookie made with butter and molasses.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter softened
- 2 cups white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup molasses light or dark
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 4 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon ginger powdered
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- granulated, raw or powdered sugar for coating
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
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In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar. Add eggs and molasses, mix until smooth.
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Add flour, soda, salt, ginger and cinnamon. Mix just until wet and dry ingredients are incorporated.
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Form dough into balls ( I used a 1-inch cookie scoop) and roll each ball of dough in granulated. raw or powdered sugar.
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Bake on ungreased baking sheet for 8 minutes or until set. Do not over bake.
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Cookies will be puffy when removed from oven, but will flatten as they cool. Tops will look cracked. Makes about 4-5 dozen, depending on size of scoop.
Recipe Notes
-You may make the dough and store in refrigerator up to one week until ready to bake, or freeze dough after shaping into balls.
-When freezing cookies after baking, let cool completely. Lay cookies flat on a jelly roll pan or large container. Place cookies in single layers in pan, separate with wax or parchment paper.
-Modifications for making in Spain (or other high humidity, low altitude area):
1 egg, 1 yolk
1-2 tablespoons less molasses
2 tablespoons added flour
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My fave cookie recipe of yours, hands down. People beg me for the recipe every time I take them somewhere. 🙂
Misty, This is a different recipe than the one you are thinking of! Are you talking about the Giant Ginger cookies? Here is the link, https://abountifulkitchen.com/2008/10/giant-ginger-cookies.html Try these out and let me know which you like better…
So weird the way this message was spaced out!
Oh….looks so good! Can't wait to try them!
The brownie children will love these 🙂
I've been looking for a great gingersnap recipe. I'm trying these this week! Thanks!
Kerri, if you like soft ginger you will love these, if you are looking for hard or crispy ginger cookies, check out this recipe : https://abountifulkitchen.com/2011/12/gingersnaps.html
Love these…. thanks for helping me out at the cookie exchange
I'm glad you loved the cookies. <3 you.
we made your s'more cookies again last night, and my 7 year old daughter pops out, "that bountiful kitchen lady is a wicked good cook:)" can't wait to try these!
What a cute girl! Maybe you should bring her along when we get together to bake…
I could not find the s’more cookie recipe. Please send the link. Thanks!
Hi Louise, here is the recipe I think you’re looking for: https://abountifulkitchen.com/double-chocolate-chewy-marshmallow-cookies/.
xo
Si
We made these at Cutler's this morning, they are awesome! thanks Si. Curt
now that's a compliment, coming from the Cookie King! 🙂
Yummy, can't wait to try these ones, Si!
hope you like them Cathy 🙂
Your cookies look great, just how I like ginger cookies! We love them at our house:)
Thanks Sue, ginger cookies are hard to resist!
I'm not a fan of the ginger snap cookies but I made these for my husband and he said they are the best he's ever tasted! He loves, loves, loves them!! Thanks for making his FHE treat on Monday night the best ever!
Katie,
I'm glad your hubs loved them. Hope you had a wonderful holiday season!
Love this recipe!! They were a huge hit.
Hi there – should I be purchasing salted or unsalted butter for this recipe? Thanks in advance!
Devyn,
I always use unsalted butter!
Can you freeze the dough prior to baking?
Yes, Lee, you can freeze the dough. Just make sure it’s sealed securely. Thanks for asking and for reading ABK!
xo
Si
Will this recipe do well if I double it?
Hi Megan, the recipe makes 4-5 dozen cookies, so I probably wouldn’t double the batch, it may alter the dough consistency. Thanks for asking and for reading ABK!
xo
Si
HI Si
Can I replace the Sea Salt with Kosher Salt?
Hi Dani, yes you can use Kosher salt instead, thanks for asking and for reading ABK!
xo
Si
My daughter and I just made these cookies and they taste amazing! Only issue we ran into is that the outsides hardened when baking and never flattened out. So we ended up with delicious mushroom top cookies. Any ideas on what went wrong? We live at a lower elevation so maybe the flour ratio?
Thank you for the best soft ginger snap cookies we’ve ever had! 😊
Hi Samantha, it could be the flour ratio, but I’m thinking you might have overbaked them. When they’re done baking they will be a little puffy and then flatten out. Since you live at a lower elevation, the cookies won’t take as long to cook, so maybe take a minute or two off when you bake them next time. Hope this helps and thanks for asking!
xo
Si
Thank you Si for the helpful tips! We experimented and found 3 cups flour worked the best. I have easily made about 10 batches of these cookies in the last week. My whole family loved them and wanted to give them out to their teachers and co- workers. Thank you for sharing our new favorite Christmas cookie recipe!
So glad to hear that, Samantha! Thanks for sharing and for reading ABK,
xo
Si
I loved using this recipe! They were honestly some of the best cookies I’ve made. They only lasted 2 days in our cookie jar. I used granulated sugar and they were fantastic. Definitely a keeper!
Thanks for sharing Emma! This is one of our favorite cookie recipes to make during the holidays and there are rarely any to spare.
xo
Si
Would these do well baked on convection also?
Hi Becky, they will turn out well baked on convection, I prefer regular bake so that they don’t get too firm on top. Thanks for asking and for reading ABK!
xo
Si
So easy and delicious!
These are delicious, but boy did I make a fiasco of the process. I was trying to multitask and was talking to my mom on the phone about something kind of important. (Not a good choice!) Then noticed I’d put 3 eggs in instead of two—ok, I’ll just one and a half the recipe. Then couldn’t decide if I’d added all the flour or was a cup short still, so I baked one cookie, and it really spread and was flat. Added in the last cup of flour, and they’re great! So delicious! Next time I’ll make sure I’m able to focus on what I’m doing! I did use Demerara sugar instead of Turbinado because I had that on hand, but I think they’re fairly close.
Haha! Glad to hear you were able to salvage the recipe Beckie, that’s happened to me a few times as well. Thanks so much for sharing and for reading ABK,
xo
Si
I made these soon after the recipe was posted! I rolled mine in raw sugar (the larger granules) and that was a fan favorite! These were very good the same day I baked them, but the flavor and consistency was even better the next day!
Made these for a Christmas get together and overheard my brother in law say they were the best gingerbread cookies he’s ever had 🙂
So glad to hear that, Kaitlyn, these cookies are perfect for a crowd! Thanks for sharing and for reading ABK,
xo
Si
Can you bake these from frozen? Or do they need to thaw?
Hi Holly,
Yes you can bake them from frozen. Just turn the temperature down to 325 and place in oven. They usually take about 15-18 minutes depending on your oven at this temperature. If you bake at a higher temperature, sometimes the inside of the cookie is not done and the outside gets a little overdone! Watch them carefully the first time so you will be able to gauge timing in your oven!
xo
Si
Curious as to what “powdered ginger” is? Is it different than ground ginger??
5 stars as always! These were so delish and soft and chewy. Made them for a blood drive at church last week.
Made these cookies for a pre-Thanksgiving dinner, and they were so good! I used 4 tablespoons less sugar, and added a couple tablespoons of flour. I used a glass to flatten the balls of dough and baked them on convection for 325 degrees for 8 minutes. They softened up when I put them in a ziplock container. Great with hot chocolate, just saying!