The best soft molasses ginger cookies. How to make these famous chewy gingersnap cookies that everyone loves!
Soft Molasses Cookies
These ginger molasses cookies are the perfect holiday cookie with a variety of fragrant spices with a chewy center and crispy edges. I count down the days until the holidays so I can make these non-stop. These are such a popular molasses cookie recipe!
The Best Gingersnaps Cookies are soft chewy with a touch of spice.
Grandma Geri's Gingersnaps have quite the following and for good reason. My dear friend, Lisa, is famous for her gingersnaps and I was lucky enough to score the recipe for these coveted cookies.
These ginger molasses cookies made with butter are soft in the center and slightly crispy on the edges. They are full of spices and are far from being "one note" gingersnaps. The cinnamon, ginger, and cloves bring warmth to the cookie and there is even a secret ingredient....cayenne pepper! Trust me...it's a game changer.
I am not a picky eater. However, when I was a kid, I didn't understand why anyone in the world liked gingersnaps. The only ones I knew were the hard ones straight from a package that I would find in Grandma's cabinet. It wasn't until I ate homemade ones that I became hooked! I realized that gingersnaps don't have to be hard and crunchy, where you literally fear that you may break a tooth biting into one.
Geri's Gingersnap Cookies are the perfect balance of soft in the middle and crispy on the edges. I have made a lot of ginger cookie recipes in my days and this recipe is hands down the very best! These are the best soft molasses cookies!
If you love Christmas cookies, check out these other popular Christmas cookie recipes:
How to make the BEST Soft Molasses Ginger Cookies:
- Cream butter and sugar for 4 minutes, until light and fluffy. This helps to create air into the cookie dough while creating a smooth and creamy texture.
- Stir in dry ingredients, just until combined. Don't overbeat as this produces a tough cookie. Add warm spices such as cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and the secret ingredient -- cayenne pepper to give it a slight kick. The spices add warmth to this molasses cookie recipe.
- Roll into balls and then roll into sugar. Double coat the ginger molasses cookie dough to ensure the sugar sticks to the dough.
- Bake just until edges begins to get slightly crispy, while the centers are still chewy. This is a soft molasses cookie so we don't want to overbake it.
So grab a big cold glass of milk, a cozy blanket, and eat a big plate of these old-fashioned chewy molasses cookies while watching a Hallmark Christmas movie. Share the LOVE with your friends by pinning the image below. xo
One of my favorite things to give to neighbors and friends is a Christmas cookie box filled with my favorite Christmas cookies -- molasses cookies, chocolate peppermint cookies, and snickerdoodle cookies.
Grandma Geri's Gingersnaps
Ingredients
FULL RECIPE:
- 1 ½ cups 3 sticks Cold Butter, cut into cubes
- 2 cups Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- ½ cup Molasses
- 4 cups Flour
- 2 teaspoons Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 2 teaspoons Cinnamon
- 2 ½ teaspoons Ginger
- 2 teaspoons Cloves
- ½ teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
- Sugar
HALF-RECIPE:
- 12 Tablespoons Butter ¾ cup or 1 ½ sticks of Butter
- 1 cup Sugar
- 1 Egg
- ¼ cup Molasses
- 2 cups Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1 ¼ teaspoon Ginger
- 1 teaspoon Cloves
- ¼ teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar for 4 minutes until light and fluffy and pale in color.
- Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition. Add molasses and mix well.
- Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and cayenne pepper. Mix just until combined to avoid over-mixing the dough.
- Place sugar into small bowl. Roll dough into small balls and roll into sugar, coating well.
- Place on lined baking pan and bake for 12-15 minutes.
Happy Baking, my friends! xo
Edwin Sakai
Terrific recipe with a nice soft chew with crispy edges. The only change I made was cutting the cayenne back to 1/8 tsp because of some pepper sensitive palates in the household. Bingo, they were perfect! Thank you for the recipe and tutorial!
Donna
Hey girl, I have been baking right along with you. I have made so many cookie plates and they are loved by all, believe me.
People really do love getting homemade cookies and candy for Christmas. I hope this tradition comes back and stays back for good. I love all the recipes, and I have made most of them, still baking and lovin every minute of it. Thanks doll, and God Bless..
Zusana
Hi! I was wondering if I could use nutmeg instead of cloves? Or would it mess the recipe up??
Marcy
Can you add mixins like chopped crystalized ginger and white chocolate chips? If so, how much could you add?? Thanks!
Modern Honey
Oh yes, those sound amazing! I would add 1 1/2 cups of white chocolate and probably about 3 Tablespoons of crystalized ginger to the recipe.
Cathy
These taste amazing. I like the kick from the cayenne. Mine turned out extremely flat (not sure why), but they still taste great. A little crispy on the edges and really chewy. Thanks for sharing.
Sarah
My all-time favorite Christmas cookie, that I eat year-around. Every holiday season, I am always asked for this recipe
Cathy
I made these twice, everyone loved them. These are the best ginger snaps I’ve ever had. Thank you so much for the recipe
Sarah Hillenburg
I made these last Christmas. I loved them. I love the heat in them. My grandma also had a molasses cookie recipe. but mmm this one is special.
Amy Day
Phenomenal cookie recipe! it is now my family's favorite!!
Debra Hardiman
Ok, Melissa, here’s a question for you- which type of molasses do you use?
My store carries full flavor, mild flavor and unsulphured molasses.
What I know about molasses you could fit in a thimble! Thanks for your help.
Naama
Hi!
I made these the other day and they were unreal.
Could I make them with brown butter and/or brown sugar?
Or would the melted butter mess with the texture?
Modern Honey
Absolutely! I love brown sugar as it adds a chewy texture. If you want to try half sugar, half brown sugar, that would be amazing or you can do all brown sugar. 🙂
Debra Hardiman
which type of molasses do you use?
My store carries full flavor, mild flavor and unsulphured molasses.
Shirley
Hello Debra Hardiman, I always use Grandma's molasses for ginger cookies.
AnnaMae
Do these cookies freeze well?
Modern Honey
Absolutely! We keep them in the freezer during the holidays so we can grab one whenever we get a craving. We keep our cookies in a freezer-safe Ziploc bag and they stay for at least one month. Hope that helps!
Sara
Have you experimented at all with freezing the dough after rolling the balls? I was thinking about making dough ahead then baking so I can get ahead of holiday baking 🙂
Farah
Hey...you continue to inspire me. Love all your ideas...and the photos are always fabulous.
Thank you...
Modern Honey
Hello there Veeron! Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. I hope you love them as much our family does! They are good stuff. 🙂 - Melissa
Veeron
Haha…you so funny!!!
Veeron Finston
These look amazing!! Thanks for sharing!