Crispy Ginger Cookies
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Sugar, spice, and all things nice—these thin, crispy ginger cookies are what holiday dreams are made of.
These thin and crispy ginger cookies, a gem from pastry chef Emily Luchetti’s Stars Desserts, are truly something special. Featuring a spot-on mix of ginger, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and a bit of black pepper, these cookies deliver a sweet, buttery crunch with just the right touch of chewiness in the middle. They are a treat any time of day (yes, even breakfast), and they fill the house with the most heavenly aroma as they bake. With their deep amber color and slightly crackled tops, they’re perfect for the holidays. Think of them as the more delicious cousins of gingerbread men, offering a rich taste and a delightful texture that traditional holiday cut-out cookies just can’t match.
“I absolutely LOVE these cookies! They are crispy around the edges, with a little soft chew in the middle. And the spices are just enough to be tasty without being overpowering.”
What You’ll Need To Make Crispy Ginger Cookies
- All-Purpose Flour: Forms the base of the cookie dough, providing structure and texture.
- Ground Ginger, Allspice, Cinnamon, Cloves and Pepper: Infuse the cookies with warm, aromatic flavors characteristic of ginger cookies. Pepper may sound unusual but it adds a delightful little kick that lingers on the palate.
- Baking Soda: Helps the cookies rise and spread, resulting in a crisp texture.
- Granulated and Light Brown Sugar: Sweeten the dough and contribute to the cookies’ crispiness and caramelization.
- Butter: Provides richness and moisture to the cookies, ensuring a tender crumb.
- Egg: Binds the ingredients together and adds structure to the dough.
- Molasses: Adds richness, depth of flavor, and chewiness characteristic of ginger cookies.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-By-Step Instructions
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, ginger, allspice, cinnamon, cloves, baking soda, salt, and pepper.
Whisk and set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine ½ cup of the granulated sugar, brown sugar, and butter.
Beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
Add the egg.
Beat for about 20 seconds, then scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the molasses.
Beat until just combined, then scrape down the sides of the bowl again.
Add the dry ingredients.
Mix on low speed until just incorporated. The dough will be very soft; refrigerate it for about one hour, or until firm enough to roll.
Preheat the oven to 350°F and set a rack in the middle position. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Place the remaining ½ cup granulated sugar in a shallow bowl. Form the dough into 1-inch balls and roll in the sugar to coat. Place the balls on the prepared baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until set and deeply golden on the outside and slightly soft on the inside. (As they bake, they will puff up and then flatten. Do not remove them from the oven until they are flat.)
Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Refrigerate the dough between batches.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sure! In most recipes, you can swap light and dark brown sugars for one another. Dark brown sugar contains a bit more molasses than light brown, so the caramel-like flavor it adds will be slightly more prominent (but the difference is subtle and won’t impact the flavor of the cookies).
Yep — just form the dough into balls, roll in sugar, freeze them on a baking sheet for about an hour, then transfer to a sealable bag. When ready to bake, pop them straight into the oven from frozen, adding a couple of minutes to the baking time. For more guidance, check out additional tips on how to freeze cookie dough.
Definitely! The cookies will keep nicely for several days in an airtight container; freeze for up to 3 months for longer storage.
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Crispy Ginger Cookies
Sugar, spice, and all things nice—these thin, crispy ginger cookies are what holiday dreams are made of.
Ingredients
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- Scant ¼ teaspoon salt
- Pinch freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup granulated sugar, divided
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened but still cool
- 1 large egg
- ⅓ cup molasses, such as Grandma's Original
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, allspice, cinnamon, cloves, baking soda, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
- Using an electric mixer, beat ½ cup of the granulated sugar, brown sugar, and butter until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the egg and beat for about 20 seconds, then scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the molasses and beat until just combined, then scrape down the sides of the bowl again.
- Add the dry ingredients, then mix on low speed until just incorporated. The dough will be very soft; refrigerate it for about one hour, or until firm enough to roll.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and set a rack in the middle position. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place the remaining ½ cup granulated sugar in a shallow bowl. Form the dough into 1-inch balls and roll in the sugar to coat. Place the balls on the prepared baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until set and golden on the outside and slightly soft on the inside. (As they bake, they will puff up and then flatten. Do not remove them from the oven until they are flat.) Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Refrigerate the dough between batches. The cookies will keep for several days in an airtight container; freeze for longer storage.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: To freeze before baking, scoop the dough into balls and roll in sugar, let set on a baking sheet in the freezer, then place in a sealable bag and press out as much air as possible. Freeze for up to 3 months. Bake as needed directly from the freezer, allowing a few minutes longer in the oven. To freeze the cookies after baking, store the cooled cookies in an airtight container separating layers with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 3 months. Before serving, remove the cookies from the container and let them come to room temperature.
Nutrition Information
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- Serving size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 119
- Fat: 5 g
- Saturated fat: 3 g
- Carbohydrates: 17 g
- Sugar: 11 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Sodium: 75 mg
- Cholesterol: 19 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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I had a hankering for ginger snaps and since the Millennials don’t buy those anymore, my grocery store stopped stocking them.
So I came here. I am a so-so baker and a five-star recipe can come out as 1 or 5 stars at my hands depending.
This produced store quality cookies. Really. Not only are they my favorite ginger snaps ever, they became my favorite cookies ever. The cinnamon, allspice and cloves put heat on the tongue, the pepper puts heat in the throat. They are astoundingly good.
I went off the ranch and added a thin slice of candied ginger to the top of each flat-pressed ball of dough and that put the cookies off the chart.
I will try more of Jen Segal’s recipes. This recipe impressed the hell out of me.
Just made 1/2 a batch and they are delicious!!! With my slightly cooler oven, I would probably bake them for an extra minute or 2 because I like them crisp throughout. At 14 mins, they are crispy on the outside, slightly chewy in the middle. Like other reviewers, the cookies didn’t have the same crinkly surface but that doesn’t affect the taste! I’m not a huge sweet tooth so in the future I may drop the sugar and up the ginger but that’s purely personal. For most people’s tastebuds, I think the recipe is perfect as is! Thanks Jenn!!! I’ll be baking these every year to come! =D =D
An excellent recipe, for spot between ginger snaps and cookies. The only thing is that they didn’t have that crinkly look on top even though I smushed the down a bit, and, they got a little brown and hard on the bottom?? Otherwise, a perfect ginger cookie! and thanks for the freezer tip — worked great!
Hi Jenn. We have made these crispy ginger cookies and love them.
We are wondering what the instructions would be to prepare these ahead, freeze them and bake at the time of the party.
Thank you
Glad you like the cookies! The cookie dough can be frozen for up to 3 months — Scoop the dough into balls, let set on a baking sheet in the freezer, then place in a sealable bag and press out as much air as possible. Bake as needed directly from the freezer. (Allow 1 to 2 minutes longer in the oven.)
Thank you so much for your quick response. Have a blessed holiday!
Thanks Jennifer. I have another question. When do I roll them in the sugar; before I freeze them or when I take them out of the freezer to bake?
Thanks
You can go either way here, Tori, but I’d probably roll them in the sugar before popping them in the freezer.
This is a delicious cookie. It has a nice buttery flavor with not too much spice. It has a nice combination of crisp and chew. I baked mine for 12 minutes. I didn’t get the cracked top but they are the bom!
I tried this today, with a lot of modification. First I only did half the recipe, then I subbed regular flour with a 50:50 mix of tiger nut and oat flour. Used 7 ground dates in place of sugar, a table spoon of honey in place of the molasses , nutmeg for the all-spice, 2 table spoons of coconut oil in place of butter, 2 table spoons of water for hold, flax egg (sieved it) in place of the egg and a 50:50 dry ginger fresh root ginger mix.
Turned out excellent!
My gosh, everyone loved loved it!
Loved that recipe could be made gluten free too.
I made these cookies today to mail to my son and a friend of his. I followed the recipe exactly (possibly the first time I’ve ever done this). They were excellent. I was planning not to taste them, I hoped they would all fit in the tins I was mailing them in as I am trying very hard not to eat cookies. But sadly (not) they didn’t all fit. They are absolutely delicious. Better than any bakery cookie ever. I will definitely make these again. But I will buy bigger tins the next time. In my oven I baked them 10 minutes and then watched them. Sure enough, they rose up and then went flat, took a total of 14 minutes. I let them sit for 4 minutes before taking them off the baking sheet. They came out perfect.
I made these cookies today to mail to my son and a friend of his. I followed the recipe exactly (possibly the first time I’ve ever done this). They were excellent. I was planning not to taste them, I hoped they would all fit in the tins I was mailing them in as I am trying very hard not to eat cookies. But sadly (not) they didn’t all fit. They are absolutely delicious. Better than any bakery cookie ever. I will definitely make these again. But I will buy bigger tins the next time.
Don’t you hate when they don’t all fit?! 😉
Glad you enjoyed them – hope your son does too!
Jenn I just made the Ginger Spice Cookies. While waiting for them to cool I came across this recipe for a crispier cookie. I’m wonder what makes them crispy the recipe is almost identical to the one I just made? I’m just trying to expand my understanding of baking science.
Hi Kerrie, the cookies in this recipe have more butter and granulated sugar than the other one. Using more butter will make the cookies flatter and the granulated/white sugar will increase their crispiness. Hope that clarifies!
I just finished baking the cookies and it was delicious. My daughter; who doesn’t like ginger, keeps asking if she can have more.
But I have one problem, my cookies don’t have crinkles like yours at all, what did I do wrong? I followed your instructions and didn’t change anything. Thank you so much.
Hi Sophia, Glad you (and your daughter) like these! The fact that you didn’t get those crinkles on the tops of your cookies doesn’t mean you did anything wrong; there’s a lot of variability in that and the cookies may look a little different each time you make them. I might suggest you try a different ginger cookie recipe (from my cookbook) next time. I’ll email it to you.
Wonderful crispy cookies. Recipe is easy, but be sure to let dough sit in frig, and let baked cookies rest about 3 minutes.