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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Just made these. 5 star!! Easy and delicious. I used a small ice cream scoop (slightly bigger than melon scoop) they turned out great. Family loved them.
Amazing. Probably the best ginger cookie I’ve ever tried (i’m a huge foodie). I only did half the batch cutting all ingredients in half. Instead of molasses I used 2 TBSP honey. Also, I cut a bit on sugar using only 1/4 brown sugar and 2 tsp white granulated sugar. I used 1/8 tsp of nutmeg and 1/8 tsp of cinnamon instead of the all spice. AMAZING. Everyone loved them at home. I baked them for 15 minutes, turned off the oven and left them there for 5 more minutes. They came out perfectly so I pressed them A bit with a knife to give them the edgy rusty look.
Great tasting Ginger Cookie. Mine came out very flat. I did refrigerate the dough 3 hours. It seems like 2 sticks of butter is a lot. I have a similar recipe that calls for 3/4 cup of butter. Are they suppose to be flat?
Hi Sharon, These are flat, crispy cookies. If you’d like to try a puffier version, this one is a favorite of mine.
Fantastic Cookies!! I love anything ginger and I’m always getting recipe ideas from this wonderful site. These cookies were so easy to make and they were delicious. Made them and waited an hour to bake and they did not disappoint. All three generations were gobbling them up.
This is a great recipe. Second time I made them, I accidentally left out the egg and molasses. The resulting cookie was still excellent! Sort of like a short bread. So good in fact that the third time I made them, I purposely made the “short bread” version.
Great recipe! Made them about 6 times now and Have played with the ingredients, ran out of Molasses this time so put golden syrup in…..great! Always put fresh ginger in and double the powder ginger, I love them really spicy, also they never flatten enough for me so I now roll them out flat and cut with cookie cutter, dont always get the crinkly top but thats fine but I do get a really crispy cookie. Cant go wrong with the taste.
Hi Jenn,
I just baked these cookies. Perfect as usual. The first batch came out golden, crispy, flattened and very nice. But some cookies of the second batch burnt out, and all came out brown, although i had turned the oven off in between and then preheated it to 180c, i kept the dough in the fridge before rolling. Same balls size as first batch. What could have went wrong? Any advices for the future? Thanks
Hi Berna, sorry you had a problem with the second batch! Because it was the same dough and the only variable that changed was the oven being turned off and back on, I suspect that it had something to do with the oven – – not sure exactly what happened there but don’t think it had anything to do with what you did to the dough. Sorry I can’t provide more specific guidance!
This recipe is an absolute delight. Quite honestly, this recipe under-promises and over-delivers.
Thank you!! It is such a help to have careful, photographically illustrated step-by-step guide.
I read your reviews and many mention troubles with balled dough that won’t melt down into biscuits, don’t have the cracks in them and other such hassles. For those reading these reviews, know that if you follow Jenn’s recipe to the letter, this is a fool-proof, incredibly simple bake. Fantastic, quick recipe to have in your arsenal.
The result is delicious, professional looking, dunkable cookies.
If you prefer metric, convert your cups and tablespoons to grams using conversion tables – Google them.
AboutI saw several suggestions for other sources of ginger. I took those hints and used all of them. I added an extra half teaspoon of ground ginger, as well as a healthy knob of fresh ginger which I minced in a garlic press (use both flesh and juice), and also chopped up a good few candied ginger pieces and threw those in for good measure. The result was delicious and not overpowering at all.
I also didn’t have any Allspice to hand so used a Mixed Spice (local South African brand – Robertsons’s) – it is a mix of Coriander, Nutmeg, Cinnamon & Cloves – was nervous it would be a mistake. It wasn’t.
I usually struggle with keeping the size of the balls even or similar and this can sometimes cause cookies to bake at different rates. So, this time I weighed my entire dough batch, then divided that weight by the 36 cookies your recipe designates as the approximate yield. In my case, each biscuit would then weigh 25 grams. I created each ball and weighed each one as I did so.
The result – 36 identical cookies which I carefully baked at precisely 180°C for EXACTLY fourteen (14) minutes – perfect cookies.
That was fun. And yum! Many thanks and kind regards.
I tried this recipe and my family loved them so much we have made them at least 5 times in the past month or so!! Followed recipe exactly as is, delicious!! Printed it out for a save in my recipe book of favorites, thank you!
made these about two weeks ago and they were really nice. the first ones didn’t flatten out as much as the photos on here and also didn’t get those cracks, but boy were they good. i was a little disappointed when the first batch stayed thick and then burnt a little underneath, but even with the black underneath they were delicious and really hit the spot.
the next batch i squashed a little and the rest of the dough i froze and baked about 2 hours ago. i forgot that they don’t flatten out, so the first batch stayed fat and got burnt underneath (i think i have a problem) then the second ones i flattened and baked. afterwards i popped them all in the oven again to dry out more (especially the fat ones) and then now i’ve eaten 4 i think.
i love ginger cookies. i’ll definitely be baking these again. (eaten 5 now)