Mom's Famous Soft Ginger Cookies
Soft and sugary ginger cookies full of molasses, spices and brown sugar, these are a family favorite that I've been making for decades! Perfect for dunking! Printable cookie labels included for gifting.
Updated 04/2024
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I've been munching on these ginger cookies for as long as I can remember! My
mom always called them gingersnaps, but they are not traditional gingersnaps.
There's no snap when you take a bit. These cookies are puffy, soft cookies,
rolled in sugar and baked until they're amazing. They're not spicy. They're
just right...and everyone loves them.
Mom's famous soft ginger cookies recipe
Easy to make, these ginger cookies are similar to gingerbread because they do contain some of the same spices, including molasses, but I think they're sweeter. Biting into one is a delight...crisp and sugary outside and light and soft inside. It's definitely hard to stop at just one!
Keep reading for packaging tips if you want to gift these cookies as a housewarming gift or for the holidays. We love to bake and gift these homemade cookies during the holidays, but enjoy them all year round as well. They make wonderful gifts for neighbors, teachers, new moms, basically everyone will appreciate fresh baked cookies from your kitchen!
How to make soft ginger cookies
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup shortening (no substitutions - they will not work out the same with butter!)
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1 egg
- 2 1/4 cup flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ginger*
- 1 tsp cinnamon*
-
1/2 tsp cloves*
*Baking tip: if you're like me and can tend to keep spices for a long time
(like years!), do yourself a favor and pick up some new spices for these
cookies! The fresh spices will add so much flavor to the ginger cookies!
Directions
- Cream together first four ingredients until light and fluffy. Sift together dry ingredients and stir into molasses mixture until very well blended. The dough will be very stiff, and I always have mix by hand to ensure all the flour is well worked into the dough. Sometimes I'll even use my hands to mix the cookie dough thoroughly at the end. Don't worry, this won't make them tough!
- Form in small balls. Roll in white sugar* and place 2 inches apart on greased cookie sheet (I always use my Silpat mats). *Press very lightly with a glass to flatten a little. My mom always got 5 dozen cookies, that tells you how small they were! I get almost 3 dozen ginger cookies from this recipe.
- Bake at 375 for about 10 minutes. I rotate the cookie sheets at the halfway point.
* if you want a very sugary look on the top, give the cookies a couple of
tosses in the granulated sugar (you can see the difference in the image
below).
**I grew up in Canada in an area with low humidity. Since moving to the
South US (where it's much warmer and more humid), I have stopped flattening
the cookies with a glass. They bake high and soft.
How to tell when they're done?
It can be hard to tell when the cookies are done because they will still look
a little soft. The tops of the cookies will develop cracks as they bake. Use a
spatula to lift one and check the bottom. You want a light brown color. Be
careful of overbaking or they will get crispy.
Let cookies cool on cookie sheet for about 10 minutes and then transfer to a
cooling rack. I guarantee you won't even need to call the kids...they'll come
running!
Storing cookies
As soon as the ginger cookies cool, I package them into a freezer friendly
container and stick them into the freezer immediately. This ensures that when
I pull them out to eat, they have that just-baked flavor! I can only do this
when my kids aren't home, because they will gobble a batch of these soft
ginger cookies in minutes!
They stay well in the freezer for up to 3 months. If you're not freezing them,
keep them in a sealed container at room temperature for up to a week.
Packaging cookies for gifting and printable labels
The uniform nature of these soft ginger cookies makes them beautiful to
package and gift (if your kids will let you haha)! If you're a subscriber, you
have access to these free printable cookie labels that I made.
You'll notice they're not specific to these ginger cookies so you can use them
for other sweet treats as well! You'll find a link to my Printables Library in
every email from me. If you're not already a subscriber,
click here to join my newsletter.
- stack cookies and tie with bakers twine
- add cookie stack to clear cellophane bag, tie with a pretty ribbon and a printed gift tag
- recycle chip tube containers, cover with gift wrap and fill with cookies (be sure to clean food containers first!)
- add cookies to a giftable treat box, cookie window bags or a festive holiday tin
- use cute cupcake liners to hold cookies and wrap in cellophane
- mason jars, glass or acrylic jars are so fun for cookies
Soft sugary ginger cookies make perfect dunkers alongside a cup of coffee or
tea! They're small enough that you can have a couple and not feel too guilty!
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Pinning and sharing my images helps my blog so much, thanks in advance!
bringing beauty to the ordinary,
Thanks, Cindy. It's been one of those days for me today. Baking cookies tonight might be just the thing...
ReplyDeleteHope you try these, they're yummy.... And are guaranteed to make you feel better, lol.
DeleteOh yum! These look so soft and delicious! Thanks for linking up to Show Me Saturday.
ReplyDeleteThey are wonderful! Merry Christmas to you,
Delete