Chewy Gingersnaps are a blast from my past. Soft, crinkled molasses cookies spiced with cinnamon, ginger and cloves, they were a childhood favorite.
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Gingersnaps
My mom would buy the occasional box of gingersnaps for us girls to munch on when we were growing up. It didn’t take long before there were only crumbs remaining. It was my best friend’s mom who introduced me to homemade, chewy gingersnaps. Well, maybe not her mom, but HER.
Mary had a tendency to get in a bit of trouble. I remember being addressed as “Elizabeth,” and sent home after she took a pair of scissors to her blue jeans to mimic those raggedy demins fashionable in the late 1970’s. I’m sure her mother wasn’t thrilled when we raided their deep freeze and ate more than our fair share of frozen gingersnaps. That stash was certainly being stored for some future occasion.
They tasted incredible even cold and rock hard. I finally had my mom ask her dear friend, and Mary’s mother, for the recipe. I bake up at least a double batch each year to add to my holiday goodie boxes. Check out more of my best cookie exchange recipes.
These chewy gingersnaps are my MOST requested recipe. If you’re a fan of gingersnaps, you’ll love these.
My Tweaks through the Years
The original recipe called for shortening, but I’ve always made these gems with butter. But butter has changed over time. There is more water in some of the less expensive brands which then causes the cookies to spread.
My tip is to use a European-style butter or, at the very least, a name brand vs. generic. More tips for puffier cookies:
- Chill the dough well before rolling into balls. I chilled this batch overnight and they baked up perfectly.
- Place dough balls on a cold baking sheet. Allow used baking sheets to thoroughly cool before baking another batch.
- If your cookies are still too flat, add a couple tablespoons of extra flour to your dough.
- As I mentioned above, use a European-style butter like Kerrygold or Plugra, or at least not a generic or store brand.
Here are a couple of things you may need to make these chewy gingersnaps:
KitchenAid 5-Qt. Artisan Stand Mixer
More Cookie Exchange Recipes from the Sunday Supper Tastemakers:
- Adaptable Marshmallow Bars by Get the Good Stuff
- Alfajores by Curious Cuisiniere
- Amaretto Apricot Oatmeal Cookies by Magnolia Days
- Amaretto Balls by Palatable Pastime
- Brown Eyed Susans by A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Chewy Gingersnaps by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
- Chocolate – Pear Biscotti by What Smells So Good?
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies by The Bitter Side of Sweet
- Coffee Cake Cookies by Pies and Plots
- Cowboy Cookies by Party Food and Entertaining
- Cranberry Orange Rugelach Cookies by My Imperfect Kitchen
- Dark Chocolate Mint Cake Mix Cookies by Fantastical Sharing of Recipes
- Espresso-Ginger Sandwich Cookies by Wholistic Woman
- Espresso Snickerdoodles by Cosmopolitan Cornbread
- Frosted Ginger Spice Cookies by Daily Dish Recipes
- Funfetti Marshmallow Cookies by Brunch with Joy
- Gingerbread Snowflake Cookies by Grumpy’s Honeybunch
- Gluten Free Hazelnut Truffle Cookies by Gluten Free Crumbley
- Gluten Free Nutella Stuffed Linzer Cookies by Fearless Dining
- Green Tea Macarons with Chocolate Ganache by Tara’s Multicultural Table
- Holiday Nutrolls by Delaware Girl Eats
- Kolaczki by Sew You Think You Can Cook
- Lemon Thumbprint Cookies by Cookin’ Mimi
- Mocha chocolate Chip cookies by Monica’s Table
- Mudslide Cookies by Books ‘n Cooks
- Nana’s Russian Teacakes byThe Crumby Cupcake
- Pfeffernüsse by Feeding Big
- Pistachio oatmeal cookies by Caroline’s Cooking
- Pizzelles by The Freshman Cook
- Snowball Cookies by Peanut Butter and Peppers
- Spiked Eggnog Cookies by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
- Thai-Kissed Cookies by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
- Tipsy Chocolate Cherry Cookies by Christmas Tree Lane
- Toffee Squares by Ruffles & Truffles
- White Chocolate Dipped Gingersnaps by Sunday Supper
Plus, 20 Cookie Baking Tips and Holiday Cookie recipes from Sunday Supper
PrintChewy Gingersnaps
These chewy gingersnaps are a childhood favorite and my most requested recipe!
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 12 mins
- Total Time: 27 minutes
- Yield: 36
- Cuisine: Dessert, Cookies
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1 egg
- 2 1/4 cup flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon cloves
- Granulated sugar
Instructions
- Cream (mix) together butter and brown sugar. Mix in molasses and egg till well combined.
- Stir in flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon and cloves.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour (I usually chill overnight).
- Preheat the oven to 375º.
- Scoop out dough with a medium-sized cookie disher (about 1½ tablespoons of dough). Roll dough balls in sugar and place on parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 87kcal
- Sugar: 6g
- Sodium: 74mg
- Fat: 4g
- Saturated Fat: 2g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 12g
- Fiber: 0g
- Protein: 1g
- Cholesterol: 15mg
I love gingersnaps! In my case, it was my grandmother who baked many of them when I was a child. I like the recipe so much, it was the first one I posted on my blog when I started writing it.
And even though I seldom buy European butter, I’ve learned never to buy store-brand butter – it’s incredible what a difference it makes.
Maybe that’s what’s going on with my cookies, too much water in the butter? I made a simple batch of choco chip that turned out to be choco pancakes! Cookies have become my nemesis… Your gingersnaps would be great with my coffee this morning:@)
A classic cookie! Awesome, Liz. I’m going to check out the other cookies, too! 🙂
Oh my goodness these look delectable. I just love a gingersnap.
One of the yummiest cookies! I would eat them every day 😀
Así craqueladitas se ven genial!!
Un saludito
One of my all time faves! YUMMMM. xx
These look and sound terrific. But, I question if these cookies have no “snap” being they are called soft and chewy. Is there a way to make them have the gingerSNAP snap? Love your blog.
Hi, Annabelle,
I think if you baked them longer, they’d lose some of their chewiness. Otherwise, you could try my grandmother’s thin ginger cookies: https://www.thatskinnychickcanbake.com/ginger-cookies/
I can see why these are such a hit. It’s nice to have classic favorites like this to be able to make whenever the craving strikes.
Ginger cookies are my FAVORITE during the holidays! I love how yours look. Putting them on my list to make this week!
I much prefer my gingersnaps chewy. These look delicious.
What is more classic than gingersnap cookies for the holidays? These look perfect, Liz!!
These cookies look soo good! Saving to my Christmas cookies board 🙂
I have given up buying generic butters because of the high water content. You can’t even add that butter to a pan because of all the splattering. Yes, real butter costs more but at least you know all you’re getting is butter. I love gingersnaps. My mother used to buy packets of them too and we had a brand that was so fiery the roof of your mouth would be burning. I’ve never tried to make my own! I’ll have to give your recipe a go xx
Oh wow, so many cookies, so little time 🙂 I love your gingersnaps, I think the chewier the better!
Anything ginger is awesome in my book 🙂
Lizzy,
I can’t wait to try these. My hubby won’t eat anything with nutmeg in it and these don’t have any, so I can make them without complaints.
Annamaria
These look like the best gingersnaps ever, the texture looks perfect!
Thank you, Liz. Thank you, Mary. The gingersnaps do look and sound yummy!
These are by far my favorite cookies for a cookie tray. I adore ginger anything!
Gingersnaps from the bag are one of my Dad’s favorite cookies and we could easily take down the whole thing! I have slightly more restraint these days but the love remains! Yours look fabulous!
Wow Liz, these gingersnaps look just the way my mother used to make them. Beautiful 🙂
Everyone needs that friend they can get in “trouble” with! 🙂
Your cookies look absolutely magazine worthy.
I have mostly used gingersnaps as a base for cheesecakes but think I like to try them as is. Thanks so much for the tips and the round up.
I need to try my hand at gingersnaps! These look so soft and delicious!
These look like such perfect chewy ginger cookies! Such a classic!
Can you believe I just started liking ginger cookies last year?!? These look phenomenal!
Yum! These look absolutely delicious. I have never actually had a gingersnap. Will definitely be trying these.
These look amazing! I can’t wait to try them, my mouth is watering just thinking of the baking aromas.
Beautifully done, but I expect no less from you!
Good grief, Miss Lizzy…I baked these this morning for a Bake Sale to raise money for our Art Center. Well, it is so totally obvious I am going to bake more for myself only. So delicious, so chewy in the center. Thank you for getting this recipe from your friend and sharing it. It is going to the top of my list of favorites. Merry Christmas to you and your family, and that includes the sweetest 4-legged friend.
How about freezing the balls of raw cookie dough to bake at a later time? When ready to bake, roll them in sugar & bake at 375 degrees, for 12 minutes to begin with & additional time as needed. Have you ever done this with your gingersnap cookies?
YES! I’ve even written a post about this. Thanks for the reminder!
I love soft ginger cookies and these look so good. One question, are they really 1049 calories per cookie? Yikes! I would only be able to have a bite…but How they look I would never stop at one!! LOL
LOL, Susan, I didn’t notice that! The recipe app must have given the calories for the whole batch! Let me see if I can fix it 🙂