Ginger Spice Cookies
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These spicy ginger cookies are soft, chewy, warmly spiced, and incredibly simple to make. Flavored with ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and a pinch of cracked pepper for extra warmth, they're the perfect Christmas cookie-deeply flavored, aromatic, and beautifully old-fashioned in the very best way.
Recipe Overview
- Flavor: Warm, gingery, lightly spicy
- Texture: Chewy centers with crisp edges
- Effort: Easy
- Time: 15 minutes prep, 15 minutes chilling, 10 minutes baking
- Servings: About 30 cookies, depending on the size
- Perfect For: Christmas cookie boxes, gifting, and holiday baking
What I Love About These Cookies
Every December, these are the first cookies I bake for my family… and often the first that disappear. They're a cozy, dependable holiday treat that stays soft for days and packs wonderfully into cookie tins, hostess gifts, and Christmas dessert platters.
The richly spiced flavors of ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and molasses are a comforting and familiar blend that evokes memories of warmth and love, and laughter. For us, it
If you love warmly spiced ginger cookies, you may also love these Belgian speculoos that can be stamped or cut, or these masala chai cookies that can be sliced and baked or scooped, or these perennial favorite, German gingerbread cookies!
Key Ingredients
These classic ginger cookies use pantry-friendly ingredients that blend into a rich, nostalgic holiday flavor.
- All-purpose flour - the base that gives structure
- Cornstarch - keeps the cookies soft and tender
- Ground ginger - warm, aromatic, and unmistakably festive
- Cinnamon & cloves - deepen the spice and add cozy holiday flavor
- Salt & baking soda - balance and lift
- Freshly cracked pepper - subtle heat that enhances the ginger
- Butter (softened) - for a tender crumb
- Granulated sugar - sweetness + rolling for sparkle
- Brown sugar - moisture and chew
- Egg - binds and gives the perfect texture
- Vanilla extract - warmth
- Water & molasses - help bring everything together and add classic gingerbread depth
How to Make Spicy Ginger Cookies
Here's how to make these soft, spicy ginger cookies in a few simple steps.
- Mix the Dry Ingredients: Whisk together the flour, cornstarch, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, salt, baking soda, and freshly cracked pepper.
- Cream the Butter & Sugars: Beat the butter, ½ cup granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add Wet Ingredients: Mix in the egg, vanilla, water, and molasses until smooth.
- Combine: Gradually stir the dry ingredients into the butter mixture until a soft dough forms. Chill while the oven preheats.
- Shape: Line a baking sheet with parchment. Scoop dough into balls and roll in the remaining 3 tablespoons of sugar.
- Bake: Bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes, until lightly crackled and fragrant. Let cool on the sheet for 4-5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
Tips for Making Perfect Ginger Cookies
- Chill the dough for up to 30 minutes before baking. I like to make the dough and chill it while the oven preheats. If you chill the dough for more than 2 hours, let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to achieve the right cookie spread while baking.
- Let them cool on the cookie sheet. After baking the cookies, let them sit on the cookie sheet for 4 to 5 minutes before cooling completely on a rack.
- Adjust baking time according to the size of the cookie. I’m using a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop. In my oven, the cookies are perfect at 10 minutes.
Serving Suggestions
- Roll in coarse sparkling sugar for holiday sparkle
- Sandwich two cookies with a light cream cheese frosting
- Serve warm with hot chocolate or a festive latte
- Add to Christmas cookie tins with Gingerbread People, Zimtsterne, and Speculoos.
Recipe FAQs
No. These cookies use only ground ginger, creating warm, classic holiday flavor without the bite of fresh ginger.
Add an extra ½ teaspoon of ground ginger, increase the cracked pepper slightly, or add a pinch of cayenne for more heat. The recipe is very flexible.
It enhances the ginger and deepens the spice profile without making the cookies taste peppery. It's subtle-but it makes a difference.
Store them in an airtight container with a small piece of parchment between layers. The molasses keeps them naturally soft, and they stay chewy for several days.
They spread slightly, creating beautiful crackled tops. If your kitchen is warm or your dough feels soft, chill it 20-30 minutes before baking for a thicker cookie.
Molasses is what gives ginger cookies their signature texture and flavor, but in a pinch, dark brown sugar plus a teaspoon of maple syrup can work. The flavor will be milder.
Yes, you can freeze both the dough (in dough balls ready for baking) or baked cookies.
Dough: Scoop, roll in sugar, freeze on a baking sheet, and transfer to a freezer bag for up to 3 months.
Baked cookies: Freeze in layers separated by parchment up to 2 months.
Molasses, sugar, and leavening create steam in the oven, forming those classic crackled tops. It's a sign they're baked correctly.
Yes. For bakery-style cookies, use a larger scoop and bake 1-2 minutes longer. For mini cookies, reduce the baking time accordingly.
More Cookie Recipes We Love
- Easy Hamantaschen Cookies with Jam Filling
- Carrot Cake Spice Cookies with Raisins
- Best Chocolate Hazelnut Thumbprints Recipe
- Spiced Cut Out Sugar Cookies for Fall
- Double Chocolate Mint Cookies Recipe
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Giant and Soft Spiced Ginger Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 3/4 cup butter softened (12 tablespoons)
- 1/2 cup white sugar plus 3 tablespoons (divided)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cornstarch, ground ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter, 1/2 cup white granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy; about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg, vanilla, water, and molasses. Then gradually stir in the sifted dry ingredients into the butter, molasses mixture until a smooth dough forms. Chill the dough while you preheat the oven.
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ and line a baking sheet with parchment paper for easy cleanup.
- Scoop dough with a cookie scoop, then roll into balls; dredge in the remaining 3 tablespoons of sugar. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Refrigerate the cookies until cold, about 15-30 minutes.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 4 to 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
Notes
- Make Ahead: Dough can be chilled up to 48 hours or frozen up to 3 months.
- Spice Level: For more heat, add ½ teaspoon additional ground ginger or a pinch of cayenne.
- Rolling Sugar: Coarse sugar adds sparkle and crunch for holiday gifting.
- Storage: Store in an airtight container up to 5 days; they stay soft beautifully.
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Add me to the ‘they got hard’ group. The flavor is absolutely fantastic, one of the best ginger spice cookies I’ve ever had….but they did get hard. ☹️
Hi Jude! I’m so sorry these cookies turned hard. I’ve made them for years and haven’t been able to replicate this issue. However! I’ve added cornstarch to the recipe and tested it about 5 times. I always store them in an airtight container (a lidded container with an airtight seal or a ziplock bag) and they remain soft and delicious. I am glad you enjoyed the flavor!!
I used crisco, nice and puffy, I chilled dough for about an hour.
I made these twice, and both times they were very flat, even after thoroughly chilling the dough and buying fresh baking soda. I swapped butter for shortening and they came out perfect, though I think the butter gives the original recipe a slight edge in flavor.
Thank you for trying the Ginger Spice Cookies. I’ve not had the issue with these cookies becoming flat. Shortening is a very consistent ingredient and does make cookies spread less and hold their shape. Cookies made with butter will be crisper and as noted, the flavor will be different. I’m so glad you had success with the shortening. Thank you for your input!