Soft and Chewy Gingerbread Cookies So Yummy You’ll Gift Them
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Soft and Chewy Gingerbread Cookies are a favorite on any holiday cookie tray — or even on a snowy winter’s day. Or in my case, even a rainy Seattle day.
Filled with gingerbread spice, these rustic, “crackily” morsels are glittery and sparkly on the outside, moist, tender, and chewy on the inside.
And delicious? Oh my — it’s all the flavors you love and expect in gingerbread.
In fact, my advice? Be sure to make a double batch. These cookies are so yummy, you’ll want to gift them!
I live with tall guys. Like in 6 foot 8 and 6 foot 4. They like large cookies. So — these are large. Using my 2-inch cookie scoop (affiliate link), I can get 16 cookies in one batch. A 1-inch cookie scoop (affiliate link) should yield about 32 cookies, roughly double.
And if you’re a fan of ginger spice, as we are, be sure and check out our other gingerbread recipes.
Soft and Chewy Gingerbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- sparkling sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla until light and creamy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the mixer with a spatula so the butter is fully incorporated. Mix in the egg and molasses.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, salt, and cloves. With the stand mixer set to low, gradually add the dry ingredients; mix until combined. Using a cookie scoop (affiliate link), shape cookie dough into 2-inch balls, roll in the sparkling sugar, and place on the prepared baking sheet, about 2 inches apart.
- Bake cookies in the preheated 350-degree F oven for 14 to 16 minutes, or until the tops become crackily. If that's not a word -- it should be! It's one of the charms of these homemade cookies.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
I don’t have cloves. Would it change the flavor much to use nutmeg?
Hi Melissa — While the cloves give these cookies that distinctive “gingerbread flavor,” I think they would be equally delicious with nutmeg instead!
This is way after the fact but I did make it a point to buy cloves and these were amazing. Santa loved them and might keep requesting them each year! We did half rolled in the sugar and half without and they were great both ways.
Hi Melissa! I’m still thinking about Christmas cookies! Thanks so much for letting me know. They are a favorite at our house.