Gingersnaps are one of my favorite cookie recipes. They keep well and have a distinct molasses and ginger taste, perfect for the Holiday season. This recipe is a family recipe that was handed down from my Great Aunt Tina. I don’t remember ever meeting my Great Aunt Tina, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy her cookie recipe!
I like my gingersnaps to be a little chewy, so I only cook these for about 8 minutes. But if you prefer crispy gingersnaps you could increase the cooking time by 5 minutes and have crispy ones. The only change I made to my Great Aunt’s recipe is that I use butter instead of shortening, because I just don’t like to cook with shortening. I love all the subtle spice flavors in these cookies, which include cloves and cinnamon along with the ginger.
My kids’ favorite part of this recipe is rolling the little balls of cookie dough in sugar. They aren’t big fans of the cookies themselves, because of the strong molasses taste. They prefer cookies which have lots of chocolate, not lots of spices! This year I used Black Strap Molasses for an even more robust taste. If you like molasses you will love these traditional Christmas cookies!
Gingersnap Cookies
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 2 cup flour
- 2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375.
- Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
- Add egg and molasses and mix well.
- Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and salt, and mix the dry ingredients into the batter.
- Form the batter into 1 inch balls and roll in sugar.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition facts are estimates.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 36Amount Per Serving: Calories: 96 Saturated Fat: 2g Cholesterol: 14mg Sodium: 130mg Carbohydrates: 14g Sugar: 9g
Katie says
December 15, 2013 at 5:23 pmGingersnaps are one of my favorite kinds of cookies! Yum!
Kait says
December 15, 2013 at 7:08 pmThese look delish!! I made cookies today and they are hard as rocks…too bad they’re for my son’s Christmas program tomorrow too…oops.
Kelly @ Texas Type A Mom says
December 15, 2013 at 9:31 pmThese look so much more moist than store bought gingersnaps! I can’t wait to try these!
jeanae says
December 15, 2013 at 10:18 pmThese look delicious, and so much chewier than the other homemade versions I’ve tried. I always think of Christmas gatherings when I have gingersnaps.
Stephanie Person says
December 15, 2013 at 10:46 pmI love gingersnap cookies!
Jennifer @ My Sweet Sanity says
December 15, 2013 at 11:22 pmConfession time… I have never eaten or made gingersnaps. They always seem so dry. Yours don’t look dry though so I am intrigued.
Liz @ A Nut in a Nutshell says
December 16, 2013 at 6:14 amI can’t believe how delicious those look. They’re just so puffy and wonderful-looking. I haven’t made gingersnaps in a long time but these tell me I have got to do it!
Maryann says
December 16, 2013 at 3:23 pmI do love molasses! and spiced cookies are some of my favs.
LyndaS says
December 16, 2013 at 8:17 pmI love to roll cookies in sugar – those look delicious!
Dianna @ Oy Vey a Day says
December 16, 2013 at 9:23 pmI love gingersnap cookies! We make them every year. It is amazing what a difference rolling them in sugar makes. We usually also frost ours with cream cheese frosting, and then put a redhot in the center of each. The bite with the redhot is the best!
Tammy says
December 17, 2013 at 12:12 amI’ve only made crunchy ones that actually “snap” when you eat them – but I love soft cookies, I didn’t think of just baking them for a shorter time 😉
Sandra (at) Coasahmom (dot) com says
December 17, 2013 at 7:58 ammmm Gingersnaps … my mouth is just watering now LoL
Pam W. says
December 21, 2013 at 2:28 pmI just made these cookies and they came out flat and hard, not fluffy and pretty. I checked everything twice and find no reason for this. Very Disappointing! They were for Christmas goodie tins.
Caroline says
December 21, 2013 at 9:30 pmMine too!!! The recipe on the molasses jar calls for more flour and brown sugar I might try that next time.. :/
Jennifer says
December 3, 2014 at 2:58 pmI just made these and also had them come out flat. I don’t mind overly much because they are still very tasty, but the batter was far to soft to even attempt to roll them in sugar. This was even after adding an extra 1/2 c to cup of flour! I just sprinkled sugar on top.
Laurina says
December 23, 2013 at 12:20 amMine came out flat too…I needed them for a Christmas party tomorrow….it’s after midnight ..not happening! I don’t know what went wrong…maybe the dough should be chilled….the directions don’t say to do that though…
Rosey says
November 30, 2014 at 12:05 pmI do love nice soft tasty cookies. Gingersnaps would totally hit the spot!
Tammy says
November 30, 2014 at 2:14 pmI’ll have to try this recipe because I haven’t made Gingersnaps in years because the last time I did they weren’t nice and chewy and fluffy but hard and crispy – and I prefer the chewy ones 🙂
Christina says
November 30, 2014 at 2:50 pmThanks for linking up on the Happiness is Homemade Link Up!
Giveaways 4 Mom says
November 30, 2014 at 6:30 pmI used to love Ginger Snaps when I was little. I may have to try out this recipe for my boys.
Singapore Mum Blog says
November 30, 2014 at 7:18 pmthese look lovely!! and your kids did them with you? that’s wonderful!!
Jennifer H says
November 30, 2014 at 9:00 pmI can’t remember the last time I had gingersnaps. Nice!
Kait says
November 30, 2014 at 10:14 pmOne of my favs! I love a good Gingersnap!
debra p says
November 30, 2014 at 10:55 pmI love ginger and gingersnaps! I wish I could reach into my computer and grab one. They look delicious!
Kelly @ Texas Type A Mom says
November 30, 2014 at 11:20 pmOh my goodness, these look amazing! I love the flavor and texture of homemade ginger snaps so much more than the store bought variety!
Ty says
December 1, 2014 at 1:49 amI absolutely love gingersnap cookies and these sure does look amazing!
Heather W says
December 1, 2014 at 8:11 pmMmmmmm… I can almost taste those cookies looking at those photos. This looks like a great recipe. I can’t wait to try it. I can’t remember the last time I’ve had a gingersnap. I think it’s time I fixed that, don’t you?
Cathy says
December 1, 2014 at 10:37 pmI love the homemade taste of well made ginger snap cookies and these have left my mouth watering! All month long I am doing a cookie countdown to Christmas, I would love it if you stopped by!
Cathy
Eliz Frank says
December 2, 2014 at 3:11 pmI’ve always loved these cookies and must get them again… It’s been a while.
Jamie | anderson + grant says
December 4, 2014 at 1:53 pmThese look incredible! They are one of my favorite cookies at Christmas time, too. Thanks so much for sharing a yummy recipe with us today!
Lauren @blesserhouse says
December 4, 2014 at 4:38 pmThese look so good! I’ve only had the store-bought kind (isn’t that terrible?) I definitely need to try this recipe. 🙂
Amy | Canary Street Crafts says
December 7, 2014 at 1:33 pmI’m like you and prefer my gingersnaps chewy. These look amazing! Thanks for sharing at Your Turn To Shine!! 🙂
Michelle says
December 7, 2014 at 4:05 pmTruth time: I could eat an entire bag og ginger snaps in one sitting. More truth: I’ve only ever had the bagged kind! I’m sure homemade are wonderful and small amazing while baking. I’m interested in the chewiness.
Thanks for sharing!
Barb @ A Life in Balance says
December 9, 2014 at 8:54 amThanks for sharing your post at Motivation Monday. Your post is being featured at this week’s party!
monica livas says
December 10, 2014 at 6:15 amGingersnap cookies are my favourite! And these look so delicious!
Echo says
December 11, 2014 at 4:07 pmI love ginger snaps and these look fantastic! Thanks for sharing with Happiness is Homemade!
Maggie says
April 18, 2015 at 4:39 pmI’m not sure where she got this picture but it is most definitely not what you get with this recipe. I added a half cup more flour just to be able to roll them. And they are flatter than pancakes. Taste is good but not soft and chewy for sure. Disappointing recipe!
Megan says
December 4, 2016 at 8:59 pmI made this recipe as posted. The dough is too sticky to roll into balls. I have chilled it and added another cup of flour. What have I done wrong?