And just like that, December is officially here. I’ve been planning on sharing these Old Fashioned Ginger Snaps with you ever since my neighbor brought them over to me last year around this time. She loves to bake like me, and we are always swapping recipes back and forth and borrowing from each other’s pantries. We even have a group text thread called “The Pantry Pals”. Isn’t that great? Good neighbors are a gift!
My sweet neighbor knows how much I love these Old Fashioned Ginger Snap cookies, with their sparkling sugary exterior, crisp edge and slightly chewy center, so when she gives them to me, she also gives permission not to share them. She says, “It’s okay if you want to hide these.” I love it! She knows me well.
I asked her for the recipe to share with you all, and she said that it came from her Aunt Marva, who was her mom’s identical twin sister. This Old Fashioned Ginger Snap recipe has stood the test of time for a reason. They are one of my favorite cookies of all!
Yesterday was a fairly productive day for me. After having the boys home sick for the beginning of the week, it felt good to have the house to myself. I got caught up on laundry, worked on my editorial calendar, and made more to-do lists. After making cookies and putting my kitchen back together, I started on my Christmas cards.
We ordered them from Minted again this year, because we love the quality of the paper and print, as well as the design choices and free envelope addressing! We also love that you can view all the design options with your actual picture inserted into them. So easy!
Should I chill the cookie dough?
There is no need to chill the dough for Old Fashioned Ginger Snaps. Generally, chilling the dough can help sticky cookie dough to be more manageable, but this dough is not overly sticky. Chilled dough will also spread less in the oven than room temperature dough, but these cookies are supposed to be nice and thin, so spreading is good!
Can I freeze Old Fashioned Ginger Snaps?
Yes, these cookies will freeze very well in a well sealed container or a freezer ziplock bag for 3-6 months. You can also freeze the dough balls on a paper plate and then slide the plate into a gallon size freezer ziplock to bake at a later time. I love baking a half batch of cookies and then freezing the dough balls of the second half for later. A freezer full of cookie dough is a joyful sight!
If you love Old Fashioned Ginger Snaps, but want to bake a thicker, chewier cookie, try these Bakery Style Molasses Cookies. I know you’ll LOVE them!
Hope your December is off to a great start as well. Go ahead and put these cookies on your to-do lists!
Old Fashioned Ginger Snaps
I love these Old Fashioned Ginger Snaps with their sparkling sugary exterior, crisp edge and slightly chewy center! Everyone LOVES these cookies!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 3 dozen 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- additional 1/2 cup sugar for rolling (I used half coarse sparkling sugar, and half granulated sugar)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper, Silpat, or by greasing it.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar together on medium speed. Add egg and molasses and mix.
- In a separate bowl, mix flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger together.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl on low speed until everything is incorporated and a dough forms.
- Scoop dough into balls. I used a scoop that measures about 1 1/2 tablespoons. Roll the dough ball in the sugar and place on the baking sheet (12 per sheet). No need to flatten the dough balls. They will spread out as they bake.
- Bake for 11-13 minutes. Allow them to cool on a cookie sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Cookie
- Calories: 101
- Sugar: 10g
- Sodium: 118mg
- Fat: 4g
- Saturated Fat: 2.5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 1.3g
- Trans Fat: 0.2g
- Carbohydrates: 16g
- Fiber: 0.3g
- Protein: 0.9g
- Cholesterol: 15mg
Hi, your ginger snaps sound delicious. I’ve never made them before. Please tell me if the dough balls, when placed on the cookie sheet, need to be flattened before cooking, thank you!
Hi Wendy, I think you will love these! No need to flatten the dough balls. They will spread quite a bit on their own.
A real disappointment. These are not ginger snaps. They fall somewhere between a snap and a chewy molasses cookie. Flavor was okay but the texture was dry and crumbly – not even much chew. Yes, I followed the recipe to a “t” and am a rather experienced baker.
Ditto from me! They weren’t snappy or chewy…just kind of dry. I’ll probably crush them and use for pumpkin cheesecake cryst.
I baked mine at 335 in a convection oven for 8 minutes and they are perfect. Might want to check your bake time.
My family and friends just love this recipe and it’s so easy you can get batch done and baked and under an hour?
Recipe was fantastic, for a rather experienced baker you must have missed something. Because I doubled this one and they are far from dry and crumbly.
Using shortening instead of butter or margarine makes them more like actual Ginger Snaps
I just made some and the cookies don’t have the crackled top if you flatten the dough balls.
The recipe says that they don’t have to be flattened that they will spread out as they cook.
Hi! I just made your ginger snaps and they turned out wonderfully. We are all snacking away!
Have enjoyed using some of your recipes, but a trying not use sugar, but rather use honey, or coconut sugar. Can these cookie recipes be made using honey instead of sugar?
Thank you Ruth! I haven’t tried those substitutions, so I’m not sure. For this recipe, I would try subbing some of the sugar for honey and see how it goes, then adjust as needed.
hi i just have a hand mixer with no paddle can I use my hand mixer for the recipe ? .And can I just use sugar thats not sparkling ? for rolling the cookies in
hi i just have a hand mixer with no paddle can I use my hand mixer for the recipe ? .And can I just use sugar thats not sparkling ? for rolling the cookies in
Yes, a hand mixer should be fine as well as granulated sugar. Enjoy!
Excuse me for commenting twice, but I wanted to add that I loved the way the ginger snaps were soft and not too crunchy! Bliss! And that your Christmas cards are lovely.
Me too! Thanks so much Erin!
Just tried making these cookies for the first time and they are delicious! I love the texture and the flavor .. they are exactly how you described them .. little crispy on the edges and soft and chewy in the center! Definitely a recipe I’m keeping to make again and add to my holiday baking!
I’m so glad you agree Claudia. Thank you for your sweet note!
Hi Julie,
Just made your Ginger Snaps , they are delicious. Thanks for the recipe. will for sure make them again:)
Laura
I’m so glad you got the chance to make them. I could not get enough!
I’ve made these twice now. They are sooo addictive! I made two small changes to mine though. I only put 3/4 tsp of the ground cloves. A little goes a long way. And I used 3/4 cup of white sugar and 1/4 cup of dark brown sugar. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Thanks Jeannie!
I almost never comment on recipes I make, but these were SO good!! My boyfriend said it was one of the best cookies he’s ever had. I absolutely love Ginger snaps but for some reason this was the first time I’ve made them myself and I was hoping to not be disappointed. I definitely wasn’t! Thanks for sharing!
These are one of my favorite cookies EVER! I’m so glad you all liked them too! Thanks for your comment!
These were excellent. I just used two cups of Cup 4 Cup flour instead of weighing and the cookies turned out well. I live at a high altitude and cooked them for 11 minutes. Once cool, I put them in an airtight container and they were so chewy and good the next day. I’m saving this recipe. Thank you.
My cookies turned out so yummy… But flat as pancakes 😭
What did I do wrong?!
I’m so making these in the morning hope it works out I will let you know
These are hands down the best gingersnaps I’ve ever made. I added a couple of shakes of white pepper and 1/2 tsp mace to mine. The texture is just incredible. Thanks!
Hi … Made today and was suuuper yummy. Mom like it. I will bake again but i will reduce the sugar to 1/4 cup. Thank you for sharing this recipe💐❤
Happy to hear that you liked them! Thank you for letting me know.
I have posted the photo in Pinterest
Hello, can these be frozen before you bake and bake later
I haven’t tried freezing the dough, but I think it should be fine.
I’ve made these twice. The first time, they turned out perfect. The second time was a disaster. I think my molases had expired and the cookies melted into a big gluey blob while baking. Does it matter if you use salted or unsalted butter? Just trying to pinpoint what went wrong the second time.
Looking for a recipie and of the 5 I found this looked to be the best. Spot on! They are perfect. Thank you so much.
Hi may I know the Flour & Sugar quantity in grams ?
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I’ve made it countless times, my husband simply loves them. I’ve made a few alterations, adding freshly minced ginger I only put one tbs of baking soda and add one of baking powder. Also I think they look nicer when flattered with a fork. I’ve just finished another batch and my kitchen smells so good!!😁😋
Just maade these cookies. Great flavor and texture. When they baked they were very flat. What did I do wrong?
Doris, I’m glad you like these cookies. They are a flatter cookie, so I don’t think anything went wrong. If you’d like a thicker ginger type cookie, try these: https://lovelylittlekitchen.com/bakery-style-molasses-cookies/
I made these for my husband and son, they were easy to make and they loved them. Will definitely be making these again
So glad you all enjoyed, thanks Loretta!
Can this dough be rolled out and cut with cookie cutters?
I made these cookies today and not only were they easy to make but they are Delicious!
Delicious! I haven’t made ginger snaps in years. I found your recipe via a Google search. It was super easy to follow and the cookies came out perfect!
😌😍
Woooooooo
OMG! I just made these cookies and they are sooooo delicious. I baked them in a shallow cookie muffin pan to keep the shape uniformed. Sooo good!!
Wonderful! Thank you for letting me know.
First time making ginger snaps and they turned out amazing. Will definitely be making these again. 🙂
Yay! These are my favorite!
Can you substitute molases with dark cane syrup?
Hi I am about to make these cookies, and I would like to know the yield. Also, I read that the cookies are fairly soft. Is there a way to make them harder so they actually snap when they break.Thank you
I would try cooking them a bit longer but maybe turn the oven down to 300 after 11 mins
That is such excellent advice👍
Just made these for the first time and they are delish! I followed the recipe exactly. Definitely will make again.