These Ginger Snap Cookies are soft and chewy with a crisp edge. An easy Christmas cookie recipe that are perfect for any holiday cookie spread, but great any time of year!
Ginger Snap Recipe
Serve these Ginger Snap Cookies on a holiday table with Christmas Oreo Bon Bons, Slow Cooker Candied Almonds, and Chocolate Crinkle Cookies.
If you want to keep with the ginger theme, you could also pair it with an easy gingerbread cake with cream cheese frosting!
Do you go to holiday cookie exchanges? I always make cookies, but I’ve never been to an actual exchange. I feel like this ginger snaps recipe would make the perfect batch of cookies to swap.
I polled my friends asking their favorite holiday cookie to help me narrow down what I wanted to bake this weekend. I got a couple requests for cookies I’ve already shared but one friend suggested ginger snaps and this recipe came about.
I consulted a very old cookbook passed down from my grandma for a recipe and am thrilled with the results.
A soft and chewy, spicy, holiday cookie that smells amazing when it’s baking in your kitchen.
Fire up a holiday simmer pot and let the season begin!
Ginger Snaps Ingredients
Below is a list of the ingredients you’ll need to gather to make this recipe, why you need them, and possible substitutions. Scroll all the way down for the full recipe card with measurements.
Jump- Sugar – Granulated white sugar.
- Butter – Unsalted, at room temperature.
- Molasses – Baking molasses – usually light or “original”.
- Egg – One large egg.
- Flour – All-purpose white flour.
- Baking Soda – To add rise.
- Cinnamon – Use a good quality ceylon cinnamon.
- Ginger – Ground ginger.
- Cloves – Ground cloves.
- Nutmeg – Ground nutmeg.
- Salt – For balance.
How to make Ginger Snap Cookies
This section shows you how to make this recipe, with process photos showing the steps to help you visualize it. For full instructions, including amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card below.
JumpMaking ginger snap cookies is surprisingly easy, but you do need to allow time for the dough to chill and come together.
- STEP ONE: To a large bowl, add the sugar, butter, molasses, and egg and beat with a hand mixer until on medium until light and fluffy.
- STEP TWO: Add in the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and salt. Stir it together with a spatula until fully combined.
Cover the bowl of dough with plastic wrap and let chill for at least an hour. - STEP THREE: Pour 1/2 cup of sugar into a shallow bowl. As you scoop the dough into approximately 1″ balls with a cookie scoop, roll the balls in your hands, then in the sugar, and place 12 per sheet on the prepared cookie sheets.
- STEP FOUR: Bake at 350 degrees for 9-10 minutes or until just set. They will puff up then flatten as they bake. Remove from the oven and let cool on the cookie sheets for a minute before removing.
Are ginger snaps supposed to be spicy?
Ginger snaps are not hot spicy, but they do have a nice warmth to them thanks to the ginger, cinnamon, and cloves.
Why are they called ginger snaps?
The name ginger snaps comes from the fact that these cookies are typically very crispy and make a “snap” sound when broken and are filled with ginger.
My version have a crisp edge with a chewy center (don’t over bake them!) and are full of holiday spices. Ginger snaps are a derivation of gingerbread.
What is molasses & why is molasses used in baking?
Molasses is a thick, dark syrup that is made during the sugar making process. Sugar cane or sugar beets are crushed and then the juice is extracted. The juice is then boiled down to form sugar crystals, which are then removed from the liquid. That is the molasses.
Molasses is used in baking to add great brown sugar flavor to cakes and cookies without making them too sweet.
Soft & chewy molasses cookies are similar to these ginger snaps and equally delicious.
Helpful Tools
- Mixing Bowls – I love the grippy bottoms of these bowls so they stay still while you’re mixing.
- Hand Mixer – As much as I love my stand mixer, I use my hand mixer much more often.
- Spatulas – I love these one piece silicone spatulas because they’re easy to clean.
- Silicone Baking Mats – Using either baking mats or parchment paper will help your cookies to bake evenly and make clean up easier.
- Cookie Scoop – I can’t remember the last time I made cookies without using a scoop. It makes life easier & your cookies will be even.
Need more Christmas cookies recipes? Try these:
Dark Chocolate Stars
Crisp Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Cream Cheese Sprinkle Cookies
Christmasdoodles (Snickerdoodles)
Sprinkled Chocolate Fudge Cookie Bites
Click here for my entire collection of cookies.
Did You Make This?
If you made this recipe, I’d love to know how it went in the comments section below.
You can also tag me on Instagram – @melissa_ppplates or share a pic in the Persnickety Plates Community Facebook group. I love seeing what you’ve tried!
Soft and Chewy Ginger Snaps
Video
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup (198 g) granulated white sugar
- ¾ cup (168 g) unsalted butter at room temp
- ¼ cup (85 g) molasses
- 1 large egg
- 2 ½ cups (300 g) all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons (12 g) baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon (2 g) kosher salt
- granulated white sugar for rolling
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add the sugar, butter, molasses, and egg and beat on medium until light and fluffy.1 cup granulated white sugar, 3/4 cup unsalted butter, 1/4 cup molasses, 1 large egg
- Add in the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and salt, Stir well with a spatula until fully combined.2 ½ cups all purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour.granulated white sugar
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Pour approximately 1/2 cup of sugar into a small bowl (for rolling).
- Use a medium cookie scoop (#60; 2 tsp) to shape the dough into approx. 1" balls. Roll in sugar and place 12 per baking sheet onto your prepared sheets.
- Bake for 9-10 minutes or until just set (they will puff up then flatten while baking).
- Remove from oven and let stand on the cookie sheet for 1 minute before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- I generally use a #40 cookie scoop (approx. 1.5 Tbsp) to make 1″ dough balls.
- 12/21/25 – After feedback, I increased the flour to 2 1/2 cups flour (300g). The recipe originally called for 2 1/4 cup (270g). I personally like a flatter cookie but 300g will lead to a thicker cookie.
- Store leftovers covered at room temperature for up to a week.
- To freeze before baking – scoop dough balls, roll in sugar, and then freeze flash freeze on a baking sheet. Once frozen solid, move to a freezer bag or container for up to 3 months. Bake from frozen adding a minute to the bake time.
- To freeze after baking – lay cookies in a freezer bag with parchment between layers for up to a two months. When you’re ready to eat them, just put however many on the counter at room temp a few hours before you need them.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag me on Instagram @melissa_pplates so I can see!What’s your favorite holiday cookie recipe? Are you trying any new ones this year?
This post was originally sponsored by McCormick®. All opinions are my own, as always.
Delicious cookies! Ginger snaps are my favorite and this recipe is very good! Thanks! PS – God bless your patience with commenters.
ha, thank you for the sweet comment (& observation lol) ❤️
Delicious. Made for my father’s 89th birthday last month. He liked them so much, he (who is not a baker) asked for the recipe and made two batches today by himself. They turned out excellent.
I love that so much. Thank you for telling me 🙂
These are delicious and so simple to make! I made them a few years ago for some family & friends around the holidays and they quickly became my own little tradition since. I believe this is year four or five! I always gift them in the metal tins you can find at Dollar Tree and discovered that covering them tightly truly is the way to go to keep them chewy. They still kept very well, just became a little more crunchy.
I am hoping to make my first gluten free batch this year for a friend — should simply subbing in GF flour do the trick? Not sure if you’ve tested or not.
Thank you for this wonderful recipe that brings me and my loved ones so much joy this time of year! No candle can match the heavenly smell these fill my home with. Happy Holidays!
Aww, thank you! I love knowing that they’ve become a tradition for you.
I have not tested with GF flour but I’m told the 1:1 (like King Arthur) do well.
Same thing happened to me as many other reviewers reported … the cookies flattened out thinner than a pancake, hence they def took up too much space on the cookie sheet and blended in with each other. 12 per sheet was way too many. My presumption is that the dough needed more flour. I bake a lot and I much prefer to measure my ingredients in grams on the scale. There’s too much variance when you measure dry ingredients in cups, but I thought I’d give it a go this time bc I didn’t feel like looking up the conversions. I was wrong. Please convert to metric bc the flavor of these cookies is fantastic. I’d def like to try them again if I can measure my ingredients in grams.
Hoping for metric conversions for this recipe. Flavor is fantastic. But must be something off with how I’m measuring flour. They spread a ton and I had to add several extra minutes and they still didn’t cook enough before the outside was too crispy.
I followed your directions exactly by using Kerrygold butter. The results were perfect. Since there are only 12 cookies per pan, I expected them to spread out. They are not a thick cookie. Thin and chewy. Delicious!
Thanks, Claire!
These cookies were amazing!! Perfectly balanced seasoning with just the right amount of ginger! Will definitely make again!!
Thanks, Raeann!
Flavor good, soft and chewy but spread out too thin when I baked them. I think it needs more flour? ?IDK I will have to try a different recipe.
I used this recipe and my cookies came out perfectly! I’ve seen a lot of comments about how other people’s cookies spread out over their cookie sheets as they baked, however, mine were perfect and thick and delicious. I suspect the reason for the thin cookies from other posters may be that they did not chill the dough for at least an hour.
Omggggg I have eaten ~8 of these just today! They’re absolutely wonderful! Perfectly soft, strongly flavored, with a nice crisp exterior. My only issue baking them (and I have one of those weird combo oven-microwaves) is I could not let the cookies sit even a minute more than 9, or they’d start to harden and quickly burn. When you (I) first take them out, they appear super underdone in the middle, but they just need to rest until cooled on the cookie sheet to firm up and then they’re perfectly done. Can’t praise these enough! The new taste of the holidays for me.
Yay =) I may have made them yesterday & have eaten just as many lol
Really good! And easy!
Thanks<3
You’re welcome!
Overall decent recipe with how they baked out, but I think I’ll play with the spice ratios as I didn’t find the ginger came through as much as I would like.
Absolutely loved this recipe!! My husband asked me to make them again soon after our first batch! We shared cookies with our neighbors who asked for the recipe, too! It’s so delicious!
Yay! Thanks for letting me know 🙂
THESE COOKIES TURNED OUT PERFECTLY. I MADE THEM WITH MY DAUGHTER WE LOVE HOW CHEWY THE ARE AND A SLIGHT HARD SHELL. DELICIOUS! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE RECIPE! MUCH APPRECIATED 👏
Thanks, Roxane!