Soft Gingerbread Cookies are chewy, delicious and the perfect cookie for the holidays! This Gingerbread Cookie recipe is full of the flavors of cinnamon, cloves, ginger and molasses and the best part about these cookies is that they stay perfectly soft for several days!
I never thought I liked Gingersnap Cookies until I tried this recipe. The ones from the store are always hard and crunchy and I have always preferred soft cookies so I’m not sure that I ever even gave the flavor much of a chance. I came across a recipe for gingersnap cookies in an old family cookbook that claimed to be “soft” and decided to give it a try. I figured that even if the cookies were a bust, my house would smell like gingerbread!
I was shocked when I tasted these cookies and LOVED them. The consistency and texture is perfectly soft and chewy and the flavor is absolutely incredible! My husband tried them and then kept eating another one. And another one. Then a few more. Every time he ate another one, he would say, “These are SOOOO good!” They really are that good! The cookies are so soft and chewy, I decided they were more of a gingerbread cookie than a gingersnap – I’m pretty sure the ‘snap’ part of the word refers to the hard and crispy consistency of a traditional gingersnap cookie!
Tips for making perfectly soft and chewy Gingerbread Cookies:
- Cream the shortening, sugar, egg and molasses together a little bit longer. If you mix them together for about 2-3 minutes, the texture of your cookies will be better than if you just barely mix them until combined.
- Use high quality cookie sheets. If your cookie sheets are really thin or really dark, your cookies will likely burn on the bottom before the rest of the cookie is fully baked. I’ve recently started using silicone baking mats on my cookie sheets and I love how easy it is to scoop the cookies off of the trays.
- Preheat the oven. This will help your cookies turn out right every time!
- Use a cookie scoop! If you want all your cookies to be perfectly shaped and have them all be the same size, a cookie scoop is the way to go.
- Don’t over bake the cookies – when I take mine out of the oven, they still look slightly under baked but they will continue to bake on the cookie sheet for a couple more minutes so that’s ok! I cooked my gingerbread cookies for 10 minutes exactly and they were perfect. Your oven might be a little bit different, but generally I like to bake my cookies for about a minute or two less than the time given in recipes. If the cookies don’t look baked in the middle, then I will leave them in for another minute or two.
What are the ingredients in soft Gingerbread Cookies?
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp. ginger
- 3/4 cup shortening
- 1 cup sugar (plus about 1/4 cup to roll the dough in before baking)
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup molasses
How do you make soft Gingerbread Cookies?
- In a mixing bowl, mix the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and ginger together. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, cream together the shortening, 1 cup sugar, egg and molasses. Beat with an electric mixer for about 2 minutes.
- Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and mix together until well combined.
- Use a cookie scoop to scoop out tablespoon sized balls and roll them into shape between your hands.
- Place the extra 1/4 cup sugar in a small bowl and dip each cookie ball into the sugar, coating on all sides.
- Place cookie dough balls on a cookie sheet and lightly flatten with the palm of your hand (or the bottom of a measuring cup or glass).
- Bake cookies at 350° for 10 minutes.
What type of molasses do you use in gingerbread cookies?
There are several different types of molasses, but you will want to use cooking molasses when baking gingerbread cookies. Cooking molasses is a blend of fancy and blackstrap molasses and is the kind that you will be able to find most easily at the store. You can use a different variety of molasses in gingerbread cookies, but the flavor will vary based on what type you use. The molasses I used just said “Full Flavor” molasses and was the only kind they had at my grocery store!
Where can I find molasses at the grocery store?
Sometimes it’s tricky to find the molasses, but it is usually by the pancake syrup! Sometimes it will be in the baking aisle near the honey, and occasionally I have seen it in the coffee aisle!
Can you freeze Gingerbread Cookies?
You can freeze Gingerbread Cookies in an airtight container for up to 1 month. Make sure they have been cooled completely before you stack them and place them in the freezer.
How do you keep Gingerbread cookies soft?
Gingerbread cookies will stay soft at room temperature for about 2-3 days as long as they are stored in an airtight container. Usually cookies don’t last more than a couple of days at my house, but if I manage to keep a few longer than that, you can easily soften them by placing half a slice of white sandwich bread in the container with the cookies.
Anyone else have the tradition of new Christmas pajamas every year? We have done it for the kids every year, but last year we started getting matching pajamas for my husband and I too and the kids were so excited that we matched them so we decided to keep up with that tradition. Up until this year, we always waited until Christmas Eve to open the new pajamas but this year, we changed our tradition and opened them on December 1 so that we could enjoy them all month! And yes, that is baby #5! Just ad
Soft Gingerbread Cookies are chewy, delicious and the perfect cookie for the holidays! This Gingerbread Cookie recipe is full of the flavors of cinnamon, cloves, ginger and molasses and the best part about these cookies is that they stay perfectly soft for several days!
Susan says
How many does this make?
Nellie says
About 24-36 cookies, depending on how big you make them!
Donna says
Soft and delicious and Easy!!
Lynn says
I enjoyed making these cookies – quick to make and oh so yummy. I was searching for a software gingerbread recipe and these don’t disappoint. I had to do some searching for the molasses and thought I wasn’t going to make these, but my search paid off! Thanks for a great recipe that I and my family love.
William says
Making these today. But no shortening I’m using butter instead. Using allspice inlieu of clove. We will see how it all works..
Kaylie says
Thank you, William. I hope they turn out great for you! Please let us know
Tapanga says
How did they taste with butter instead of shortening?
Rlaina says
Can you roll these out and use a cookie cutter
Nellie says
I’ve never tried but I think it might! Just make sure to chill the dough beforehand for at least an hour or two.
Kathryn says
These were the best gingerbread cookies I’ve ever made!! Thanks for sharing!
Karen says
Can you make the dough ahead and freeze for baking later?
Nellie says
Absolutely. It’s easier if you freeze the dough in balls and then just pull them out when you want to bake.
Courtney says
I just made these and they turned out perfect! I used gluten free flour and egg replacer. So excited to find this recipe!
Lorrie says
MY cookies flattened out how do I prevent this
Marti C says
Made mine tonight also–to the letter of the recipe. Alas, they were flattened, not at all like the picture. Perhaps a note should be included to chill the dough for a while? They are still delicious, just flat, lol!
Carol Froese says
Yummy! My husband and I made them together. So easy and fun! And they’re delish!
Meredith says
Amazing! My favorite gingerbread cookie recipe
Debbie says
Ahhhhhh-Mazing! These cookies are delicious! Your cookies always deliver the best! And you can’t beat the aroma in the house during the holidays 🙂
Alisa VanderKodde says
I make these every single year!! This by far is the best gingerbread cookie recipe out there! My entire family absolutely LOVES this recipe!!! The only complaint I have is the humongous advertisement along the entire bottom of the screen on your website!! I cannot print anything from here because that blocks all the print. 🙁 It makes me want to find your recipes on other websites…PLEASE FIX IT! That is a terrible eyesore!
terry says
these cookies spread all over the pan. It definitely was not enough flour in them. I added 1/4 C and it still spread all over the pan. Maybe too much shortening?
Nellie says
Bummer! It definitely sounds like something went wrong – I’ve made these dozens of times and the dough is pretty thick so it really shouldn’t spread much at all.
Anne says
Kids said this is the best recipe we’ve done for gingerbread cookies. Vey slight crunch with soft interior.
I used all butter instead of shortening, decreased the baking soda to 1 1/4 tsp, and did not add the outer sugar coating before baking. Also used 1 heaping tsp. of apple pie spice blend in place of the clove and cinnamon because i didn’t have clove on hand. Didn’t chill the dough before rolling because of time crunch, but rolled out on parchment paper and cut into shapes with normal size cookie cutters, about 1/4 inch thick. Didn’t know if they would spread to much, but all the cookies kept their shape and the kids had fun icing them.
I don’t usually leave a review, but this is a good recipe and clear directions.
Traci P says
Slightly crispy edge with a soft, chewy center. They were really good, though I was surprised with how much I could taste the salt. I will try again with 1/4 tsp.
I accidentally grabbed my 1.5 tbsp cookie scoop, so I added a minute to the baking and they were perfect. Thanks for sharing!
Roberta J says
Wonderful taste, everyone loved them! I did have to add another 1-2 minutes to the baking time for my old oven which I don’t think is terribly accurate anymore. Just beware that you may need to play just a bit with timing as ovens can be so individual. Mine were slightly more flat but stayed soft on the inside with just a tiny bit of crispiness to the outside. Absolutely perfect and kept very well for a week.
Thanks for this wonderful recipe that I can’t wait to make again!
Sonja says
These cookies are so yummy! I just made them for the first time, and they are a keeper! I did look thru the comments, did anyone resolve how to make them not so flat? I followed exact recipe, even using light colored cooking sheets, but disappointed that mine definitely don’t look like the picture! Anyone have suggestions? 2 tsp of baking soda is good, but should I use more? Chill dough?
Christina says
Delicious and so easy. I did up the spices a bit. Thanks so much for posting.