Soft Ginger Cookies
This post may contain affiliate links.
If you want a bakery-style ginger cookie that is soft, chewy and has a crunchy sugar coating, this recipe for Soft Ginger Cookies is just for you.
QUICKLY JUMP TO:
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
I have been trying to perfect a recipe for a big, soft, chewy ginger cookie for some time now and I think I finally did it! These Soft Ginger Cookies are tender, chewy, with sugar crystal crunch and simple to make.
There’s nothing better than the smell of your house when cookies are baking and these spiced ginger cookies will do just that! I think they are close second to my all time faves – Pumpkin Spiced Cookies. Here are some other cookies to add to the cookie jar: Soft Molasses Cookies, Snickerdoodles, Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies, Brown Butter Carrot Cookies
Ingredients to Make Soft Ginger Cookies
- All purpose flour – spoon into your measuring cup and level with a knife or your finger.
- Spices – a blend of ground ginger, cinnamon, and cloves add that perfect spice to these ginger cookies.
- Butter – all recipes on Farmgirl Gourmet are tested using unsalted butter, unless otherwise noted.
- Sugar – you’ll want a coarse demerara sugar for the coating on the cookies to give it that nice crunch, but in a pinch, white sugar will work also.
- Crystallized Ginger – is ginger that is sliced and then simmered in a sugar syrup and dried. The interior is still soft with a crystallized sugar exterior. Make sure you keep it in an airtight container to keep it fresh longer. I buy mine from Spiceology.
- Fresh Ginger – adds that fresh zing to this cookie. I always keep a zip top bag of ginger in my freezer. It’s easy to peel with a spoon and even easier to grate with a microplane or fine box grater into any dish or recipe.
- Eggs – all recipes on Farmgirl Gourmet are developed using large eggs.
- Molasses – unsulfured molasses is made from ripe sugar cane and doesn’t require any sulphur dioxide to preserve it. This makes for a cleaner tasting molasses and is ideal for baking and savory cooking.
Find the printable recipe with exact measurements and step-by-step instructions below.
How to Make Ginger Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line 3 large cookie sheets with parchment paper, set aside.
- In a large bowl whisk together the flour, ground ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer, add the butter and 2 cups sugar and mix well to combine. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the molasses fresh ginger and blend well. Finally add in the dry ingredients and chopped crystallized ginger and mix on low until dough comes together. Don’t over beat.
- Use a large hinged scoop or 1/4 cup measure to scoop out dough. Roll between your palms to make a ball and roll in the demerara sugar. Place dough balls about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake 14-16 minutes until the tops begin to crack. Remove and allow to cool before storing.
Tips for Storing & Freezing Cookies
- Storing – in a cookie jar or airtight container (or zip top bag) for up to a week…if they last that long.
- How to freeze cookies – place a layer of cookies in a large freezer zip top bag. Place a piece of parchment paper over and stack another layer. This will make them easier to remove a few if you’re not planning to use the entire bag.
More Cookie Recipes
Links to other cookie recipes on Farmgirl Gourmet.
- Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Brown Butter Carrot Cookies
- Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies
Soft Ginger Cookies
Recommended Tools
- Hinged Scoop - Large
Ingredients
- 4 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 4 tsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground cloves
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup molasses, unsulfured
- 2 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- ⅓ cup crystallized ginger, chopped
- ½ cup demerara sugar, or sanding sugar, for rolling the dough balls
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line 3 large cookie sheets with parchment paper, set aside.
- In a large bowl whisk together the flour, ground ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer, add the butter and 2 cups sugar and mix well to combine. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the molasses fresh ginger and blend well. Finally add in the dry ingredients and chopped crystallized ginger and mix on low until dough comes together. Don't over beat.
- Use a large hinged scoop or 1/4 cup measure to scoop out dough. Roll between your palms to make a ball and roll in the demerara sugar. Place dough balls about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake 14-16 minutes until the tops begin to crack. Remove and allow to cool before storing.
Save this Recipe!
Easily save this recipe to your own recipe collection box and come back to it anytime you want!
Recipe Video
Notes
Nutrition
* Nutritional information is not guaranteed to be accurate.
Did you try this recipe?
Please consider Leaving a Review!Recipe By:
Co-Founder at Spiceology | More About Heather…
Heather is a recipe developer and content creator living in Vancouver, Washington. She started Farmgirl Gourmet in 2006, almost 20 years ago, as a way to share recipes with friends and family. Heather is also the co-founder of Spiceology , a unique spice company, which she started in 2013. She shares family friendly recipes for easy everyday meals with a gourmet twist.
Made the cookies according to the recipe. They tasted fantastic however they really spread out and look nothing like the recipe picture. We did use the 1 1/2 cups of butter that the recipe calls for. We tried chilling the dough to see if that helped but it didn’t. Can you please give us some insight for better results.
Oh no Sharon! I have them on my list to bake tomorrow and will make sure I update the recipe (and you) if something is amiss. Others have had success, but I want to make sure they are perfect! ~heather
great cookies , Too bad about the printing !
Awesome Recipe and in my daughters words ‘it’s a family tradition now and we need to make these every month, right mom!” They turned out perfectly and it’s exactly the recipe I was hoping to find!
Soft ginger cookies: Your recipe says “3 sticks” of butter, no matter whether it’s doubling, tripling, or halving. It’s not being changed by the algorithm.
Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I have updated the recipe. Appreciate your help. ~heather
I really love this recipe and hope you will too!