A crisp crunchy edge surrounding a chewy texture in the center. A perfect balance of sweet brown sugar and molasses with the spice from the fresh ginger. A great recipe for classic ginger snap cookies to brighten up your holiday season with every bite you take!
Less than a week to go before Christmas is here! I was so busy with all the Christmas crafts, decorations, and shopping, plus planning for a short weekend getaway with the family that I ran out of time to bake some of my favorite cookies for Christmas celebrations. (I did manage to squeeze in some Gingerbread man cookies last week though).
So, when I heard that my best friend Mandy, who is the best baker ever, offered to come over and help me make giant ginger snap cookies, I jumped at the chance so that our family wouldn’t have to go through the holiday season without these amazing cookies.
What is a Ginger Snap Cookie?
These ginger cookies are called ginger snap cookies because they are traditionally baked till crisp and crunchy. They originated from Germany and are called “schnappen” there. This means the snapping sound you get from snapping your fingers. Hence when you bite or break into these giant cookies they have a ‘snap’ sound thus the name! These snappy cookies are renowned for their sweetness and spiciness as well as their sugary tops.
This recipe for ginger snap cookies has been adapted from a recipe in Better Homes and Gardens magazine (not sure if there is an online version). Instead of being an entirely crisp and snappy crunchy cookie, this cookie has a chewy inside making them chewy gingersnap cookies, but I thought it was a good idea to give some variety to our favorite holiday cookie by making the centers chewier but the outsides still remain authentically crisp.
These crispy and chewy gingersnaps are best eaten by themselves in my personal opinion. This way its great flavor is the first thing that you taste when you take a massive bite. However eating them with a cup of milk, coffee, hot chocolate or tea are also amazing ways to eat these Christmas cookies. These ginger snap cookies can also be eaten with vanilla ice cream like ice cream sandwiches.
Ginger Snap Cookies vs Gingerbread Cookies
If you’ve seen my Gingerbread man cookies recipe or if you’ve never tried either one of these classic Christmas cookies, you may wonder how they differ. Well simply speaking, ginger snap cookies are crispier than gingerbread cookies which tend to be completely chewy cookies. Gingersnap cookies also have a more concentrated ginger flavor whereas gingerbread is sweeter but the taste of cinnamon, cloves and ginger are all prominent within each bite.
GINGER SNAP COOKIES
scroll ⬇️ to get the detailed and printable recipe
Dry Ingredients in this Ginger Snap Cookie Recipe
- all-purpose flour
- baking soda
This has a leavening effect on our gingersnap cookie recipe.
- ground cinnamon and ground cloves and ground ginger
These are the spices that give the ginger snap cookies their spiciness.
- salt
A tad bit of salt enhances the flavors of all the ingredients.
It melts at a higher temperature compared to butter, so it makes this ginger snap cookie recipe produce cookies that rise more uniformly.
- granulated sugar
This sweetens this ginger snap cookies recipe.
Wet Ingredients in this Ginger Snap Cookie Recipe
- Eggs
- Molasses
Also known as black treacle, it is a unique sweetener obtained from raw sugar during the refining process. It is not as sweet as sugar, but it is definitely more viscous and dark in color. This ginger snap cookies recipe gives our ginger snap cookies a classic brown color while also adding depth.
Baking Tips for the Perfect Cookie
- For equal-sized cookies, you can use a cookie scoop or a small ice cream scoop. If you have neither, use ¼ cup of the dough for each cookie
- Preheat the oven to 350F before starting your preparations (around 20 to 30 minutes before baking). The heat helps your cookies rise more evenly and turn out like this delicious cookie recipe.
- For more flavorful sweeter cookies with crisp edges on the top of the cookies, a pro tip is to roll the cookie dough balls in cinnamon sugar and candied ginger or simply add the cinnamon powder into the coarse sugar in a large bowl and mix them evenly.
- Always let your ginger snap cookies cool at room temperature on a wire rack once it is out of the oven. The soft-looking cookies will start to become crispier after it has cooled.
- In accordance with the holiday spirit, you can place stencils on the cooled ginger snap cookies and dust them with powdered sugar for different holiday designs that just make this season all the merrier.
- We reduced the sugar a little as we did not want the cookies to be too sweet after the dusting. If you skipped the dusting, you might add back the deducted 1/2 cup of granulated sugar to the ginger snap cookies recipe.
- Since I don’t have a store-bought stencil for the holiday theme, I made my own stencil by using the snowflakes and star paper punches; simply punch on a clean round card stock.
How to Store Ginger Snap Cookies
After they’re cooled, just keep them in an airtight container, and you can easily enjoy this holiday favorite for about a week!
If you have tried this Ginger Snap Cookies recipe and loved it, I have more recipes in my recipe section for you to master. For more cookie recipes, you can try my Gingerbread man cookies, Hello Kitty cookies, animal cookies, and Burger cookies.
GIANT GINGER SNAP COOKIE RECIPE
This recipe was adapted from a recipe in Better Homes and Gardens magazine (not sure if there is an online version). We reduced the sugar a little as we did not want the cookies to be too sweet after the dusting. If you skipped the dusting, you may add back the deducted 1/2 cup of granulated sugar to the recipe.
Enjoy baking them!
Ingredients
Cookies
- 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 5 tsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground cloves
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 ½ cups shortening
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup molasses
Decorations
- ¾ cup coarse sugar
- Powdered sugar or confectioners’ sugar & choice of the stencil for dusting decoration
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. In a medium bowl sift together flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt; set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl beat shortening with an electric mixer on high speed for 30 seconds. (Picture 3) Gradually add the 2 cups granulated sugar. Beat until combined, scraping sides of the bowl. Beat in eggs and molasses until combined. (Picture 4) Beat in as much of the flour mixture as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour mixture.
- Place the ¾ cup coarse sugar in a small bowl. Using ¼ cup of the dough for each cookie (you may use a smaller ice cream scoop to measure), shape dough into balls.
- Roll balls in coarse sugar to coat. (Picture 7) Place balls about 1 inch apart on a non-greased cookie sheet. Lightly press the dough with your hand to flatten it a little. (Picture 8)
- Bake for 12 to 14 minutes (5 to 7 minutes for smaller cookie) or until the cookies are lightly browned and puffed. (Do not over bake or cookies will not be chewy.) Cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Place stencil on the completely cooled giant gingersnap cookies, dust powdered sugar on the cookie. Remove stencil carefully.
Notes
- We reduced the sugar a little as we did not want the cookies to be too sweet after the dusting. If you skipped the dusting, you may add another 1/2 cup of granulated sugar to the recipe.
- To store: Layer cookies between sheets of waxed paper in an airtight container: cover. Store at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Get the full article at https://www.craftpassion.com/giant-ginger-snap-cookies-recipe/
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 20 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 408Total Fat: 16gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 27mgSodium: 167mgCarbohydrates: 63gFiber: 1gSugar: 41gProtein: 4g