These easy, homemade gingersnap cookies are thin and crispy, and rolled in sparkly coarse sugar for the perfect crunchy ginger snap cookie recipe. These ginger snaps are a great make ahead cookie - either bake them ahead, or store the frozen cookie dough in the freezer for later!
Hi hi! Just popping in to share the recipe for these homemade gingersnap cookies!
This ginger snap cookie recipe is a twist on my soft and chewy ginger molasses cookies - I tweaked the recipe to make it a little thinner, and baked them longer to give the perfect thin gingersnap cookie that is crunchy around the edges and slightly chewy in the middle. If you're familiar with gingernut biscuits, these are my perfect version of that! They make a great holiday cookie, but to be honest, I make these year round.
The best part? These are done in 30 minutes - the dough is ready to go by the time your oven is preheated.
How to make Thin and Crispy Cookies - the recipe testing process
I often get a lot of questions about how I tweak a recipe - now that I have been running my food blog for a number of years, I often turn to my own recipes as a jumping off point when working on a new recipe.
For this ginger snap recipe, I used my ginger molasses cookies as a starting point. I love the recipe, but wanted something slightly thinner and crunchier, so here are the changes that I made, which are often changes I make in other cookie recipes too to manipulate them how I like.
- Changed the ratio of brown sugar to white sugar. My ginger molasses cookies have a higher ratio of brown sugar to white, which makes them thicker and spread less. I switched up the ratios for these ginger snap cookies, meaning the cookies spread more, and have a perfect chewy texture which gets crunchy around the edges.
- Drop the flour content sightly. This increases the ratio of butter to flour, meaning the cookie spreads a little more in the oven.
- Increase the molasses. I tweaked it by just a little, but this help with spread.
- Increase baking soda. I use baking soda rather than baking powder in the cookies, and increased the quantity slightly to ensure there was enough to give the cookies a little rise and not be cancelled out by the molasses. My general rule is baking soda helps with spread, and baking powder helps with puff.
- Bake for longer. This is a pretty simple one, but to get that lovely crunchy gingersnap cookie, I increased the bake time slightly. If you want them even more crunchy, bake them for a little longer!
Community Review
“These are amazing!! Will absolutely be making again. May have smashed back one too many when soft and warm out of the oven but they're just as good when cooled and crispy. Giving me crunchy dunkable gingernut vibes which I haven't found in a recipe before!”
—Kylie
How to freeze cookie dough
This gingersnap cookie recipe is great to make ahead - the dough stores super well frozen, so you can pull it out and bake whenever you need.
It is important to not coat the balls of dough in the sugar before you freeze them, otherwise the sugar will get all weird and weepy when you bring them out to re bake.
To freeze the dough, scoop it out, roll into balls, then flash freeze the dough and store in the freezer in an airtight container or bag for up to three months.
For more tips and tricks on freezing dough and baking from frozen, check out my post: How to freeze cookie dough
How to bake Gingersnaps from Frozen
I tested this out with some of the gingersnap cookie dough that I had frozen, and found that the best way to bake the frozen dough and get the most similar outcome is to bake it at a lower temperature - 325°f / 160°c (I cover this more on other cookies in my post on how to freeze cookie dough). This gives the frozen dough more time to spread.
When you are ready to bake from frozen, remove the dough from the freezer and leave it to stand at room temperature to soften very slightly while the oven preheats. This makes the surface of the cookie dough ball slightly sticky, and means the sugar will stick to the outside.
Roll the cookies in sugar and bake for 17-18 minutes or until the cookies are your desired level of doneness.
❤️ Made this recipe and love it? ❤️
I would LOVE for you to leave me a review and star rating below to let me know how you liked it! Also, please make sure to tag me on Instagram!
Answers to your baking questions
Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:
- baking in grams
- adjusting oven temperatures
- what kind of salt to use
- and many more!
I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!
30 Minute Thin and Crispy Gingersnap Cookies
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 22 cookies 1x
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These easy, homemade gingersnap cookies are thin and crispy, and rolled in sparkly coarse sugar for the perfect crunchy ginger snap cookie recipe. These ginger snaps are a great make ahead cookie - either bake them ahead, or store the frozen cookie dough in the freezer for later!
Ingredients
- 225g butter, at room temperature
- 100g light or dark brown sugar
- 200g granulated sugar
- 40g unsulphured molasses (blackstrap works too)
- 1 large egg (50g without the shell), at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 290g all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp (6g) baking soda
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 4 tsp (8g) ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground cardamom
- Turbinado / demerara / raw sugar for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°f / 180°c. Line 2-3 baking sheets with parchment paper (you may have to bake these in several batches depending on how many trays your oven can tolerate).
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and molasses together on high speed until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix to combine. Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and spices in a small bowl. Add to the mixer and mix on low until just combined.
- Using a 2 tbsp spring loaded cookie scoop, scoop balls of dough (approx 45g each), and place them onto a prepared baking sheet. I like to do 6 on each sheet then increase to 8 when I know how much space they will take up. Roll each ball of dough between your hands to form a ball, then roll in the turbinado sugar before placing on the baking sheet. Leave any mixture that you are not baking off just yet in the bowl and scoop just before baking.
- Bake the cookies for 16-17 minutes or until puffy and set around the edges. Remove from the oven, and if you like, scoot the cookies into a rounder shape using a cookie cutter slightly larger than the cookie. Cool on the pan for 5 minutes - the cookies will deflate slightly as they cool. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely. Repeat the baking process with the remaining cookie dough.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
Notes
If you want your ginger snap cookies to be more crunchy, increase the bake time by 1-2 minutes.
Store gingersnap cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. They will keep for up to a week stored correctly.
I haven't tried freezing the baked cookie - I would freeze the dough as fresh baked is always so much nicer!
I also made these with my one teaspoon cookie scoop, which makes dough balls that are 6g in size. I followed the recipe as written but just scooped them smaller and did 20 per half sheet pan (they do spread a little), and baked them for 10-11 minutes for super crunchy, delicious cookies! I got about 6 pans worth, which gave me 120 cookies.
Comments
Shannon Harmsworth says
Thanks for another great recipe
Erin Clarkson says
They look perfect!
Kristy Smith says
Hello! My cookies spread massively (even though I measured them to be 45g each and only put 6 per tray). Should I chill the dough? Thank you! ❤️
Erin Clarkson says
Hi, yep you can chill the dough but it's likely an oven issue if it is running too hot or cool!
Imy says
I’m obsessed with these biscuits! Easy to make and great spicing, these are already a firm favourite in our house.
Sharon Haxton says
how do you measure 40grams of molassis. I cannot imagine the mess
i would make attempting to measure the weight of sticky molassis on a scale. Will you please provide a liquid measure like tablespoons or milliliters for the molassis.
Erin Clarkson says
Hi Sharon, you put a bowl on the scale and measure into that. Hope that helps!
Julie H says
You put the container on the scale and zero it out, then fill the container until you get the right weight.
jamie says
The best for dunking in coffee, already made a few times.
Alexa says
10/10 easy, quick, and delicious
Esther Lee says
Made these as part of my christmas cookie box and they were THE most asked about item in the box. Super easy to double the recipe + they freeze well, directions for baking from frozen were sooo easy. Erin never fails me !
Kylie says
I have made these biscuits many times. They are amazing 👌🏼
Tamara says
This is an excellent recipe! I made the recipe last year but left out the cardamom mostly cause I didn’t have any. So they were good but not as good as they could’ve been. This year I went through the effort of grinding up cardamom pods, because that’s what I had, and added them as for the recipe. These were seriously the best ginger snaps I have ever made. People were raving about them! I cannot say enough good things about this recipe ! Do not leave out the cardamom!
Maya says
I’ve made these ginger snap biscuits twice since Christmas. Both times they came out perfectly and I can’t get over how simple and quick they are to make! The recipe notes are super helpful and as always, measuring in grams is so easy, especially for cleanup!
Ana says
The perfect ginger snap with a good amount of ginger bite. I love that I can tweak the texture by baking a little longer or shorter to get chewy cookies or crunchy bikkies. Super easy to make, esp with the weights specified - means no measuring cups or spoons to wash up. These are going on permanent rotation!
Cindy E. says
Made these tonight and added 1 tsp freshly grated ginger and 1/3 cp mini candied ginger. Holy WOW, these are our new favorite gingersnaps! I did bake for 18 minutes because we like ‘em crispy. These are going to be so good with our morning coffee. 🙂
Tarapuhi Vaeau says
Didn’t have flour so I used flower instead and it was really gross. Nah JK delicious cookies!
jess says
I nearly made a terrible mistake. First, I didn't realise that I'd run out of ginger. Ok, we'll just do extra cinnamon and cardamon. Then, I put coriander powder instead of cardamom! Somehow though, these have still turned out beautifully and do not taste at all like a curry. Excellent recipe, I'll try again with ginger next time!
Cindy E. says
I’ve FINALLY found the perfect Gingersnap, thank you, thank you! We love these with our coffee in the morning. I’ve made them four times now…the last two times I added 50 g minced candied ginger and about 5 g freshly grated ginger. (We like ginger a lot, can you tell?) LOL
Julia says
Hi! Do you prefer light or dark sugar? I’m conflicted!
Erin Clarkson says
Either works 🙂 we don't have light and dark in nz - ours is probably somewhere in between (that's not very helpful sorry!)
Leslie Elliottsmith says
I made these yesterday. I like that you state options for ingredients and as with most cooks, a recipe is a starting point. I will say I never follow a recipe to the letter since I will reduce the sugar and fat everytime if I feel I can do so and not compromise the recipe. I reduced the white sugar to half and the butter by 1/3. They came out great, crispy, but in the future I would add one more teaspoon ginger and a touch of cayenne for more spice.
Dawn says
Quickly became a favorite recipe in our house. I fold in chopped candied ginger which takes it over the top. Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe!
Deniz says
Great recipe! The spice mix was nice. I changed a few things to make it applicable to the needs of my family so they were more cakey than crunchy. Very delicious and my family loved them
AA says
These are sooo good! I used cake flour, forgot the cardamom powder, left out the vanilla, baked it on lightly greased trays without parchment paper for 14-15 mins and it came out wonderful! So tasty and perfectly spiced.
And for the first time ever, I've got such visually appealing cookies as well!
McKlem says
Mighty fine cookie recipe. I used a 1 tablespoon scoop. Baked some for 12 minutes--crispy on the edges, chewy in the middle. Baked some for 14 minutes--very crispy and the caramel flavor of the sugars was more pronounced. Both were winners.
Krys says
Perfection! I used Ardent Mills Gluten Free flour and they came out great. And very uniform without needing any extra nudging needed.
Lori says
Just made them, and they taste like your just eating brown sugar. I won't make this again. Not good
Erin Clarkson says
Hi Lori, it sounds like your spices might be expired if you can only taste the brown sugar!
Kate says
Thanks for the wonderful recipe. I added 2 tsp ginger (yes we love ginger!) and 1/4 tsp cloves and I just loved the spice! I have a question though cos they were crispy at first but became hard the following day. How should I store them to keep them crispy please? Thanks heaps
Erin Clarkson says
Hi! You can try storing them different ways, I usually do at room temperature in an airtight container but you can try putting a piece of bread in with them and seeing if that helps (that will probably just soften them though)
Amy Katlan says
These are perfect! They made the most beautiful addition to our Christmas neighbor boxes.
We’ve made this recipe more than a few times now and it’s always perfect!
I topped one batch with coarse sugar and they were so beautiful!
Ive also added a 1/4 tsp of cayenne for some heat and then dipped in white chocolate- they were outrageously good.
I love the crunch! So many recipes are just soft with a little crisp. These are the ginger snaps of my childhood.
Erin Clarkson says
Yay I am so happy you loved!
Marv says
I understand the yield reflects a 1x batch. However, when you print the recipe for 2x and 3x, the yield on the printout reads a yield of 22 cookies as opposed to 44 and 66 cookies, respectively.
Erin Clarkson says
Hi, that's an issue with my recipe card sorry, you will just need to take a wee mental note of it or change the yield manually with a pen 🙂
Marv says
LOL! Sorry, I was an OCD chemical engineer and biochemist in my past life. The cookies are AWESOME and an instant hit with my friends! It's all about that crunch!!! I'm a fan. Thnx
Doc says
Unforced error: no weights for some ingredients. Preferred unit for spices is mg to allow replication of the ratios when we need to use odd scaling factors.
Kira Fracasso says
Made these yesterday- best gingersnap recipe I’ve baked to date! Hit all my pregnancy cravings. I couldn’t find cardamom in store so I just added extra cinnamon and they still delish ❤️
Kathleen says
I just tasted my first cookies from your recipe. I’m sending these off to my grandson. He loves gingersnap cookies and he’s going to go crazy for these. So crunchy and the spice level is perfect. This is definitely a keeper! Thank you!
Madison MC says
I made this recipe today and the cookies are outstanding! Made my second pan of cookies smaller just to see how they would turn out and they were also wonderful. I did add slightly more flour as dough wasn't stable enough to roll into balls -I think that was because my conversion from grams to ounces was not spot on! Digital scale ordered!
Heather says
Hi, excellent cookies, best flavour but I can't get them to flatten like yours, they puff up after about six minutes and only drop slightly. I use a fan assisted oven, could that be the issue?
Erin Clarkson says
Hi! Yes, if you are running the oven with fan assist then they won't sink down as much.
Tomi says
Finally a GINGER snap recipe with GINGER!! I can't wait to make these with fresh milled flour. Thanks!