Gingersnaps

These cookies bring back such memories for me. They’re most well-known as gingersnaps but we’ve always called them ginger sparkles. Because they sparkle! And who doesn’t need a little sparkle in their life?

My mom has made them for years, as long as I can remember. My aunt could live on them. I think she’d be perfectly happy if gingersnaps were her only Christmas gift every year.

About these gingersnaps

Warm cozy spices. These gingersnap cookies are bursting with flavor thanks to lots of ginger, cinnamon, and molasses. They are exactly what you imagine a gingersnap should be, full of sweet snappy flavor! (They taste a million times better than store-bought gingersnaps.)

Tried and tested. Although we’ve been making these cookies for years, we decided to run our gingersnap cookie recipe through a few tests to see if we could actually improve on it. We tried making the dough with butter because well, butter! We found that using butter made the dough too soft and difficult to roll into balls, plus the cookies spread too much when baked. Because chilling the cookie dough is essential to some cookie recipes, we thought we better try that, too (both with butter and with shortening). It made absolutely no difference in the end result. The cookies were exactly the same. The recipe you see below turns out perfectly!

Sturdy enough for longer storage. You’ll find that gingersnap cookies store well. They’ll keep on the counter for a week or two (if they stick around that long!) and they freeze really well. You can also freeze the dough balls to bake when you’re ready. Gingersnaps aren’t fragile or crumbly which makes them a good choice for mailing.

Ingredient Notes

• All Purpose Flour: Just plain ol’ regular flour. Make sure you spoon it lightly into the measuring cup so it isn’t packed down. Always use a measuring cup intended for dry ingredients.
• Shortening: You can find shortening in the baking aisle of the grocery store. Crisco is a name brand. As I mentioned before, we tested these with butter and the cookies just don’t turn out as well.
• Sugar: Use granulated white sugar, nothing fancy here. The cookies are rolled in sugar, too, before baking.
• Baking Soda, Salt: Baking soda gives the cookies their distinctive crackle top. Don’t substitute baking powder because that won’t have the same effect. Salt enhances the flavor of the cookies.
• Egg: An egg helps bind the cookie dough together.
• Ground Ginger and Ground Cinnamon: A whole tablespoon of ginger adds lots of zippy flavor and cinnamon softens it a bit.
• Molasses: There are a few different types of molasses. Some are very dark brown and some are lighter in color. The dark brown types have a deeper flavor and will turn your cookies a darker color. For these cookies, I usually use a lighter molasses but it’s totally up to you.

How To Make Gingersnaps

This is a pretty basic gingersnap cookie recipe. One of the things I like about it is that the dough doesn’t have to be chilled. You can chill it if you like but it isn’t a necessity.

Cream the butter and sugar. In a large mixing bowl, combine the shortening and sugar until smooth. You can use an electric mixer if you want but I know for a fact that my mom always does it by hand.

Add egg and molasses. Next, stir the egg and molasses into the sugar mixture, stirring vigorously until smooth and combined.

Mix dry ingredients. In a separate medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt until combined. Add the dry ingredients to the large mixing bowl, and mix the the cookie dough just until combined.

Form the cookies. Form the dough into evenly-sized balls. Don’t worry if the balls aren’t perfectly round. Really, they always turn out round once they are baked. If the dough seems too sticky to roll (occasionally that happens if your kitchen is very warm), refrigerate it for a half hour or so.

Roll in sugar. Roll the balls in sugar to make them sparkle!

Bake. Bake the cookies until they are crackled on top and crisp around the edges. They’ll be very lightly browned on the bottom. If you like crispier cookies, cook them an extra minute or so.

Serve. Gingersnaps are welcome anytime of the year. I always serve gingersnaps at my annual harvest party with pumpkin dip and apple cider mules. Gingersnaps always make an appearance at Christmas, too. Take a look at my Christmas cookie recipe collection for more inspiration.

Possible Recipe Variations

• Double the ginger. I love to add finely minced candied ginger to the dough for an extra ginger kick!
• Dip them in melted white chocolate. Because why not?
• Make them chunky. Speaking of white chocolate, we love these glammed up gingersnaps with white chocolate and cranberries!

Storage Tips

Baked cookies: This sturdy cookie stays fresh for a surprisingly long time, both on the counter or in the freezer, as long as it’s stored in an airtight container. Be sure the gingersnaps are completely cool before covering them. Gingersnaps will stay fresh at room temperature for at least a week and in the freezer for a month or more.

To freeze unbaked cookies: If you prefer freshly baked cookies, form the dough into balls as directed, and freeze them on a tray until firm. Once they’re firm, you can transfer them to an airtight container or freezer bag.

To bake frozen dough: When you’re ready to bake the gingersnap cookies, simply place the frozen balls on a baking sheet and bake as directed, adding a minute or two to the baking time.