The most amazing chewy ginger cookies with a crinkly outside and soft and chewy inside. You’ll never want to eat any other Christmas cookie again.
Best Ginger Cookies!
It’s officially post-Thanksgiving and time to start holiday baking. These chewy Ginger Cookies are by far the best cookies we’ve ever posted on Fit Foodie Finds. And, guess what? There is no need to refrigerate the dough!
When it comes to baking cookies, we’re all about balance. We strive to find ways to make them better for you while keeping true to the traditional recipe! When we say traditional ginger cookies, we mean:
chewy and soft on the inside
crinkly sugary outside
We made sure to achieve both of those things with a few better-for-you swaps, all while NOT sacrificing flavor.
What do you call Ginger Cookies?
First things first, what do you call ginge cookies? The name is up for debate because I’ve asked around and everyone calls them something different!
- Ginger Cookies
- Ginger Molasses Cookies
- Gingersnap Cookies
- Ginger Snaps
How to Make Chewy Ginger Cookies
Baking cookies is definitely more of an art, so let’s start off with what you need and then we’ll move into how to make these cookies!
Main Ingredients
- flour: we used a blend of all-purpose and white whole wheat flour, the perfect combination for chewy cookies!
- cloves, cinnamon, ginger: we didn’t skimp on the spices for this recipe and you shouldn’t either! I promise you’ll love every bite.
- butter: every cookie deserves a little butter and this recipe calls for an entire stick! Happy holidays 😀
- coconut oil: we decided to swap out some butter for coconut oil and I just love the nuttiness it adds to these cookies!
- brown sugar: we used light brown sugar in these cookies, but I did one test using 1/2 brown sugar and 1/2 coconut sugar and it worked just fine!
- egg: unfortunately we don’t recommend skipping the egg or swapping for a flax egg. It’s much needed to get the crackly outside and soft inside.
- molasses: a little molasses goes a long way! This recipe only calls for 1/4 cup of molasses and that’s all they need to get that amazing spicy flavor a chewy texture!
Can I use all butter for this recipe?
We’ve tested and approved this! Feel free to use 1.5 sticks of butter for this recipe and ditch the coconut oil altogether.
Can I use all coconut oil for this recipe?
Unfortunately we do not recommend omitting the butter all together. You will sacrifice flavor and your cookies will likely spread out too much.
Do I have to refrigerate the dough?
Good news for you! There is no need to refrigerate your dough for these ginger cookies. Heck yes.
Tips and Tricks for Perfectly Chewy Ginger Cookies
Like we mentioned above, these are truly the best Christmas cookies on Fit Foodie Finds. That’s because we’ve tested this recipe so many times. Here’s what we found:
Stand Mixer: we’ve tested these cookies with both a stand mixer and hand mixer and let me tell you, a stand mixer is SO MUCH EASIER! If you do end up using a hand mixer, your shoulder might get a little sore creaming the butter 😀
We 100% do not suggest using just a spoon as it will take you hours to cream the butter.
Cold Butter: Make sure to use butter straight out of the fridge for this recipe.
Scoop Flour: we know that a lot of bakers spoon flour and even it out with a knife, but we scooped ou flour!
1.5 Tablespoon Cookie Scoop: make sure to use a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop to get the most perfectly sized cookies! If you use a smaller scoop, your bake time will be less and if you use a bigger scoop, it will be more!
Why do my ginger cookies go flat?
Your ginger cookies likely spread out too much because your dough got too warm.
While it isn’t necessary to refrigerate the dough for this recipe, you can always pop your ginger cookie dough balls in the freezer for 10 minutes before baking to help prevent the spread.
What didn’t Work?
Testing, testing, 123. We thought we’d share some fails that we encountered while testing these ginger cookies.
More fat: Using any more fat than the recipe calls for will lead you to a dough that is too thin.
Swapping flours: we don’t suggest swapping out either flour in this recipe, especially for a grain-free flour like almond flour. We tested this recipe using only all-purpose flour and even that did not work as every flour is different and sucks up moisture differently.
If you do end up trying to use all all-purpose flour, you will likely need to use 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup more and your bake time will increase!
Doubling the recipe: we NEVER recommend doubling or tripling baked goods. Something happens in the science of multiplying eggs and baking soda, etc. that we just can’t explain! But you will likely have issues if you try this.
Storage
Let cookies cool completely. Then, transfer them into an airtight container or gallon-size bag and store in a cool, dark place for up to 5 days.
Can I freeze chewy ginger cookies?
You have two options when it comes to freezing this ginger cookies recipe.
Dough > Wrap dough in plastic wrap and then place in a freezer-safe gallon-size bag. Remove as much air as possible and freeze for up to 3 months.
Cookies > Let cookies cool completely and then transfer into a freezer-safe gallon-size bag. Remove as much air as possible and freeze for up to 3 months.
Ginger Cookies Video
Best Chewy Ginger Cookies
Gorgeous chewy ginger cookies that have a crinkly outside and soft and chewy inside. This ginger cookies recipe is perfectly sweet and doesn’t require refrigerating the dough!
Prep: 20 minutesCook: 12 minutesTotal: 32 minutes
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 1 cup white whole wheat (scooped and leveled)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (scooped and leveled)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
Wet Ingredients
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, soften not melted*
- 1/2 cup butter, cold and cut into 1/2 tablespoon pats
- 1 cup light brown sugar (scooped and leveled)
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup molasses
Optional (but recommended)
- 1/3 cup turbinado sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
- Add all of the dry ingredients to a medium bowl and whisk until combined. Set aside for later.
- Next, using a stand mixer* cream the coconut oil, butter, and brown sugar together at medium speed. This will take around 3-4 minutes.
- Crack the egg into the creamed mixture and add molasses as well. Mix on medium until combined.
- Finally, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients with a 1/2 cup scoop at a time and mix on medium. Repeat until all dry ingredients are gone and the dough is combined. The dough should be a little thicker than normal cookie dough, but still be very easy to form a ball.
- Using a tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop cookie dough into hands and roll it into a ball.
- Then, roll the dough in turbinado sugar* and place on the greased baking sheet. Make sure to leave 2 inches in between cookies becuase they will expand. Repeat until the baking sheet is full. 12 cookies will fit on a standard baking sheet.
- Bake cookies at 350ºF for 10-12 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, let sit for 2-3 minutes on the hot baking sheet and then transfer the cookies to a cooling rack.
Tips & Notes
- Coconut oil: if your coconut oil is solid, we recommend microwaving it on high for 15 minutes.
- Stand mixer: A hand mixer would work for this recipe as well. We do not recommend using a spoon to mix since the recipe calls for cold/hard butter.
- Turbinado sugar: Rolling the cookies in turbinado sugar is optional. Feel free to skip the extra sugar.
- Flour: we tested this recipe using all all-purpose flour and if you do this, you will likely need to use 1/2 – 3/4 cup more flour as all-purpose flour absorbs more fat than white whole wheat. The bake time will also change and you’ll need to add 2-3 minutes on to bake time.
- Nutrition information is for 22 cookies and DOES include the turbinado sugar.
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 1 Calories: 170 Sugar: 18 Fat: 7 Carbohydrates: 25 Fiber: 1 Protein: 2
Keywords: ginger cookies
Photography: photos taken in this post are by Erin from The Wooden Skillet.