This recipe is tried and true – the best ginger cookie recipe I have ever used.

I love the blend of ground ginger, cloves, and cinnamon in this recipe. It all creates a complex cookie that’s not too sweet. The molasses and butter contribute to the chewy gooey goodness that are so hard to say no to!

It’s based on the Better Homes and Gardens recipe, but I have adapted it in a few ways. First, I use butter not shortening (flavor, flavor, flavor!!). Second, I use a touch more flour so the cookies come out a bit more fluffy, which gives them more crackles and slightly less spread. The spread can happen from using the butter instead of shortening.

Tips for Baking Cookies:

Use slightly chilled butter, cut into cubes. Do you ever see “softened” butter on a recipe? Some people say it means it should be totally soft. Some recipes account for this, and use the proper amount of flour as such. Other recipes, don’t because they use butter that is still a little firm, but it has indeed “softened” slightly. This will give you the best ginger cookie.

So how do you know? Well you don’t. My tip for you as a baker, especially if you don’t bake often – is to use butter that you can put an indent in, but it still has a touch of chill to it. It won’t damage your mixer but it also isn’t near melting. The reason for this is that the warmer your butter is the more flour it absorbs, It also changes the texture of your final product because the sugar will either dissolve into it or create air pockets (if not quite so warm). I prefer the air pocket scenario when making cookies.

Amount of Flour: You can alter the amount of flour slightly if you like your cookies to be more cake-y or more gooey. They will spread a bit more if you take some flour out, but that’s just fine.

Chill the Dough: This is key! Do chill your dough, but do it after you make the individual cookie balls (otherwise it will be very hard to make those). The importance of chilling the dough again, helps the cookie keep it’s shape. Especially because there is so much butter in these cookies, chilling is important. I even like to freeze this cookie dough and then let it thaw in the fridge overnight, or just thaw while the oven preheats. Then I roll it in sugar (again if you haven’t already because the thawing process likely dissolved your sugar), and bake.

The Best Ginger Cookie Recipe

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These are chewy gooey with a crust that gives the best bite! Based on the Better Homes and Gardens Giant Ginger Cookie recipe, I’ve made a few substitutions to make the outcome more consistent. 

• Author: thesommchef
• Prep Time: 15
• Cook Time: 8-10
• Total Time: 0 hours
• Yield: 25 large cookies or 50 regular size
• Category: cookies
• Method: baking

Ingredients

• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (+/- 1-2 Tbsp for more cakey(+) or gooey(-) cookies)

• 4 teaspoons ground ginger

• 2 teaspoons baking soda

• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1 teaspoon ground cloves

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 2 1/2 Sticks *softened* Butter (best if it’s still slightly firm) cut into slices or cubes

• 2 cups granulated sugar

• 2 eggs

• 1/2 cup molasses

• 3/4 cup+ granulated sugar

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Instructions

1. Beat the softened butter in your mixer on low speed for 15 seconds, then bring to medium speed for 15 seconds and then high speed for 15 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. 
2. On low speed, gradually add in 2 cups of granulated sugar. 
3. Scrape down the sides of your bowl. On low speed again, add in one egg, then molasses, then the second egg. Switch to medium speed just until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. 
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together your flour, spices, salt and baking soda. 
5. On low speed, slowly and gradually add in the dry ingredients to your wet ingredients. The dough will get fairly dry. Mix until just combined, and continue with your hands or a wooden spoon if mixture is too thick for your mixer. 
6. Take a small cookie dough scoop, or use your hands to measure out 1-1.5″ balls (or 2-2.5″ if you’d like to make giant ginger cookies). If only refrigerating, roll the balls into sugar and place the balls on a prepared, rimmed, cookie sheet (the rim helps to prevent them from sliding around). If freezing, don’t roll into sugar yet, just do so as you bake them off. They can be touching because right now, you are just going to chill them. You’ll have about 50 cookies for 1″ balls and 25 for 2″ balls.
7. Once all your dough has been rolled out, place them into the fridge for at least 1-2 hours. If you aren’t baking right away, still chill in the fridge, and then put dough into freezer safe containers or bags, to remove as desired. 
8. Once dough has chilled, or been frozen, place onto a baking sheet and heat oven to 350 F. If cooking from chilled (not frozen) bake for 8 minutes, they will still be gooey, but leave on the baking sheet to cool for 3-5 minutes. If baking from frozen, allow them to sit at room temp while the oven is heating, roll them in sugar, and then bake for 10-11 minutes. 

Keywords: Ginger Cookies, Cookies, Holiday Cookies, Holiday, Christmas, Fall

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