By Sohla El-Waylly
- Total Time
- 35 minutes, plus 2½ hours’ chilling
- Rating
- 5(2,608)
- Notes
- Read community notes
This gingerbread is maxed out on spice, packed with two types of fiery ginger and lots of prickly black pepper. Cozy from all the warm spices as well as from molasses, they’re perfect for munching on while tree-trimming. The center of the cookie is fudgy and dense, while the outside edges stay crisp — like the best brownie, but in gingerbread form. That chewy-crispy texture is thanks to the confectioners’ sugar in the dough and a light coating of ginger-spiced sugar. Be sure to use true molasses and not blackstrap molasses; blackstrap molasses has less sugar, more salt and acidity, and can change the way the dough browns, spreads and interacts with the leavening.
Featured in: 24 Days of Cookies
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Ingredients
Yield:24 cookies
- 14tablespoons/200 grams unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 3tablespoons/50 grams finely grated fresh ginger
- 1tablespoon ground ginger
- 2teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 2cups/240 grams confectioners’ sugar
- 3tablespoons/60 grams unsulphured molasses
- 1tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1¼teaspoon kosher salt (Diamond Crystal)
- 1teaspoon baking soda
- 1large egg, room temperature
- 2cups/250 grams all-purpose flour
- ¼cup/50 grams granulated sugar
- 2teaspoons ground ginger
For the Cookies
For the Coating
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (24 servings)
160 calories; 7 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 2 grams monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 23 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 14 grams sugars; 2 grams protein; 91 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
Step
1
In a medium saucepan over medium, melt butter until foamy, about 3 minutes. Continue cooking butter, stirring and scraping frequently with a stiff silicone spatula, until the sputtering has subsided and the butter solids look deeply browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat, then whisk in the fresh ginger and ground spices. Scrape the butter and any brown bits at the bottom into the bowl of a stand mixer (or into a large bowl if using a hand mixer). Set aside until cool, slightly solid, but still creamy, about 20 minutes in the refrigerator or 2 hours at room temperature.
Step
2
Add confectioners’ sugar, molasses, vanilla, salt and baking soda to the cooled butter. Mix on low with the paddle attachment, stopping once to scrape the bowl and paddle, until creamy and combined, about 1 minute.
Step
3
Add the egg and mix on medium until pale and fluffy, stopping once to scrape the bowl and paddle, about 2 minutes. Add flour and mix until evenly combined, about 30 seconds. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days before baking.
Step
4
Prepare the sugar coating: In a small bowl, stir together the sugar and ground ginger. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper, arrange the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven, and heat oven to 375 degrees.
Step
5
Using a #40 cookie scoop or two spoons, scoop the cookie dough into 2-tablespoon portions (30 grams). Roll the portioned cookie dough into balls and coat in the ginger sugar. Arrange on the sheet tray at least 1 inch apart and bake until set and lightly browned around the edges, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Tip
- Cookies are best eaten the day they are baked. Cookie dough portions can be frozen, then coated in sugar and baked from frozen as needed. No need to thaw; bake frozen portions for 11 to 13 minutes.
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2,608
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Cooking Notes
David
Freeze the fresh ginger root and keep in freezer then microplane it when ready for use. Keeps the ginger juices intact; keeps longer than fresh ginger in the fridge. Microplane is easier and quicker than grater although your fingers can get pretty cold in the grating process.
AC
Diamond Crystal salt and Morton’s weigh differently even if you use the same volume. That’s why it’s helpful for recipes to identify what it was made with. One teaspoon of Morton kosher salt weighs 4.8 grams; one teaspoon of Diamond Crystal kosher weighs 2.8 grams. There’s a good Cooks a illustrated article on the difference.
Pam
MAKE THIS. I just finished my third cookie (don't judge me). With no substitutions, these are by far, the most delicious ginger cookie I've ever eaten. These have an amazing kick, and come out beautifully crackled. MAKE AHEAD: I made the brown butter the night before, and let it come to room temperature before the mixing. PAN BANGING: I banged the pans at the 5 min mark, and right after they can out. Stored in an airtight container to retain chewiness.
Sean
In the end, these came out great, and I will absolutely make them many more times. Crispy outside, chewy center, sweet and spicy. 10/10.However, like others have already said, be careful when adding the fresh ginger to the browned butter -- it will foam a ton (like, way more than when making caramel). Either brown the butter in a larger-than-you-think-you-need sauce pot or move the butter to the bowl of the stand mixer first and then add the spices. It'll save you a mess.
Butter Goddess
I cannot stop eating these cookies. I love the kick this cookie gets from the fresh ginger and all the spices. I don't always have it in me to grate that much fresh ginger, but the 50g was absolutely worth it. This is my new favorite winter cookie!
Canucklehead
At the risk of annoying purists, I used leftover preserved ginger instead of the fresh so I expect my cookie was a little sweeter than the recipe. I can't find Diamond Crystal salt where I live but the Canadian substitute seemed to work OK. Likewise, my choices of molasses included neither blackstrap nor true molasses. Using my "cooking molasses", I plunged ahead. Took a bit longer and spread more than as written (or perhaps exactly as cautioned) but absolutely delicious nonetheless.
James
These are outstanding and have a really nice bite. For serving, we spread vanilla ice cream (softened in the fridge) between two of them, then refroze them as ice cream sandwiches. Outstanding!
Jenna
Wow! These are fantastic. Chewy center and crispy, lacy edge. Cookies were the same whether I followed the directions to refrigerate for 2 hours or froze the dough 15-20 minutes, instead. I was worried this would affect the outcome, but it didn’t. I used Trader Joe’s frozen, grated ginger (Dorot), and the flavor was excellent. Have fun eating these: they are the perfect ginger cookie.
compass.kitchen (Ryan)
These cookies were really good. Very spicy from ginger and definitely chewy. Only downside is that they're a little greasy. Also make sure to leave your cookies way farther than 1 inch apart (that must be a type because these cookies spread a decent amount so my first batch became one giant mega-cookie). I think you can only fit 8 cookies to a baking sheet.
Silvia
These cookies are perfection for ginger lovers. I was lazy and only used two Tb of fresh ginger, also too lazy to grind a full tsp. of pepper, chilled in the freezer for 45 minutes, and still got some close to perfect cookies. Will definitely try the recipe as written.
New Baker
Be sure to use a large enough saucepan for the butter browning!!! Mine was too small and the whole thing foamed up over the top (and all over my stove) when I added the fresh ginger + spices. A rookie mistake for sure. Next time I'll go straight into the stand mixer bowl. Didn't start over (not enough ingredients) so I tried to make up for lost butter by weighing it out and re-browning the difference, accounting for 15% loss due to water evaporation. We'll see how they turn out....
korinswanson
Freeze the fresh ginger root and keep in freezer then microplane it when ready for use. Keeps the ginger juices intact
Sally
They specify because Diamond Crystal is coarser than Morton's (probably the main other readily available kosher salt), so if you use the same amount of Morton's salt as is called for in Diamond Crystal salt, it'll be a lot saltier.
Amemm
These spread a lot for me. Put far enough apart so they don’t run into each other.
Sue
That's a really bad idea here, because both the confectioner's sugar and the wheat-based flour are important to how the cookie spreads and to its final texture. You're best off looking to a shortbread that's built to work with almond or coconut flour and whose texture relies primarily on butter to hold the flour together, where you can replace the small quantity of sugar more or less safely.
fiddlebbb
These turned out pretty good but i think i prefer a less oily/buttery/gooey cookie in favor of more texture and caki-ness The flavor is pretty intense, which i loved. These would be great as one choice on a cookie platter rather than a whole batch
LP
I can't believe I am going to say this but....these cookies are too sweet! It's a strong sweet taste with a separate strong ginger taste, they exist side by side but not together. Not my fav ginger cookie recipe
corn
I’d recommend for a spicier cookie tripling the amount of cinnamon and adding some allspice but it’s an overall good cookie
Brecken
They were good, 50 grams of fresh ginger is A LOT of ginger. I got three large knobs (a little less than .2 lbs) and after peeling it, it ended up not being enough. I ended up substituted the rest of the weight with some frozen ginger. My cookies didn't end up getting that beautiful crackle like in the photo which was disappointing. If I made them again, I would leave out the black pepper. These were too spicy for my Chinese in-laws during Christmas lol.
Allison
Eat these when they’re about 10 minutes out of the oven. They’re brownie-chewy in the middle and slightly crispy on the outside. You can tasted the brown butter best then. Om nom.
Cursed Baker
Outstanding recipe. Refrigerate for as long as you can stand (or your fridge real estate can bear).I disagree with the recipe that these are best on the day they are baked--if they're allowed to rest, the spice picks up a bit and the ginger flavor comes through more clearly.
SD
Is treacle an appropriate substitute for molasses for this recipe?
nancy l
Fabulous!I did make slightly smaller (20g) cookies and place farther apart on cookie sheet. Grated 40 g of ginger until I ran out. Had to eat them hot off the cookie sheet cuz they smelled so good.
Allison
These are overwhelmingly gingery, in the best way. Definitely the punchiest gingerbread cookie I ever tried. Mine came out quite cakey but with a delicate crisp from the gingered sugar coating. I used jarred grated ginger from my local Korean alphabet mart, which has a touch of salt in it. I’d already frozen it in ice cube trays and stored it in cubes in my freezer, so the grated ginger part was a snap. (Pause for tsk-ing from the purists.) Try cream cheese (or CC icing) with them.
Patricia
Made as per recipe, delicious. Substituted honey for molasses, texture worked out beautifully.
D
Super easily adapted to gluten free. Swapped flour for Pamela’s 1:1 with 1/4tsp xanthan gum and they came out PERFECT. Also threw in some chopped non-crystallized candied ginger chopped up super fine, which was killer.
Lacy
These are the best cookies I’ve ever been involved in making. Yum.
Natalie
These are delicious; whole family loves them. Adult son said these are the best ginger cookies he has ever had; he did not expect them to be so good.
Lex
I made this with the exact recipe ingredients, except I weighed out 25g balls of dough, placed them on a quarter sheet pan, and froze them. Then I placed them in a freezer bag. By baking them from frozen I made cookies that look like the recipe's picture. These are terrific-tasting and so very gingery and crispy-chewy. I agree with many readers who say the dough balls need to be at least 2 inches apart. I placed 6 on a half-sheet pan and they did not run into each other.
geteb
Wow! Spectacular!! Took Sean's (& other's) advice to mix in ginger & spices in the large mixing bowl - not saucepan. Left the dough in the fridge for 3 days (unintentionally - "Oh, what's in that bowl in the back again?") - then baked 9 w/out rolling them in the sugar/ginger mix & ate all 9 cookies in 1 evening. They were that delicious & not too sweet. I left a good 2" spacing & a couple of them still mated. So good & dare I say - refreshing? Which is why you can't eat just 1.
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