Chewy Ginger Cookies
Soft, chewy ginger cookies with molasses, cinnamon and cloves, rolled in sugar and baked for 12 minutes until the tops crackle.
Photograph credit: Chewy Ginger Cookies by Beck · CC BY 2.0 · Flickr
Making Chewy Ginger Cookies Ahead
Keeps in an airtight container for 5 days.
How to Make Chewy Ginger Cookies
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Mix the flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, bicarbonate of soda and salt.
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Beat the butter and brown sugar for 2 minutes. Beat in the egg and molasses, then stir in the dry ingredients. Chill for 20 minutes.
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Heat the oven to 180°C / 355°F and line 2 trays. Roll the dough into 24 balls and roll each in the granulated sugar.
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Place 5 cm apart on the trays. Bake for 12 minutes until crackled and set around the edges but still soft in the centre.
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Cool on the trays for 5 minutes, then move to a rack.
Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.
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Worth Knowing
- Take them out while the centres are soft.
- Roll in coarse sugar for a sparkly crust.
- Chill the dough so it holds its shape.
Behind the Recipe
A cookie for the week the clocks go back and the first hot drinks of the autumn appear. Chewy ginger cookies are the soft cousins of the hard gingersnap, with a dark colour, a crackled sugary top and a warm, deep spice that comes from molasses and a trio of ground spices.
The chew comes from three things. Molasses is hygroscopic, meaning it holds onto moisture, which keeps the cookies soft for days. Brown sugar does the same. And underbaking leaves the centres moist. Take them out when the tops are set and crinkled but still look slightly soft in the cracks, then let them finish on the tray.
Roll the dough balls in granulated sugar before baking. This forms the sparkling crust that cracks as the cookies spread and puff. A coating of coarse sugar gives a better crunch than fine. Chill the dough for 20 minutes first, since it is sticky and softens quickly at room temperature.
Use freshly ground ginger if you can, and do not skimp: 2 teaspoons ground ginger, 1 of cinnamon and a half of cloves for a batch of 24. The flavour deepens as the cookies sit for a day.
Good Alongside
Hot tea · Cold milk · Coffee · Vanilla ice cream
Questions About Chewy Ginger Cookies
How long does Chewy Ginger Cookies take to make?
15 minutes of preparation and 12 minutes of cooking, plus 20 minutes of chilling, so allow 47 minutes from start to finish. The recipe serves 24.
Nutrition per Serving
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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