Let’s make Soft Gingerbread Cookies this holiday season! Soft, pillowy gingerbread with sunken centers and slightly crisped edges, plus little nooks and crannies packed with ginger spice and molasses. These are SO GOOD!
Soft Gingerbread Cookies with Maple Glaze
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I’m not usually a gingerbread cookie person but oh my god these are so good!!!
Kayla
‘Tis the season, friends! But not the season for firm, crisp, dryish gingerbread that you can literally build tiny houses from. This season, let’s make some soft pillowy gingerbread with sunken centers and slightly crisped edges and open crackly crags of gingery spice and rich, but not overwhelming, molasses. Let’s roll them in sugar, get them baked to perfection, and dip them in a mapley glaze. Yes? Yes.
The hallmark flavors of gingerbread are molasses and ginger, so once we’ve got those going on in all the right proportions, who says that gingerbread cookies can’t be a textural wonder of soft and chewy and crackly and tender-buttery-crisp all in one glorious bite? 2021 is the year to reinvent “gingerbread” into a cookie that we really, truly love. (Or, maybe gingerbread muffins? Love those too.)
No gingerbread men splat flat on a pan. Go all out this year. Get your Christmas music playing, your cozy candles lit, get your tried and true baking sheets, your favorite mixing bowls, and your holiday spirit at the ready. Let’s do this.
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Deliciously SOFT Gingerbread Cookies
It’s hard to describe just how good these are, these spicy-sweet little gingerbread pillows. There’s certainly a time and a place for the darker, more crisp peppery gingerbread, but that is not this. These cookies are suuuuper soft, light and coppery, almost melty in their ginger spice, with the slightest crunch from the edges and little sugar sprinkles.
And if your family has always gathered round a floured surface, armed with rolling pins and cookie cutters, fear not! Sure you may not be stamping out little shapes or battling with royal icing, making sure the gingerbread people don’t look like sorta scary clowns with drippy icing smiles, all while making sure your toddler isn’t eating too much dough…but will you miss that part? (Okay fine, maybe…these are the beautiful chaotic memories we cherish).
But there are memories to be made around these as well. Gently rolling the soft gingerdough balls in the snowy sugar. Getting the perfect half dip of creamy maple glaze once they’re out of the oven. Going a little extra and piping tiny little holly leaves and berries on them or maybe just a few festive sprinkles. Gathering round the oven to see who can smell the warm sweet ginger bake first.
Also, can we talk about that maple glaze? Subtle, sweet, and smooth taking these just one notch above magnificent. Just…come on.
Key Ingredients For Gingerbread Cookies
For these truly remarkable gingerbread cookies, you’ll need the staples — flour, sugar, butter, eggs, and salt. There’s a little extra baking soda in there to ensure a good spread, so they go wider and flatter in the oven. This is key to their positively clutch texture. Beyond that, let’s round up this delicious list, shall we?
- molasses
- ground ginger
- extra sugar for rolling
- maple syrup
- confectioner’s sugar
- lil’ holly sprinkles if you’re extra (so cute, so fun, so merry)
How To Make Gingerbread Cookies From Scratch
Once your ingredients are assembled and your heart is ready and your kitchen windows are fogged from the heat of your oven, it’s cookie-baking time, and is there any other better time on this planet?
- Make your dough. Cream butter and sugar, and then incorporate egg and molasses. Add your dry ingredients and mix until you have a soft dough. Pinch off a piece because it’s the holidays, but also don’t eat raw dough, and also merry everyday to you.
- Roll and bake. Scoop dough into small balls and then take one teeny extra step to gently roll them in sugar until they literally sparkle. Line your sheet and bake.
- Maple glaze. Whisk together your glaze ingredients until smooth. Dip one side of your slightly cooled, slightly flattened cookies in to coat. Now’s the time to add sprinkles if you’re feeling it.
There is already so much joy in cookies and these are big-time joy-bringers. There’s just something so special about gingerbread, with all its cozy and merry and bright. So fill your jars, your holiday platters, your care packages and gift boxes, your kiddos’ eager hands. Leave them on your plates for Santa and sneak them in the night like magic.
We hope your holidays are filled with all the best things this year, like family and friends and gingerbread.
Soft Gingerbread Cookies: FAQs
How should I store these cookies?
Store these cookies in a sealed container at room temp for 3-5 days (if they even last that long in your house).
Are there any substitutes for molasses?
It won’t taste exactly the same, but maple syrup can work in a pinch.
Can you freeze these cookies?
Yes! Just bake ’em up and freeze any leftovers in an air-tight container.
Notes on flour and the added weight specification: how you measure your flour will have a big impact on the thickness of the cookies, so if you have a scale and you’re able to measure to get it exactly right, that would be my recommendation! But if you’re measuring flour without a scale, my method for the 2 1/4 cups is to just scoop the measuring cups into the flour bag or canister and level them off. More on this in the notes of the recipe.
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Soft Gingerbread Cookies with Maple Glaze
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 24 cookies
Description
Let’s make Soft Gingerbread Cookies this holiday season! Soft, pillowy gingerbread with sunken centers and slightly crisped edges, plus little nooks and crannies packed with ginger spice and molasses. These are SO GOOD!
Ingredients
Units
Gingerbread Cookies
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup molasses
- 2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (300 grams)
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1–2 teaspoons ground ginger
- granulated sugar for rolling
Maple Glaze
- 1 tablespoon melted butter
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar (180 grams)
- 2 tablespoons milk (and a very tiny bit more if you need more)
- pinch of salt, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and molasses; mix until incorporated.
- Add flour, baking soda, salt, and ginger. Mix until a soft dough forms.
- Scoop into small balls (a little smaller than the size of a golf ball) and roll in sugar. Bake for 9-11 minutes; remove from pan so the cookies can sink / flatten slightly as they cool.
- Whisk maple glaze ingredients together until smooth (it will be very thick – if it’s too thick, just add a teaspoon more milk at a time until it becomes dippable, but we want this to be very thick so it sets nicely). Dip one side of the cooled cookies into the maple glaze, run the edge of the cookie along the side of the bowl to remove excess drips, set on a piece of wax paper, and add a few festive sprinkles before the glaze sets!
Notes
300 grams of flour is the perfect amount to achieve the texture and crinkly flat look of these cookies. If you find that your first batch is a bit flatter than you’d hoped, mix in a tablespoon or two of flour to the rest of the dough to get a thicker center.
Give these cookies some holly sprinkles to bring them over the top! I bought these ones on Amazon (affiliate link).
For this recipe I use unsulphured molasses. For most of my testing I used the Grandma’s brand which can be found in the baking section of many grocery stores. Blackstrap molasses is less sweet and would not be recommended here.
The glaze should set to become fully dry to the touch with just an hour or two of sitting on the counter. For the best / most beautiful and travel-proof glaze results, you might want to wait to glaze until within a day of serving. The cookies can be baked ahead and stored (without glaze) in the freezer until you’re ready for glaze!
I prefer the flavor of the maple glaze which is why that’s how the recipe is written, but if you need a glaze that is more sturdy, melting 1/2 cup white chocolate chips with 1 tablespoon coconut oil will also work and it will hold its shape better for travel.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: soft gingerbread cookie, gingerbread cookie, christmas cookie
More Favorite Cookie Recipes
- Old School Homemade Oreos (a retro recipe made modern)
- Favorite Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (one word…HEAVENLY)
- Deep Dish Cookie Bowls for Two (perfect for date night)
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December 3, 2021
Created By The POY Team
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Writer
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Recipe Developer
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Editorial
Your gingerbread cookies with maple glaze look amazing. You mentioned they can be frozen. Would you freeze with the glaze and decorations on them?
Thanks!
I had the same question. Do you freeze after sugaring? Then bake and decorate?
Same! I think I’ll shape into balls and freeze them until I’m ready to bake. Then roll in sugar and continue from there.
So amazing and tasty 😋
Her note in the recipe says she “bakes them up and freezes in an air tight container.” Caught it as one of the last lines.
I make the Claire Saffitz recipe for ginger cookies also and she recommends rolling the balls out and in sugar then freezing on a sheet until solid before putting in an airtight container. May just need an extra minute or two on the bake time. I like doing it this way so you can make a few as you want them! 🙂
I guess my concern of baking them after decorating, would be the icing melting off? Could someone from pinch of yum advise? It would be helpful 🙂
Hi Jamie! You can roll the cookie dough balls in sugar before or after freezing. If doing it after freezing, I’m guessing you’d have to let them defrost a bit for the sugar to stick. I have a batch of sugared, pre-rolled balls of dough in the freezer and they bake up just fine! In terms of freezing the baked cookies before or after glazing, we’d recommend freezing the cookies without the glaze to avoid any cracking of the glaze. There are a lot of questions in this thread, so let me know if you need any clarification or if I completely misunderstood!
@krista, thank you so much! Excellent explanation!
I’m making these today 🙂
Absolutely, Jamie!
Can you roll balls and toss in a ziplock to freeze or will they all stick together?
Great question! I’d suggest rolling the balls, tossing into a ziplock, then refrigerating for a bit so the dough firms up. Then, pop them in the freezer!
Success! Every other time I’ve made cookies, they’ve turned out cakey. These were perfect! Crispy but chewy, and just the right amount of sweet. Can’t wait to make another batch and maybe send them out to family for the holidays!
I just baked them. For me the dough was a bit runny i didn’t add anything to it & it came out soft and looks so good. I used blackstrap molasses cause this is what i managed to get. It is a bit too sweet for me although i skipped the glaze. But dipping it with milk balance the flavour.
Hi Luane! We would freeze without the glaze. Enjoy!
My dough came out pretty gooey, not sure where the error was but found it very difficult to roll the dough into balls or in the sugar. Any advice?
These look very festive. Where did you find the holly berry decor?
Where do you get the holly sprinkled??
Thanks
We used these sprinkles!
A quick google search for “holly sprinkles” pulls up several options: https://www.google.com/search?q=holly+sprinkles&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS981&oq=holly+sprinkles&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i512l5j0i22i30l4.2710j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
I’m betting they’re the Wilton ones??
We used these sprinkles!
We just made these for an after school snack. These are perfection in a cookie. Soft, slightly crisp edges and don’t get me started on the maple glaze. Don’t skimp on the optional salt, it rounds out the sweetness to make these utterly perfect. These cookies will be a holiday staple in our house for years to come.
So glad they were a hit!
Hi! I love gingerbread and would LOVE to make these but I don’t have a stand mixer. Can I make these (and other cookies on POY) without one?
These look amazing! I’m wondering if fresh ginger could be subbed since a family member is allergic to ground ginger.
I’m betting they’re probably allergic to fresh ginger too 🤦🏻♀️
Great question! You could try grating in some fresh ginger so it’s really fine and paste-like. You could also try using ginger paste!
What am I doing wrong?? The dough is so sticky I can’t roll into balls because it kept sticking to my hands
Hi Natalia! You may need a bit more flour!
Hi! Yes, you should be okay using a hand mixer!
i have read atleast eight posts of yours by now, and let me tell you, your blog gives the best and the most interesting information. This is just the kind of information that i had been looking.
Wondering if the type of molasses would make a difference, or which kind was used in this recipe? I’ve been reading about milder varieties, but can mainly get blackstrap molasses (which I think is more bitter) where I live.
Hi Jill! Lindsay used standard unsulphured molasses (like Grandma’s brand), and would not recommend blackstrap molasses.
Silly question, but I’ve never made gingerbread before. Do you use ground ginger or fresh grated?
Ground ginger.
This didn’t quite hit! I think that the molasses was too overpowering for the flavors. Maybe others prefer that taste but for me it wasn’t great.
Great question, Megan! For this recipe, we used ground ginger.
I have not always been the biggest fan of ginger but this was good and not overpowering. It was also easy to make!
I love the option to convert to Metric for measurements, but when I print, it turns back to standard measures. Anyone know how to fix this? Looking forward to making these this weekend and will report on how they turn out.
We are currently looking at how to fix this. Thanks so much for bringing this to our attention!
I only usually buy unsalted butter for baking. Will that work?
Yes, that will work!
Hi, for the maple glaze it just mentions melted butter. Would you suggest salted or non? Thanks so much!
Either would work well, but we tend to use salted butter a lot when baking!
Made these with a couple good friends tonight and there were barely any left to take home!
Delicious! These are very good and pretty easy to make. Will definitely keep the recipe in my rotation.
Glad to hear it, Lauren!
High altitude adjustments for 7500? I’m in Santa Fe.
Great question, Kasha! We don’t have a ton of experience with this, but we think this chart is super helpful!
These cookies are SO delicious! I’m not usually a gingerbread fan but holy cow.
My glaze didn’t quite turn out right- it was kind of stringy? Guessing because I used cheap maple syrup. Will need to try again!
So glad you enjoyed them! We’d recommend using pure maple syrup for the glaze.
I’m not usually a gingerbread cookie person but oh my god these are so good!!!
Glad to hear it, Kayla!
Wow, these are so moist and full of ginger, I love them! And that glaze is to die for. I did not have enough glaze to be able to dip half of the cookies but I did have enough to drizzle over the rest. I would make a double batch of glaze if you want enough to be able to dip each cookie.
Thanks for the feedback, Ashley! So glad you enjoyed the cookies!
So easy to make and incredibly good. We love them without the glaze. 5 stars and will make again!
So glad they were a hit!
These cookies are flawless – go all in and add the full amount of ginger. I did half dark brown and half white sugar and I swear, I’m never making any other ginger snaps ever again.
I also added a quarter cup of cream cheese to the glaze and it was WONDERFUL. I never review recipes, and I bake a LOT. These were just perfection.
Thanks so much for the review, Melanie! We’re so glad you enjoyed the cookies!
Made a half batch of these for the first time today. Very tasty!!!! But my cookies were a lot flatter than the pictures. Maybe I needed a bit more flour? In any case I will make these again!
So glad you enjoyed them! A bit more flour may help!
I only had coconut sugar in the house, and I might have been a little scant on molasses. It didn’t matter! These turned out great! Freezing some for later gifting. Another home run, POY!
Made these according to the recipe and they are absolutely delicious. Crisp on the outside, chewy soft on the inside. Just perfect. Left them in for 10, gave the sheet pan a whack on the kitchen counter when I took them out of the oven… flattens them and adds crunch.
Thanks so much for the comment, Dana! So glad you enjoyed them!
Can you make the dough and refrigerate overnight to bake the next day? So excited to try this recipe!
Yes, you can do that! Enjoy!
Would you suggest pre-rolling the dough before refrigerating overnight or can I leave it in a bowl covered and bring them back to room temp next day before rolling?
You can just leave it in the bowl and cover overnight!
Made these tonight for a cookie exchange and tried one right from the oven and another with the glaze and both are delicious! I only had blackstrap molasses so I used that and still found the cookies to be so good! Thanks for the perfect holiday cookie recipe POY!
The best ginger cookie recipe! I’m throwing out the other ginger cookies recipes and keeping this recipe. Love them. My family loves them. Love the texture and flavor. Amazing! So pretty dipped in maple glaze and using red and green sprinkles.
Delicious! I am putting this into the regular holiday cookie rotation. Super easy, great texture, and yummy even without the glaze (which I couldn’t make because I ran out of butter!).
Glad to hear it, April!
Made these today for a family holiday party and everyone loved them!! They are seriously so soft and yummy!! The perfect amount of ginger and molasses in my opinion. I will definitely be making these again soon.
Glad to hear they were a hit at the party!
I made this cookie recipe to the exact measurements. The cookie texture is great after baking, but it needs to be refrigerated for a couple of hours after mixing, or it is too mushy to roll, the icing is good, but I would not call it a “ginger bread cookie” it should be called a “molasses cookies” . The molasses is way too over powering in this recipe. I would suggest using much less.
Thanks for the feedback, Gaby!
Do you have a suggestion for a substitute for the one egg? A family member is allergic to eggs. Thank you!
Happy to report that these turned out AMAZING with vegan subs – specifically Becel plant-based margarine and Bob’s Mill egg replacer. Followed amounts and directions exactly. Just gorgeous!!!!
Glad to hear this, Andrea! Thanks so much for reporting back!
Hi Chris! We haven’t tested this recipe using an egg substitute. But I’m guessing a flax egg would be a good replacement!