Skip to Content

Chewy Gingerbread Cookies

Chewy Gingerbread Cookies have a bit more personality than plain ginger snaps. Soft, chewy, fragrantly aromatic and utterly addictive; a gingerbread lovers dream.

Chewy Gingerbread Cookies

Chewy Gingerbread Cookies

Recipe updated November 2017 with new photos and baking tips.

These chewy gingerbread cookies are a recent addition to my Holiday Cookie List, chock full of the smells and tastes of Christmas. These tender cookies are soft and chewy at the centre with perfectly crisp edges.

Ginger is such a warm, comforting spice.

With the added raisins, all the great spice flavours of ginger, cloves and cinnamon, as well as a great cookie texture, I like to think of this a ginger snap with more personality! They are seriously addictive to gingerbread fans.

Don’t say you were not warned!

Chewy Gingerbread Cookies, just out of the oven.

Chewy Gingerbread Cookies, just out of the oven.

Some tips for this Chewy Gingerbread Cookies recipe.

1) It is really important that the dough for these cookies is very cold or else they will spread too much on the pan. That is a good general rule for practically any chewy cookie recipe.

2)The cookie sheets/pans are also very important. I always use aluminum baking sheets because they heat up quickly and evenly, and just as importantly, cool down quickly. Some pans stay hot too long so the cookies continue to bake on the pan even after they have been removed from the oven, often resulting in a crispy and not chewy texture.

Chewy Gingerbread Cookies. The dough is rolled in sugar before baking.

Chewy Gingerbread Cookies. The dough is rolled in sugar before baking.

3) It is very important that the oven be fully preheated so that the edges of the cookies set/bake quick enough to contain the shape of the cookie. Too low a heat can also cause cookies to spread on the pan.

Know your oven.

4) No two ovens are alike… EVER! I’ve seen ovens with thermostats that are off by 25 degrees and more. As always, when trying a new chewy cookie recipe, you should do small test batches of only a couple of cookies at a time. This will allow you to judge and adjust the temperature and time that will bake the cookies perfectly. Be sure to make a note on the recipe of the time and temperature once you get them just right for your oven

5)This cookie dough can be kept in the fridge for a couple of days and baked as needed. It also freezes very well. It is best to let the dough thaw in the fridge overnight when baking with frozen dough.

Chewy Gingerbread Cookies, very slightly flatten before baking.

Chewy Gingerbread Cookies, very slightly flatten before baking.

If you are looking for more Christmas baking inspiration, we have gathered a collection of our Most Popular Christmas Recipes of the past 14 year.

Best Christmas Baking Recipes photo collage 

Originally published December 17, 2009. Updated December 2020.

Like this Chewy Gingerbread Cookies recipe?

Be sure to browse the photo index of over 200 cookies and cookie bar recipe is in our expansive Cookies Category.

It’s easy to keep up with the latest home style cooking & baking ideas from Rock Recipes. Be sure to follow Rock Recipes Facebook Page and follow us on Instagram

Plus you’ll see daily recipe suggestions from decadent desserts to quick delicious weekday meals too. 

Chewy Gingerbread Cookies image with title text

Chewy Gingerbread Cookies

You can also sign up for our FREE newsletter to know immediately when we add new recipes. You’ll also get weekly suggestions for great family friendly  meals and desserts too!


Rock Recipes a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Our product recommendations are almost exclusively for those we currently use or have used in the past.
 
Visit my Amazon Store for my favourite kitchen gadgets and appliances, plus recommendations from my personal cookbook collection.

 

Chewy Gingerbread Cookies
Yield: 24 cookies or more

Chewy Gingerbread Raisin Cookies

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

Chewy Gingerbread Raisin Cookies - Soft, chewy, fragrantly aromatic and utterly addictive. A gingerbread lovers dream.

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup butter, melted
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup molasses
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 cup raisins, optional
  • 1/2 cup white sugar for rolling

Instructions

  1. In a bowl mix together the melted butter, sugar, and egg until blended.
  2. Stir in the molasses & raisins.
  3. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger and fold into the molasses mixture.
  4. Cover, and chill dough for a couple of hours or overnight.
  5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  6. Roll dough into 1 sized balls, and roll them in the remaining white sugar.
  7. Place cookies 2 1/2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets, lined with parchment paper or silicone baking liners.
  8. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow to rest on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to wire racks to cool.
  9. This dough freezes well, so you can roll them into balls and freeze them, then take them out of the freezer, roll them in the sugar and bake as usual. They make take an extra 1 or 2 minutes in the oven this way but you can make a many or as few as you like.

Notes

Allow an additional 2 hours to the prep time to chill the dough.

Some tips for this Chewy Gingerbread Cookies recipe.

It is really important that the dough for these cookies is very cold or else they will spread too much on the pan. That is a good general rule for practically any chewy cookie recipe.

The cookie sheets/pans are also very important. I always use aluminum baking sheets because they heat up quickly and evenly, and just as importantly, cool down quickly. Some pans stay hot too long so the cookies continue to bake on the pan even after they have been removed from the oven, often resulting in a crispy and not chewy texture. 

It is very important that the oven be fully preheated so that the edges of the cookies set/bake quick enough to contain the shape of the cookie. Too low a heat can also cause cookies to spread on the pan.

Know your oven

No two ovens are alike...EVER! I've seen ovens with thermostats that are off by 25 degrees and more. As always, when trying a new chewy cookie recipe, you should do small test batches of only a couple of cookies at a time. This will allow you to judge and adjust the temperature and time that will bake the cookies perfectly. Be sure to make a note on the recipe of the time and temperature once you get them just right for your oven.

This cookie dough can be kept in the fridge for a couple of days and baked as needed. It also freezes very well. It is best to let the dough thaw in the fridge overnight when baking with frozen dough.

Nutrition

The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.

Nutrition Information

Yield

24

Serving Size

1 g

Amount Per Serving Calories 152Total Fat 6gSaturated Fat 3gUnsaturated Fat 0gCholesterol 22mgSodium 196mgCarbohydrates 23gSugar 10gProtein 1g

Did you like this recipe?

Do you love our "Real food recipes for real people'? Share the recipe on Facebook to let your friends know about us. They'll thank you for it.

 

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

gail

Wednesday 29th of November 2023

Can dried cranberries or glace cherries be used instead of raisins? I also have candied ginger pieces and, would using them (cut up small) be too much ginger? Perhaps cut back to no ground ginger and only use small tiny pieces instead of raisins??? I am trying to use up what is in the pantry and not buy more items. I have friends who do not like raisins so their treat gifts should be just as exciting without them.

Sheila

Wednesday 8th of December 2021

Can I use this recipe for the base of a pumpkin cheesecake?

Lynn Parsons

Monday 13th of December 2021

Sounds delicious! Give it a go and let us know how it works!

Cheryl

Sunday 20th of December 2020

Another awesome one for Christmas! Can’t stress enough... follow the directions, it’s all in there.

And great tip, try a few in the oven to make sure your time and temps are correct. I used convection, so 325 at 8 Min was perfect. House smells relish.

Carmen

Thursday 17th of December 2020

Delicious and I love that I can make them ahead of time, freeze and bake as needed. I skipped the raisins, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. I used a 1 tbsp. scoop and got about 30 balls of dough. I baked a few right away, but froze the rest and have thawed and baked some more since. I spent a full day making doughs and freezer-friendly treats a couple of weeks ago. Now I can coast into Christmas with most of the baking done instead of a last minute scramble.

Louann Hulce

Thursday 14th of February 2019

These cookies were wonderful! Delicious! Going to be one of my favorite cookie recipes!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Skip to Recipe

Sharing is Caring

Help spread the word. You're awesome for doing it!