Chewy Gingerbread Cookies
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Chewy Gingerbread Cookies have a bit more personality than plain ginger snaps. Soft, chewy, fragrantly aromatic and utterly addictive. A gingerbread lovers dream.
Originally posted December of 2009.
These chewy gingerbread cookies are a recent addition to my Holiday Cookie List! They are chock full of the smells and tastes of Christmas.
These tender cookies are soft and chewy at the centre with perfectly crisp edges.
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!
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.
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.
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Chewy Gingerbread Raisin Cookies - Soft, chewy, fragrantly aromatic and utterly addictive. A gingerbread lovers dream.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup butter, melted
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup molasses
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 cup raisins, optional
- ½ cup white sugar for rolling
Instructions
- In a bowl mix together the melted butter, sugar, and egg until blended.
- Stir in the molasses & raisins.
- Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger and fold into the molasses mixture.
- Cover, and chill dough for a couple of hours or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Roll dough into 1 sized balls, and roll them in the remaining white sugar.
- Place cookies 2 ½ inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets, lined with parchment paper or silicone baking liners.
- 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.
- 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
24Serving Size
1 gAmount Per Serving Calories 152Total Fat 6gSaturated Fat 3gUnsaturated Fat 0gCholesterol 22mgSodium 196mgCarbohydrates 23gSugar 10gProtein 1g
I made these cookies and they were delicious. The only thing I would have done different is I would NOT roll them in sugar. They become too sticky and messy to eat. Especially for little hands.
I made these, they turned out super flat and hard....I am sure i did something wrong. The flavour was amazing.
To high heat, too long in the oven or using a non-aluminum pan are usually the culprits. Experiment to find the best time for your oven, they do sometimes vary in temperature considerably.
Hello Barry, You must be one fantastic cook because everyone of your recipes that I have tried out are delicious! I've always been a chewy cookie type person so what a find it was to make some of your chewy cookie recipes. Just finished eating three Gingerbread Chewy Cookies-can't describe how well they went over with everyone.Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful recipes with everyone.
Thanks for the helpful tips, these cookies sound scrumptious! 😀
These sound delicious, I love ginger cookies, I notice the ingredients say butter, but the instructions say margarine. I prefer to use butter myself.
Just a small tip when baking and your cookies turn hard place them in a plastic container and cover the cookies with bread. Cover your container and let them sit overnight and that will soften them.
When will this years gingerbread house be completed? I have been studying your prior years houses... love them! My mom always made a gingerbread church with stained glass each year when I was a child. Your houses bring back memories! Stunning!
I haven't done one in a few years. My blog is now my full time job and this time of year is far too demanding of my time.
Thanks for the tips. We moved recently and I’ve been having a difficult time trying to get my cookies to turn out with the new oven. I’m goi t to experiment with each of your tips.
Barry,
I love your recipes, being from Newfoundland and moved away years ago, i always bake Newfoundland cookies / fruit cakes at Christmas time. I remember growing up baking with my mom. I was wondering if you are ever going to do a cookie and fruit cake cook book, with all the Christmas recipes . I enjoy your blog as well have 2 of your cook books, keep up the good work keeping all of who are adrift happy
I did a Christmas Cookbook last year but that included all kinds of recipes for cooking and baking. I may do a cookie book in the next couple of years.
Barry, I made the Oatmeal cookie recipe, I used the butterscotch morsel cookies instead of the raisins . When the cookies were baking, I noticed the cookies just stayed in a ball and did not flatten out, do you know why this would happen?
No idea. I think you must have mismeasured something.
I made the chewy oatmeal raisin cookies and the chewy ginger raisin( without raisins) by far the best recipes i have found for these cookies. They turned out perfect. These will be my go to oatmeal cookie and ginger cookie recipes from now on. Looking forward to trying all of your other cookie recipes.
These cookies were wonderful! Delicious! Going to be one of my favorite cookie recipes!
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.
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.
Can I use this recipe for the base of a pumpkin cheesecake?
Sounds delicious! Give it a go and let us know how it works!