Description
Soft Gingerbread Cookies are a delightful treat perfect for the holiday season or anytime you crave a chewy, spiced cookie. These cookies combine warm spices like cinnamon, ginger, and cloves with rich molasses and brown sugar for a perfectly balanced sweet and spicy flavor. They are soft, tender, and easy to make with a simple dough that chills in the fridge before baking. Optionally, a simple powdered sugar glaze adds a lovely finish.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookies
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup butter, softened
- ¾ cup brown sugar, packed
- 3 Tablespoons molasses
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Simple Gingerbread Glaze (optional)
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 to 1½ Tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a small bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves, and sea salt. Stir well and set aside.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the softened butter and packed brown sugar for 1 to 2 minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- Add Wet Ingredients: Add the molasses, large egg, and pure vanilla extract to the butter-sugar mixture. Beat on medium speed for 60 to 90 seconds until smooth and well combined.
- Combine Dough: Gradually add the dry ingredient mixture to the wet ingredients while mixing on low speed. Continue mixing until the dough is fully combined and smooth.
- Chill Dough: Transfer the dough to an airtight container and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight to allow the flavors to develop and the dough to firm up.
- Preheat Oven: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside.
- Shape Cookies: Use a small cookie scoop to measure about 1 ½ to 2 tablespoons of dough for each cookie. Roll each portion into a ball and place on the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart to allow for spreading.
- Bake Cookies: Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 11 minutes or until the tops look just set. Avoid over-baking to keep them soft.
- Cool Cookies: Allow the cookies to rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes after removing from the oven, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Prepare Glaze (Optional): In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon of milk. Slowly add more milk, up to ½ tablespoon, to achieve a thick but pourable consistency.
- Glaze Cookies: Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cookies and allow it to harden at room temperature or in the refrigerator before serving.
Notes
- Baking Time Tips: Do not over-bake the cookies. For a softer, slightly doughy texture, bake closer to 9 minutes. For a firmer, still-soft cookie, bake closer to 11 minutes. Cookies will continue to cook slightly as they cool on the baking sheet.
- Butter Substitutes: Unsalted butter or vegan butter can be used instead of salted butter for different dietary preferences.
- Sugar Substitution: Dark brown sugar can be used instead of light brown sugar for a richer molasses flavor.
- Molasses Type: Use unsulphured or light molasses rather than blackstrap molasses to maintain the intended flavor balance.
- Gluten-Free Option: Substitute all-purpose flour with an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend to make the cookies gluten-free.
- Spice Adjustment: The amount and freshness of cinnamon, ginger, and cloves greatly affects the flavor, so adjust to taste if desired.
- Freezing Dough: Roll dough into balls and freeze on a lined baking sheet. Once frozen, store in an airtight container until ready to bake. Thaw at room temperature before baking as directed.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 199 kcal
- Sugar: 14 g
- Sodium: 120 mg
- Fat: 8 g
- Saturated Fat: 5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 29 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 30 mg
