These little chewy Gingersnap Cookies are all about sugar and spice, and everything nice. They are sweet little two-bite treats, bursting with Christmas spices, and positively addicting.
Gingersnaps are exactly the kind of cookie I want to eat during the Holiday season.
I'm not sure why spices like ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves practically shout Christmas, but they do. Not only do these spicy little cookies taste like Christmas, they will make your whole house smell like Christmas.
There are a lot of different kinds of Gingersnaps - crispy and crunchy, soft and cake-like, thin and chewy. These are the thin and chewy variety. The leavening in the dough causes them to poof up while baking, fooling you into thinking they will be soft and cakey. But then they fall as soon as you remove them from the oven, revealing their true nature as deliciously thin and chewy Ginger Snaps.
Don't be alarmed by the fact that these Cookies contain a bit of black pepper. The pepper complements the other flavors beautifully without making the cookies taste the least bit "peppery".
Sorghum Syrup is the bomb.
Made from sorghum grass juice, Sorghum Syrup used to be a commonplace ingredient in the US - especially in the south. It became more rare with the introduction of cheeper (but flavorless and nutrition-less) corn syrup. This is SUCH a shame, because in addition to adding sweetness to baked goods, it also contributes complex flavor, tasting something like a delicious combination of caramel and smoke.
Sorghum also has a very high ratio of flavor to sweetness. It is sweet – but not nearly as sweet as granulated sugar or corn syrup, making it perfect for Gingersnaps and homemade Fig Newtons.
You can generally find Sorghum Syrup at grocery or specialty stores. I order mine on Amazon. It’s a little pricy, but most recipes only require a little bit and it will keep for a long, long time in your pantry. It's also delicious poured it over pancakes and waffles instead of maple syrup, or drizzled over homemade cream biscuits or warm slices of homemade bread.
Roll them up in sugar and spice.
Coating gingersnaps in sugar and cinnamon adds more flavor and also a bit of crunch. I like to roll them in Turbinado Sugar, but any variety of coarse sugar with larger than normal sugar granules will work fine. You can also use regular granulated sugar, but you'll loose some of the crunch that the larger sugar crystals provide.
Used in this recipe:
More Christmas Cookie Recipes:
- Decorated Brown Butter Citrus Cookies with Chocolate Fondant
- Christmas Funfetti Cookies
- Chocolate Kiss Cookies
- Malted White Chocolate Sandwich Cookies with Halva Buttercream
- Marshmallow Brownie Crinkle Cookies
- Cranberry Orange Dark Chocolate Biscotti
- Spritz Wreath Cookies
- Peppermint Hot Fudge Thumbprint Cookies
- Cherry Almond Rugelach
- Chocolate Mint Brownies
If you give this recipe a try, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it, or take a picture and tag it #ofbatteranddough on Instagram.
📖 Recipe
Mini Gingersnaps
These little chewy Gingersnap Cookies are all about sugar and spice, and everything nice. They are sweet little two-bite treats, bursting with Christmas spices, and positively addicting.
Ingredients
- 9 ½ tablespoon (4 ½ oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoon sorghum syrup
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon table salt (or, ¾ teaspoon kosher salt)
- 1 ½ teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- 2 teaspoon ground ginger
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon finely ground black pepper
FOR COATING THE OUTSIDE OF THE COOKIES:
- 1 cup turbinado or sanding sugar
- 4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Add the butter and brown sugar to the bowl of a standing mixer and beat on high speed for 3-4 minutes, until the mixture is lightened in color and fluffy in texture.
- Add the egg, vanilla, and sorghum syrup and beat for 20-30 seconds until combined.
- Add the remaining cookie dough ingredients to a separate bowl and stir with a wire whisk to combine. Add to the butter and egg mixture and mix on low speed just until combined. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours, or overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and cover a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine the turbinado or sanding sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator and begin to form it into small balls of dough, roughly the size of a marble. Roll each ball of dough in the cinnamon sugar and place on a lined baking sheet, leaving about 1 inch in between each ball. You should be able to fit about 25 balls of dough on each cookie sheet.
- Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time in the center of a preheated oven, for about 10 minutes, until the cookies are puffed and slightly cracked, and the dough looks set. When you remove the cookies from the oven they will deflate, creating thin, chewy cookies. Allow to cool on a wire rack before storing in an air-tight container for up to 1 week.
Notes
Keep any dough you are not working with in the refrigerator until ready to use.
These cookies will freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition Information:
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 0Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 0mgCarbohydrates: 0gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 0g
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Valerie Foggoa says
Ginger snap cookies are a staple for me at Christmas time. I love the flavour of ginger, cinnamon, and, I use, molasses. My family loves them too - and even named our Elf on the Shelf Ginger after them!
Rebecca Blackwell says
They are a staple in our house as well, Valerie! There's something about the combination of flavors that makes it feel like Christmas. 🙂 Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment for me. I hope you and your family and Ginger the elf have a very merry Christmas! xo
Claudia says
Hola!
Me gustan tus recetas y quisiera hacer éstas galletas pero no consigo en mi país el jarabe de arce, me podrías decir si se puede reemplazar por otro ingrediente?
Muchas gracias por compartir tus excelentes recetas
Rebecca Blackwell says
Hi Claudia! You can use sorghum syrup, maple syrup, dark corn syrup, or honey in this recipe. All of those options can be used in the same amount - 3 tablespoons. I hope that helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions! xo
Natalie says
These cookies look divine and perfect for Christmas! YUM!