These scrumptious Soft Gingerbread Cookies are so full of flavor, slightly crispy on the edges and soft and chewy on the inside. They are a family favorite and are perfect for holiday gift giving.
I think hubby ate a half dozen of these yesterday and would have kept going if I had not cut him off.
Are you a fan of gingerbread? I absolutely love it. I like the soft and chewy kind not the hard need to soak in milk kind. These easy Soft Gingerbread Cookies are the best. One of the key ingredients is molasses. Which by itself is not the best tasting ingredient but lookout when you mix it with butter, sugar, flour and fall baking spices. Considered yourself warned because these cookies are amazing!!
What is molasses?
Molasses is the dark, sweet syrupy by product from refining sugar cane or sugar beets into sugar. It is a different type of sweetener just like honey or agave syrup and is often used to produce a certain type of flavor. Just as honey produces a different taste than sugar so does molasses. It is next to impossible to describe but you will know it when you smell and love it when you mix it in this cookie batter.
These delicious cookies are perfect for your holiday gift giving, cookie exchanges and parties. They are quick to come together and they freeze exceptionally well.
How to make Soft Gingerbread Cookies!
Grab a medium bowl and combine your flour, ground ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and salt. Set this bowl aside for a few minutes.
Using mixer cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in egg, coffee and molasses. Slowly blend flour mixture into butter mixture. Shape dough into one inch balls and roll through sugar. Bake on parchment covered cookie sheets. Move to cookie cooling rack after five minutes.
Can you roll these Gingerbread Cookies for cutting into shapes?
Yes you most certainly can. Divide the dough in half and shape as round mounds. Cover each fully with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for at least four hours up to three days. Remove from fridge and place on generously floured surface, using rolling pin covered with flour roll to one-quarter to one-third inch thick. Using cookie cutters cut and place on parchment covered baking sheets one inch apart. Combine and re-roll scraps. Bake at 350 degrees for eight to twelve minutes. After five minutes remove to cookie cooling racks. Cool completely and decorate as desired.
If you are rolling the dough and cutting than these cookies will become more crisp. Much of the aeration is removed by rolling the cookies. The cooking time for cut cookies is reduced to 8-12 minutes. I suggest you run a test run with 1-2 cookies to establish optimum cooking time.
How to freeze Soft Gingerbread Cookies.
After baking let the cookies fully cool. Double wrap in Ziploc freezer bags (removing as much air as possible) and place in sturdy freezer containers. Place in freezer for up to two months. When thawing remove from all packaging and place on serving plates in single layer until they are thawed. Once thawed they can be stacked for serving, packed in airtight containers, or packaged for gift giving. It is the condensation that builds up in the freezer bags that ruins the cookies.
If you like gingerbread you have got to try these cookies. They are delicious, dependable and easy to prepare. They freeze well, package well and are prefect for holiday gift giving! What’s not to love about them?
Other cookies you will love!!
- Homemade Sugar Cookie
- Small Batch Almond Joy Cookies
- Christmas Cookie Sparkles
- 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
- Peppermint Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies
This post was originally published October 21, 2018 and was republished October 18, 2019 with new content.
Soft Gingerbread Cookies
These family friendly soft and slightly chewy gingerbread cookies are a holiday favorite. They are easy to make and packed with all your favorite fall spices along with a touch of coffee and molasses.
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 12
- Total Time: 27 minutes
- Yield: 36 1x
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup butter softened
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons prepared dark coffee
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1/4 cup white sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a medium bowl and combine flour, ground ginger, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, ground nutmeg and salt. Set aside.
- Using mixer cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in egg, coffee and molasses. Slowly blend flour mixture into butter mixture until incorporated; scraping down bowl and beaters. Shape dough into one inch balls and roll through white sugar.
- Place on parchment covered baking sheets one inch apart. Bake for 12-14 minutes. After 5 minutes move to cookie cooling racks.
Notes
If rolling the dough and cutting; these cookies will become more crisp. Much of the aeration is removed by rolling the cookies. The cooking time for cut cookies is reduced to 8-12 minutes. I suggest you run a test run with 1-2 cookies to establish optimum cooking time.
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i love warm gingerbread cookies with a cup of coffee!! Thanks for the recipe
★★★★★
My pleasure Cheryl!! I love them too! So delicious!!
In the ingredients it dont mention baking soda but does in the instructions how much do we use
I just checked it. It is the second ingredient down. 1 1/2 teaspoons
Made these cookies for my family on Halloween and they loved them! Delicious and easy to make. Thanks!
★★★★★
The pleasure was all mine!
at what temp do these get baked? I am either blind or it is not posted in the recipe
No Laura. You are not blind. I totally missed that one. I have added it now. Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention.
what could be used in place of coffee?? I don’t drink coffee and don’t care for that flavor in things. Perhaps strong black tea?
I think that would work well or just omit it.
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Gingerbread cookies are an all time favorite at our house. A must for holiday baking and sharing!
★★★★★
Thanks so much Jamie! We love them too! Delicious!
These cookies are amazing! I had to decrease the cooking time to 10 mins for softer cookies, i think it was because they were smaller.
★★★★★
Gotcha! So glad that you liked them. I love gingerbread cookies. Whenever I make cookies I always do a test run with one or two to establish baking time because there are so many variables that come into play.
Taste was good but I rolled my dough out, and 9h are they ever hard! It makes me sad, I guess I’ll have to try and just do drop cookies next time.
★★★
So sorry Beth. I should have left more directions on this recipe. Yes if gingerbread dough is rolled out it will become more crisp as the aeration is removed when rolled. It would also require a little shorter cooking time; closer to ten minutes. I am going to make notes on the recipe right now.
This is for the person who said the cookies turned out hard. Put a slice of bread in a bag/container with the cookies. They should draw the moisture from the bread. Try with a couple first. Good luck ?
What can we substitute the coffee with?
Milk or water.
When you say prepared coffee what does it mean. Instant coffee?
As if you if would drink it. In drinkable form.
How much water do I put in 2 tablespoon of coffee
It is two tablespoons of prepared coffee. So two tablespoons of coffee as it would be served to you. I hope that helps.
These we so good and so soft!! Perfect perfect perfect gingerbread cookie. So glad I came across this recipe! Thank you so much for sharing
★★★★★
Thanks so much! So glad that you enjoyed them!
Can these be baked and then frozen? I would like to make them ahead for Christmas. Do they get hard over time? I made some last year (a different recipe) and they were hard in 3 days. Just did not retain that nice soft texture.
Yes they can be baked and frozen. Make sure you wrap them well. I am struggling with my memory on how long these stay soft but I am not sure because they do not stay around here long. My hubby loves gingerbread. I think at one point I had some that were almost a week and they were still delicious.
Can these be frozen either baked or just dough? If so, how?
★★★★★
How to freeze Soft Gingerbread Cookies.
After baking let the cookies fully cool. Double wrap in Ziploc freezer bags (removing as much air as possible) and place in sturdy freezer containers. Place in freezer for up to two months. When thawing remove from all packaging and place on serving plates in single layer until they are thawed. Once thawed they can be stacked for serving, packed in airtight containers, or packaged for gift giving. It is the condensation that builds up in the freezer bags that ruins the cookies.
You can also freeze the dough. Roll the dough into balls. Place on parchment covered baking sheets. They should not be touching. Place in freezer until frozen solid (about one hour). Move to double Ziploc freezer bags. Store in safe place in freezer. To bake remove as many as you want. Roll in sugar and place on parchment covered baking sheets. Let them thaw while the oven preheats. They may need one more minute baking time.
Hello, these look delicious and I want to try them. What kind of molasses did you use? I didn’t realize there were different types.
And do you know what the difference is? Blackstrap, Fancy etc.
I used unsulphured molasses available from my local high end grocery store. I am not aware of all of those types.
Loved these cookies. The spices are just right! Mine weren’t as “fat” as yours look, but they weren’t too thin and they stayed soft. Everyone loved them. One thing – I used my Kitchenaid to do most of the mixing so my dough was too soft/warm to form into balls, but a few minutes in the refrigerator did the trick.
So glad that you liked them! I use my Kitchenaid quite frequently for cookies and yes sometimes that means refrigeration time,
Forgot to rate on my comment. 5 Stars!
★★★★★
Thanks Kathy! Have a fabulous day!
I’m completely amateur when it comes to cooking/baking, but I can follow a recipe and it usually turns out well. This looks like a great recipe and I want to try it for a small gathering of sorts, but the inclusion of coffee in this recipe befuddled me. I love coffee, but I’m not sure about putting it in a recipe. I don’t even have a coffee maker. I saw someone’s comment about switching out coffee for tea and the reply about that being okay or just omitting that step completely. My concern is whether or not the cookies will still be good if I skip that step. Should I tweak the amount of one ingredient or more and, if so, by how much? Or will the cookies still come out tasty if I leave the rest of the ingredients alone and simply skip adding the coffee? Like I said, amateur here.
Hey Rebecca the coffee is there just to lend a little more taste to the recipe…albeit a subtle taste. If you don’t have a coffee maker than I think I would just sub a couple tablespoons of water. Like I said it is subtle and I think you will still love the cookies. This dough may require a little bit of refrigeration depending on how soft your butter is. Run a test run with two cookies and if they spread too fast cover your dough and place in the fridge for 45 minutes. Too soft butter can lead to too much spread and I want everyone’s cookies to turn out right.
Thank you so much for the reply! I will take your advice into account. Merry Christmas!
Sounds delicious and can’t wait to try…. One problem…. We can’t get molasses here as we live abroad, is there an alternative /substitute?
You can try dark corn syrup. I have not tried it but it is recommended for a substitute for molasses.
Light brown sugar or dark brown sugar?
Light brown sugar
I love everything about this recipe! PERFECTION!
★★★★★
Can the coffee be left out or substituted?
Yes it can!
Had to add extra flour and put the dough in the refrigerator to firm up a bit to roll but otherwise a great recipe
OMG thanks so much for the Recipe I just made them so easy to make and taste amazing too I have been looking for the right one for so long now thank you ?
★★★★★
What perfect little bites of heaven! These are always a hit during the holidays; excited to bake these and package for gifts! Delish!
★★★★★
Such a great recipe! Glad we found this recipe.
★★★★★
I am so ready to make these this weekend! Ready to get into the holiday spirit.
★★★★★
These scrumptious Soft Gingerbread Cookies are just so adorable!!
★★★★★
When i took mine out of the oven they where beautiful round mounded cookies but after about 3 minutes were flat 🙁 Still tasted great but wondering how I can keep them plump? Bake longer ?
★★★★★
I would not bake them any longer. A couple of quick tips. Make sure your baking soda is fresh. I always run a trial run by baking 2-3 cookies first. If they spread too fast refrigerate the dough for a couple of hours.
Any suggestions for a substitution for the coffee?
Hello! Thank you for the recipe!
I’ve just made your cookies, they taste really good, but there is one problem- they didn’t spread at all, they stayed in a ball-shape. The batter was very soft and I thought it should spread, but it didn’t. Why did it happen? 🙁
★★★★★
Did you by chance use shortening instead of butter?
May I ask did you use a tsp scoop or a Tbsp scoop ? Thank you
I did not use a cookie scoop on these. I rolled them into one inch balls with my hands then rolled them through the sugar.
Looking forward to baking this recipe….I live in a high altitude area, any suggestions?
Sorry Bridget! I do not have any experience with that but maybe one of the readers will have some advice.
I sandwiched my cookies with some lemon frosting. It made a fantastic cookie crazy good
3 Tbs butter
1 1/2- 2 cups confectioners sugar
1 teas lemon zest
1 Tbs lemon juice
A few drops on cream to get a good spreading consistency
Use about a teaspoon per cookie really yummy!
That sounds absolutely divine! Thanks for the tip!
Very good! Soft, spice level was great! I used room temperature butter so mine spread a bit. I used 2 T. espresso and salted Kerry Gold butter. Next time I will chill well in fridge after they are on parchment sheet and bake cold. I put royal icing on mine. Made these for my SIL who requested a soft gingerbread cookie with royal icing. I’d make again!
★★★★★
So glad that you liked them! I love a good soft gingerbread cookie! Happy holidays!
What temperature is 350F in Celsius
Google says 177 degrees C
Excellent! I made it as written the first time. I think my butter was way too soft as they spread and were thinner than your photo. BUT they were delicious and chewy! The second time I made I tried to replicate a local bakery’s version of a bar cookie. I used a Lebkuchengewurz spice mix (from The Daring Gourmet) and used 2 T. of this mixture in the cookie recipe, used Kerry Gold salted butter, only 3/4 C. brown sugar, increased molasses to 6 T. and added 2 T. ginger syrup (The Ginger People’s) and did not roll in the additional sugar since I iced with a sifted powdered sugar, couple drops orange essential oil and enough coconut milk to get a pourable/spreadable consistency. I baked this in parchment lined 15×10 jellyroll pan for 14-16 minutes. An offset spatula helped to spread the dough out evenly. I iced while a little warm, then chilled overnight, cut into squares and will store in fridge with unbleached coffee filters between layers so they don’t stick together. The are lovely, chewy and spicy! Thanks for the awesome recipe and Merry Christmas!
★★★★★
Successfully made these with Arrowhead Mills GF flour (mix includes xanthan gum) and 6 oz. room temp Earth Balance vegan baking sticks for my friend’s daughter who is GF/DF. Used 2 T. of the Lebkuchengewurz spice mixture I referenced in my previous comment/review. Used 1/2 C. brown sugar, and increased molasses to 6 T. Did not roll in sugar as I iced with sifted powdered sugar, drop of lemon oil and enough soy milk to be spreadable. (After making with orange oil, I prefer that over the lemon.) Used decaf espresso (which I also did every time I’ve made these). I forgot to add to my previous post that I used zest of one orange for this GF/DF version as well as for the one made with regular flour.
★★★★★
Fluffy in the middle and crisp edges as promised! Awesome recipe! Thanks! Also great with the tops dipped in a powdered sugar + milk icing. 🙂
★★★★★
Thanks Lynn! So glad that you liked them! I will try to tip!