Looking for the perfect classic gingersnaps recipe? Look no further! This recipes yields thin and crispy gingersnap cookies that border on the edge of spicy (in a good way!) and are packed with ginger flavor. These are just like your favorite store bought gingersnaps, but better.
Gingersnaps Cookie Recipe
Gingersnap cookies are nostalgic and one of my favorites. I wanted to make a gingersnap cookies that was perfectly crisp without being crumbly, thin, and packed with so much ginger and spices that it boarders on spicy. After many batches we've landed on the perfect cookie.
This is one of those recipes that you'll make again and again during the holiday season and every gingersnap lover in your life will ask for the recipe.
Today I'm working with Bob's Red Mill on my annual holiday post for them and I'm so glad to be bringing you this recipe using their products. I use Bob's Red Mill flours exclusively in my home (and developed a whole sourdough cookbook with their flour!). It's a brand I use, trust, and love to support.
Why this recipe is amazing:
- You brown the butter! It adds tons of flavor.
- You add the spices to the hot butter which makes them taste amazing with a deeper, stronger, and more pleasant taste.
- When the cookies come out of the oven, you flatten them with the bottom of the glass. This does something magical to the texture.
Enjoy this recipe from my kitchen to yours this winter.
Ingredients in Gingersnap Cookies:
- Butter: we add an extra step when it comes to the butter, we brown it on the stove top! This steps helps to ensure that the cookies get crisp by removing some of the water from the butter and it adds a ton of deep flavor to the cookies.
- Ginger, Cinnamon, Cloves, and Black Pepper: these are the spices that give the cookie it's signature taste. You use a whopping 2 tablespoons of ground ginger and the pepper adds a little bit of that spicy heat you are looking for.
- Molasses: you don't need a lot in this recipe but it helps to add depth of flavor to the cookies and helps make them that classic deep golden brown color.
- Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Flour: this high quality flour is the stuff baking dreams are made of. It's a great quality and their wheat is grown in Oregon and Washington.
Frequently Asked Questions
Gingersnaps are thin, crispy, and very prominent in ginger flavor. Gingerbread cookies tend to be a soft cookie that are sweeter and have a more balanced flavor between the ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. You can find my amazing soft gingerbread cookie recipe here.
These cookies have been around for hundreds of years. They originated in Germany and they called the cookie "schnappen". This is the word for a snap of the fingers, referring to the snapping sound. They are called gingersnaps because they are so crisp they make a snapping sound when broken and are full of ginger.
I didn't try it myself but I have great luck using Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1to1 Baking Flour in recipes and I think because these cookies are crisp, they would work great with that flour.
More Cookie Recipes:
- Soft Gingerbread Cookie Recipe
- White Chocolate Gingerbread Blondies
- Old Fashioned Molasses Cookies (these are a tender and soft cookie)
- How to Make a Gingerbread House
If you’ve tried this Gingersnap Cookies recipe or any other recipe on Bless this Mess, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some pictures of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can repost on my stories AND add your photo to your comment so that other can see your creation.
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Thin and Crispy Gingersnap Cookies
- Total Time: 40 min
- Yield: 5 dozen cookies 1x
Description
These thin and crispy gingersnaps cookies are just like your favorite ones from the store. They are spiced to perfection and bordering on spicy, crisp, and full of flavor. You will love these!
Ingredients
- 12 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 ¼ cups brown sugar
- ¼ cup molasses
- 1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk
- 2 ½ cups Bob's Red Mill all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup granulated sugar for rolling
Instructions
- In a medium sauce pan, add the butter and melt it over medium heat. When the butter is melted and starts to foam, stir it often. Let it cook 2-4 minutes while stirring until it turns a nutty brown color. Don't walk away from it as it can burn.
- Pour the browned butter into a large mixing bowl.
- Add the ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and pepper, and stir to combine. Let the mixture cool slightly, about 2 minutes.
- Add the brown sugar to the butter mixture and stir to combine.
- Add the molasses, egg, and egg yolk to the butter mixture and stir to combine well.
- Add the flour, baking soda, and salt to the butter mixture and stir to combine well. I'll use my hands to almost "knead" the dough a little at the end if it gets too thick to stir. Make sure it's fully combined.
- Cover the bowl tightly and chill the dough for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or a baking mat.
- Place the reserved granulated sugar in a bowl.
- Roll one heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball in your hands (it should be about the size of a large shooter marble, so not huge) and then roll the dough into the sugar to coat the outside.
- Place the dough balls on the baking sheet 2 inches apart, roughly 12-15 per baking sheet.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and use the bottom of a glass drinking cup to press the cookies flat. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.
- Repeat with remaining dough.
- The cookies will finish crisping up as they cool.
- Store leftover fully cooled cookies in an airtight container.
Notes
- Don't skip browning the butter. It helps to remove some of the water from the butter which lends to a crispier cookie.
- Flattening the cookies when they come out of the oven does something magical to the texture.
- I do think these cookies would lend well to gluten free baking and though I haven't tired it, I think that the Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1-t0-1 Baking Flour would work well in this recipe.
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 20 min
- Category: dessert
- Method: bake
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: gingersnaps, gingersnap cookies, how to make gingersnaps, gingersnaps recipe, gingersnap cookies recipe, crispy gingersnap cookies
I can't wait for you to make this spicy, thin, and crispy gingersnap cookies that will remind you of your childhood and of your grandma. I hope that you make these amazing Christmas cookies soon!
Patty
Can you substitute shortening for the butter? I need a non-dairy version
Melissa
Yep should work great!
Gary
Although nothing “ magical” happened after flattening my cookies when they came out of the oven… the recipe still worked fine !
Gary
I really wasn’t expecting these to be so perfect. Every bit as good… or better than Archway ginger snaps, which I usually buy . I needed this type or cookie for a rum ball recipe. Thanks ! Gary D.
Katt
Can you suggest a perfect 'drizzle' to spruce up the tops of these for gift giving? While I love then as is( I've loved gingersnaps since I was a child, the spicier the better!), but think they might benefit by a little decor for taking to a gathering, or presenting...also, would more ginger, or more pepper( or both) make them even spicier? Thanks for any help, AND for the excellent recipe!
Melissa
If you want your spice at the next level, I'd add a tablespoon or two of FRESH super finely grated ginger, fresh ginger had such a great zing and a few recipes I looked at in my research used it! Maybe consider using the glaze from my old fashioned iced oatmeal cookies for the top! Here's that recipe: https://www.blessthismessplease.com/old-fashioned-iced-oatmeal-cookies/