Made with fresh ginger, these crisp, fragrant cookies are a seasonal must and have been a tradition in our home for years.
These cookies bring together all of your favorite autumn spices in a chewy ginger-molasses cookie, decorated with white chocolate icing.
These cookies are perfect treats for any Thanksgiving or Christmas get together. As a nice bonus, they can be made ahead of time, as they keep nicely for up to a week.
These cookies would be delicious paired alongside something like my Pumpkin Spice Caramel Latte, or a Pumpkin Spice Buttered Rum. Also check out our super simple homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice seasoning, so that you can add the beloved flavor of fall to ‘everything.' It couldn’t be easier!
Now, without further delay, let’s making some Fresh Ginger Cookies.
Ingredient Checklist and Notes
- Flour. Standard all-purpose flour is what you’re looking for in today’s recipe.
- Baking Soda. This is what allows baked goods to rise and become fluffy. Simple as that.
- Sugar. Plain white sugar is all you’re looking for.
- Brown Sugar. I suggest using dark brown sugar, simply because this is the type of sugar that has real, naturally occurring molasses – which does actually make quite a bit of difference in terms of flavor.
- Cinnamon. Ubiquitous and beloved, if ever one spice ‘tastes like Autumn,’ this is the one. Cinnamon gives the cookies a nice warming and earthy flavor, and just a hint of background sweetness.
- Ginger. While I’m using freshly grated ginger, and equivariant amount of powdered would also work just fine.
- Cloves. Combined with the ginger and the cinnamon, cloves really help complete the flavor profile we’re aiming for with these cookies.
- Molasses. Color, flavor, and moisture, this is an essential ginger cookie ingredient. In terms of flavor, think sweetness and earthy notes. It also adds texture in the form of ‘chew’ to the cookies. I opt for ‘original’ unsulphured molasses over dark – simply as a matter of preference.
- Canola Oil. Basic baking oil, used for fat and moisture.
- Butter. As usual, I highly recommend using unsalted butter for the purposes of today’s recipe.
- Salt. Plain table salt is all you need.
- White Chocolate Chips. This forms the base for the icing.
Prep Tips – Making Ginger Cookies
- Making the icing in advance. The icing can be prepared up to three days ahead of time. So, if you’re on a tight schedule, or simply don’t feel like making ‘all the mess’ at once, consider prepping the icing ahead of time.
- Expect the dough to be sticky. Expect the dough to sticky – very sticky. This is what you want, so don’t fret.
- Chill the Dough. Because of how sticky the dough is, you will need to chill it in order to be able to work with it. Chill it for at least three hours, preferably in cling wrap.
- Don’t Overwork. I mention this in virtually ever recipe that uses a ‘dough.’ Do ‘not’ overwork the cookie dough. Working equates to air, air equates to a dry, hard cookie.
- Watch the Thickness. When rolling the dough, aim for about a quarter of an inch in thickness. If the dough is too thick, the interior won’t cook properly. If too thin, the cookies will burn.
- Spread the cookies out. This one should really go without saying, but try to space your cookies about an inch apart, not because they’re spread – they won’t – but simply so that they have room to ‘breath,’ and because this makes it easier to remove them from the pan once baked.
Fresh Ginger Cookies
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 2 dozen cookies 1x
Ingredients
Units
Scale
For Fresh Ginger Cookies:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 11/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 3 teaspoons freshly grated ginger root
- 2 tablespoons unsulfured molasses (I used Grandma's Original)
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 4 tablespoons butter
- Pinch of salt
For White Chocolate Icing:
- 1/4 cup white chocolate chips
- Pat of unsalted butter
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix together sugars, egg, cinnamon, cloves, fresh ginger, oil, butter, molasses, and salt. Stir together until everything is smooth and combined.
- Sift the flour and baking soda into the bowl and mix until a soft, sticky dough forms.
- Transfer the dough to cling film. Wrap and refrigerate for several hours until firm.
- On a baking sheet lined with floured parchment paper, transfer the dough. Flour your rolling pin and roll the dough out into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Place in the dough in the freezer for the next 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Take the dough out and cut out the desired shapes. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the cookies are golden. Transfer immediately to a cooling rack. Let cool completely.
- In a double broiler, melt down the white chocolate and butter. Turn the heat off once the butter begins to melt about 2-3 minutes. Remove the pan from the hot water and stir. Once the chocolate melts completely into a smooth consistency spoon immediately into the piping bag. It shouldn't be too hot. (If you don't remove the chocolate immediately, it will seize).
- Decorate the cookies as desired.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Dessert
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
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And that’s our Fresh Ginger Cookies. If you enjoyed today’s recipe, or have any questions or suggestions, be sure to let us know in the comments below. We always love hearing from you. Happy Baking!
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Adelina Priddis says
I would love to have that kind of energy at 1 in the morning! Better yet I'd love to wake up to an army of gingerbread men on my table 🙂 Thanks for sharing with us on Weekend Bites!
Carmia says
Your gingerbread men look adorable 🙂 Thanks for sharing with us!
gloria says
Tammy these gingerbreads look adorable!!
Always Christmas give me all the energy I need lol
(Thanks God for that)
xoxox
Ginny Hartzler says
What a nice story! I can almost smell them now. They ARE so cute!
Comedy Plus says
Oh yummy. I love ginger cookies.
Have a fabulous day honey. Big hugs. ♥♥♥
Christina @ Christina's Cucina says
Haha! I was up baking an apple pie at 1 am this morning! Love that these gingerbread men are made with fresh ginger! I was just given a bag full last night! Great recipe. 🙂
Susan says
I always make gingerbread cookies for Christmas but I've never made them with fresh ginger. They must taste wonderful!
Brandi says
I usually get the urge to bake something late at night too, but my bed usually calls my name so there's that! LOL Your cookies look so cute. I plan on doing a lot of baking this weekend. I'd love to add your recipe to the mix. Thanks for sharing.
Amy (Savory Moments) says
I would love to be woken up in the middle of the night to the smell of these cookies! I love that you used fresh ginger in them - I bet they are really delicious!
Cakelaw says
I agree - you find reserves of energy you never knew you had when preparing for Xmas. Your gingerbread men are so cute, and white chocolate is a nice alternative to royal icing.
Victoria says
This looks awesome! I love the idea of using fresh ginger here, and the gingerbread people are just too cute 🙂
Rolo says
Wow!
Heather @ My Sweet Mission says
Tammy, these fresh ginger cookies are adorable and just in time for Christmas! Btw, I love the blog's new white background, so clean and pretty!
Hope you and your family have a very Merry Christmas!
Heather
MySweetMission.net
Allie | Baking a Moment says
These are adorable! And I love that you used fresh ginger. 😀
Dottie Sauchelli Balin says
Dear Tammy,
Beautiful! Love these cookies, they are so cute and I can just smell the aroma of the fresh ginger! You really surprised the family with a batch of these little guys. Love your recipe and I like the idea of piping the white chocolate on the cookies. Great job, you were like a little elf in the middle of the night. Sometimes that is when I bake as well. It is so quiet and there is something so magical about baking at night, especially with the Christmas tree lit and the Christmas music in the background. Peaceful yet busy with flour and sugar. You and your family have a wonderful weekend! Thanks for sharing dear friend..
Dottie 🙂
Sam @ My Carolina Kitchen says
Your gingerbread men are adorable Catherine. Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Sam
Chaya says
If this is what you do with your early morning energy, keep staying up and producing deliciousness. Merry Christmas Catherine.
Big Daddy Dave says
Tammy, That's a great looking army you've created! I'll take half a dozen for my wife, who loves ginger cookies... Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy New Year! Take Care, Big Daddy Dave
AnnMarie says
I would love to try these! I didn't make my traditional gingerbread cookies this year because I am the only one that eats them and now I am really missing them! I have a great frosting recipe that I use on all my cookies. It is easy and uses ingredients that are usually in the pantry. 2 2/3 cups powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, 1 tablespoon extract flavoring (optional) and then enough hot water to make it the consistency you want. It comes out great every time! Try it!
Sarah @ Sarah's Kitchen says
These cookies are so adorable! I love them 😀
Miz Helen says
These are very special cookies! Thanks so much for sharing this awesome recipe with our special edition of Full Plate Thursday. Hope you are enjoying your holidays and look forward to seeing you soon!
Miz Helen
Linda says
Wahta nice treat for youor family! Love how the holidays inspire us to extra special actions for family and friends. Happy New Year! Linda
Linda says
I’m excited to try this recipe but would like a crispy cookie. Do you think if I omitted the egg that would make it crispy or would that be a problem? They sound wonderful and I really want to use the fresh ginger. I already bought everything to bake these. Thank you for sharing!
Living the Gourmet says
Dear Linda, Thank you so much for stopping by and for your kind words. I am so happy to hear you are going to make these cookies and I know you will love them! For a crispier cookie I suggest substituting the vegetable oil for butter so that would bring that to 1/2 cup of butter for this recipe. The butter will help add a little crisp to them. I wouldn't suggest omitting the egg since it acts as a bind for the batter. I hope this helps you get the consistency you are looking for. Let me know how they turn out. Enjoy!
Angel Fountain says
Just got done making these,In the fridge chilling over night(along with double batch of sugar cookies &chocolate crinkle ) Tasted the dough OMG Im so in love , love the fresh Ginger, It is definitely a home run. Thank you so much for sharing. will post and update after they are done.
Gabrielle says
I made these cookies and brought them to the office. They were such a hit I got asked for the recipe!
I always love adding fresh ginger to baking!
Living the Gourmet says
Dear Gabrielle, I am so happy to hear everyone enjoyed them! I love fresh ginger too 🙂 Thank you so much for visiting and have a beautiful holiday season!
Daniela says
I didn't know you could make ginger cookies with fresh ginger! This is a recipe I definitely have to try!
Bernice Hill says
hahaha, I love it. Life of a food blogger, indeed. You have to bake when the mood strikes and reap the rewards later after your nap!
Chef Dennis says
These Ginger Cookies are perfect! We are so excited to make this for Christmas and enjoy eating this together with our family.
Tracy says
I love the fresh ginger in these cookies! What a great recipe - worth being up at 1 am for! Ahh the life, right? It's so worth it, though!!
Kathryn Donangelo says
These fresh ginger cookies are so cute and delicious! All of the holiday flavors are perfect and they are even fun for kids to make! Thank you for this recipe 🙂
Addison says
I absolutely love cooking and baking with ginger! So fun and festive!
Denise says
They are so cute! I love Fresh Ginger Cookies, so fun and delicious to make.
Kushigalu says
These gingerbread look so adorbale. Love the flavors in the recipe here. Thanks for sharing this.
Loreto Nardelli says
These gingerbread cookies are too cute! You decorated them so well! I would love to wake up to a table of these! I can imagine waking up to the aroma of these!
Well done and thanks for all the sensations while reading the post!
Happy Holidays!
Veronika Sykorova says
The ultimate Christmas cookie! Yours look so cute! 🙂
Jorge says
It yields 2 cookies per serving? Those are some massive cookies then
Living the Gourmet says
**two dozen cookies! Apologies for the error in clarification! 🙂
Cindy Gary says
My cookie dough was not wet and sticky, was almost dry but I could form it. Put it in to chill and hopefully will turn out. Tasted the dough though, really good!
Rachel says
Same here so I added another egg and 1/2 cup of avocado oil (all I had). In the fridge now and fingers crossed.
Justin says
I followed this recipe to a T.... I also had dry dough, not sticky. But they turned out fine.
Lili says
This looks like a great recipe!
I hope it will be as good as it sounds on the recipe.
DaggyMamaBear says
THIS IS THE RECIPE I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR!!!
Perfectly ginger-y, not dry like some tend to be.
Made them for my sons kindy class. They loved them!
Used a royal icing to decorate.
MammaRo says
Just popped the dough in the fridge to firm up… I stumbled upon your recipe today, although a little after Christmas really excited about making them. Love the fresh ginger, smells so good! Thanks and enjoy the rest of the holiday season!!
Hannah says
Great recipe when I was searching for one to use up some excess fresh ginger I had. Husband, kids and I love ginger so we just about doubled the amount of ginger used and OMG they were amazing! I also added about 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg alongside the other spices. I think this will definitely be my regular gingerbread recipe each year now 🙂
Sher says
I made these cookies, dough was so dry and hard to roll , I was almost in tears from putting it all together and thinking was was going to have to toss it out. I stayed with it got them rolled out and cut and baked and boy were they good! I'm sure I followed the directions but the dough was very dry and crumbly and it surprised me that they turned out so good.
Maggie Subealdea says
The dough came out very dry, not wet and sticky. I think I added another egg and more oil. They were great!!