With fresh, ground, and candied ginger, this ginger snaps recipe creates thin and crispy cookies that have three times the ginger flavor.
I’m pretty sure the holidays are just an excuse to eat cookies. While I usually leave the cookie baking to others, I've never had a problem helping with the eating part. But ever since last week, when I smashed up a bag of ginger snap cookies to make a crust for a Thanksgiving pumpkin pie, I’ve craved some good homemade ginger snaps.
I like my cookies thin and crunchy. I also love ginger. That’s why the ginger snap is my ideal cookie. It’s also not too sweet and if you make them small enough, you can eat a few and not feel too guilty about it. Many of the cookies this time of year are coated in icing, candy, or sprinkles and while I think they're beautiful, they're kind of like eating a handful of sugar. I much prefer the strong flavor and depth of sweetness imparted from molasses. Dunked in milk, it's perfection.
where did ginger snaps come from?
They're a variation of gingerbread cookies, or Lebkuchen, the traditional German cookie. Gingerbread as we know it in the US is usually a softer cookie that comes in various shapes, such as gingerbread people. The ingredients are similar, however.
Are ginger snaps good for you?
That said, there is still sugar in this recipe. In fact, there's white sugar, brown sugar, and molasses. Maybe it's all the ginger, but I like that you taste more than just sugar in these cookies. Does that make them healthy? No way. They're cookies!
Alright, yeah, ginger has some health benefits. It can help with nausea and digestion and potentially lower cholesterol and blood sugar levels. But does it make cookies healthy? No. If you want a healthier cookie, I like Heidi Swanson's Carrot Oatmeal Cookies over at 101 Cookbooks.
What's the difference between ginger snaps and molasses cookies?
The problem with most store-bought ginger snaps is that they don’t live up to the name. For starters, they aren’t always crispy. That doesn’t work. For a gingersnap to be a ginger snap there needs to be a snap as you break it in half. Soft ginger snap cookies are actually molasses cookies with the wrong name on the package. I like those just fine, but they’re not the same.
Of course, the other essential component of the ginger snap is the ginger. I find that many store-bought baked goods and really, most baking recipes, go too light with their level of spices. Or maybe I just like my food to have flavor.
Molasses cookies kind of lack both of those things. No snap and not much ginger.
The more ginger, the better
When I sat down to figure out my ideal ginger snaps recipe I realized that I had three types of ginger in my kitchen – ground, fresh and candied – and I decided to add in all three. Each is easy to find in stores, but if for some reason you can’t get your hands on candied ginger you can leave it out and increase the fresh ginger to a tablespoon. Though you'll miss out on the little chewy ginger chunks throughout.
I guess this as good of a time as any to admit that I cheat when it comes to fresh ginger on occasion. Yeah, sometimes I'm lazy. Instead of always peeling and chopping ginger root, I use Ginger People's minced ginger. I keep a jar in the fridge and don't feel like it's inferior in any way. It's organic, tastes great, and is perfect when cooking a quick dinner that needs a spoonful of fresh ginger flavor.
Print📖 Recipe
Triple Ginger Ginger Snaps
- Total Time: about 90 minutes
- Yield: About 32 cookies 1x
Description
With fresh, ground, and candied ginger, this ginger snaps recipe creates thin and crispy cookies that have three times the ginger flavor.
Ingredients
- 2 sticks butter, room temperature
- ½ cup molasses
- 1 cup sugar, plus ¼ cup for coating
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons grated, peeled ginger
- 3 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 teaspoons ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper
- 2 tablespoons chopped candied ginger
Instructions
Cream the butter, molasses and sugars in a large bowl with a mixer. After a couple of minutes, stop the mixer to scrape down the sides of the bowl and then continue to cream for another minute or until smooth. While on low speed, add in the egg and grated ginger and mix until combined.
In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, ground ginger, cinnamon and pepper.
Add the dry ingredients and candied ginger to the butter mixture, a little at a time, while mixing on low or by hand. Mix just until incorporated.
Dump the cookie dough out onto a lightly floured counter. Divide the dough into two equal pieces, in a log about two inches wide. Wrap with plastic wrap and transfer to the fridge for about 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and place two oven racks in the top third of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Pour the remaining ¼ cup sugar onto a small plate. Remove the cookie logs from the freezer, roll them around on the counter a bit to round them out, then slice into ¼ inch rounds. Press the top of each cookie into the sugar then place on the baking sheet. You should be able to fit about eight per sheet.
Bake the cookies until they are completely firm, about 12 minutes for a softer cookie, 14 for a crispier. Let cool on the pan for a couple of minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. They’ll continue to crisp up as they cool. Store the cookies in an airtight container for four days or so.
Notes
Don't need all these cookies at once? Store the logs of dough in the freezer and slice off cookies to bake as you like. Just add two to three minutes to the baking time.
- Prep Time: 40 minutes + dough resting time
- Cook Time: 14 minutes
- Category: Baking
- Cuisine: American
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