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These gingerbread crinkle cookies are the perfect Christmas cookie. They are heavy on spices, with the perfect molasses flavor and their texture is divine. They are slightly chewy but mostly soft and delicious.
Why These Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies Are Amazing!
- They are super pretty with their crackly tops!
- Taste like soft and chewy gingerbread cookies
- They look like brown little snow flakes
- Festive as all heck!
How to Make Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies
- Mix the dry ingredients together – This combination is simple: all-purpose flour, ginger, cinnamon salt and baking soda (which will help with spreading and fluffiness).
- Mix the wet ingredients together – With this cookie, this consists of neutral oil (I used avocado oil but see below for other options), sugar, molasses, eggs and vanilla extract.
- Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients – You want them to be mixed until zero flecks of flour appear.
- Chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator – This cookie dough definitely needs some chill time to achieve the perfect amount of spreading.
- Sift the powdered sugar – In order to make them look crackly, we’ll need to coat them in a good amount of powdered sugar. Be sure to sift it before you use it since it tends to be lumpy.
- Scoop and roll the cookie dough – Scoop out the cookie dough using a cookie scoop and then roll it, coating it heavily in powdered sugar.
- Bake – Bake the cookies for about 12 minutes, until they’ve spread and look a bit puffy. They’ll fall as they cool.
Tips and Tricks
- Oil vs butter – The powdered sugar coating is the trickiest to get right. In this recipe we use oil, which we found doesn’t release as much steam. Steam can make the cookies a bit wet—we found that butter creates the most steam since of its water content—so we prefer oil in this cookie.
- Unsulphered Molasses – I like the “Grandmas” brand of molasses. You can find it at most grocery stores.Â
- Powdered sugar – Really coat on the powdered sugar. It may be your instinct to coat them in powdered sugar and then dust off the excess but don’t do that! Simply coat them heavily in the powdered sugar and transfer them to the baking sheet. If some falls off along the way, no biggie.
How to Freeze this Gingerbread Crinkle Cookie Dough
These cookies can definitely be made-ahead. Here’s what you should do:
- Make the cookie dough, chill for 1 hour.
- Then scoop out and place on a baking sheet.
- Transfer to the freezer to chill for 1 hour. And then place them in a freezer-safe container.
- Let them thaw on the kitchen counter (on a plate or baking sheet) and then coat them in the powdered sugar and proceed with baking.
If you make these cookies, let me know on Instagram!
Looking for more cookie recipes? Here are some favorites:
- Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies
- Berry Crinkle Cookies
- Iced Oatmeal Cookies
- Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
- Mocha Morning Rolls
Gingerbread Crinkle Cookie Recipe
Equipment
- 2 (half sheet) baking sheets
Ingredients
- 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 4 teaspoons ground ginger
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cups white granulated sugar
- 1 cup neutral oil, (avocado oil, vegetable oil or grape seed oil)
- 1/3 cup molasses, (unsulphered)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, (at room temperature)
- 1 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with a sheet or parchment and set aside.
- To the medium bowl, add the all-purpose flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Whisk together until combined.
- To the bowl of a stand-up mixer with the paddle attachment (alternatively you could do this in a bowl with an electric mixer), add the sugar and oil. Beat until light and sort of fluffy, about 1 minute. Pour in the molasses and vanilla extract; then with the machine running on low, add one egg at a time. Mix until combined.
- Add the flour mixture and mix just until no flour speckles appear and the dough is cohesive, about 30 seconds to a minute. Cover the cookie dough with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and transfer to the fridge to chill for 1 hour.
- Sift the powdered sugar into a bowl. This will smooth out any pesky lumps.
- Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop out balls of dough, rolling them in between your palms until balls form. Roll them in the sifted powdered sugar. The powdered sugar should be on there pretty thick. I think it’s our instinct to brush off the excess powdered sugar but leave it on!
- Transfer the dough ball to the lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough, spacing the cookies about 4 inches a part. These spread a bit so give them some space. I baked about 6 cookies per sheet.
- Transfer the first baking sheet to the oven to bake for about 10 to 12 minutes, until they appear crackily and puffed up. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool on the baking sheets for at least 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. You’ll notice that they’ll fall a bit as they cool—this is good! Repeat with the cookie dough.
- Serve with milk or coffee.
Notes
- Unsulphered Molasses – I like the “Grandmas” brand of molasses. You can find it at most grocery stores.Â
- Powdered sugar – Really coat on the powdered sugar. It may be your instinct to coat them in powdered sugar and then dust off the excess but don’t do that! Simply coat them heavily in the powdered sugar and transfer them to the baking sheet. If some falls off along the way, no biggie.
- Make the cookie dough, chill for 1 hour.
- Then scoop out and place on a baking sheet.
- Transfer to the freezer to chill for 1 hour. And then place them in a freezer-safe container.
- Let them thaw on the kitchen counter (on a plate or baking sheet) and then coat them in the powdered sugar and proceed with baking.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I made these for the holidays a few years back and now my friends request them every year. People say they don’t like gingerbread and then change their mind when they eat these cookies. They are that good!
They flatten after resting but are not crispy, and they freeze really well. 10/10 🙂
wow incredible. love to hear this!
Made these gingerbread crinkle cookies yesterday! Amazing! My husband and I both live them! Crisp and chewy, so flavorful. Can’t wait to share them with the family when we gather. Delicious! This is likely to be a new annual cookie! …or as a gift! Yum!!!
wonderful to hear!
These had great flavor and chew. They were flat, not puffy like the chocolate crinkle cookies. I will make again.
They forgot to put “Baking Powder” on the ingredients list. Baking Powder is what helps them rise. I would add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon the next time you make them.