These gingerbread crinkle cookies remix the traditional holiday ginger cookie like a boss! They are so soft and chewy y’all. It’s got the OG spices like ginger and molasses but I elevate it with cardamom and lemon flavors. I developed this recipe for the Washington Post cookie issue, and they were a straight up hit boos. You will love them.
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Video Tutorial
How to Make Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, cardamom and salt and whisk until combined. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, add butter and both sugars and mix for 3 minutes or until light and fluffy.
- Turn speed down to low and add egg yolk, lemon zest and vanilla and mix until well incorporated.
- Add molasses and mix thoroughly then add flour mixture in three increments and mix until just combined. Make sure you scrape the bottom of the bowl making sure to thoroughly combine all ingredients into a cohesive yet soft dough.
- After the dough is complete, tightly cover the bowl and refrigerate for an hour.
- Preheat your oven to 375 F and line a baking sheet with a sheet of parchment and set aside.
- Once the dough has been refrigerated, pour the powdered sugar into a separate bowl.
- Use a tablespoon sized cookie scoop or spoon to measure out dough. Using cold hands, roll it into a ball using your palms. Next, thoroughly roll the cookie ball in powdered sugar and place on the prepared cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining dough making sure to space cookies 2 inches a part.
- Bake 1 sheet at a time for 10 to 12 minutes until cookies are puffy and cracked. The centers should still be soft however.
- Cool cookies on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes so they can set, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Repeat steps 8-10 until all cookies are baked and enjoy.
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Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies Recipe
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I’ll email this recipe to you, so you can come back to it later!
Ingredients
- 2 1/3 cup all purpose flour can go up to 2 1/2 cups if you want a puffier cookie. If you want it flatter, go for the 2 1/4 cups
- 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 6 oz unsalted butter room temperature but still firm to the touch
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup dark brown sugar packed
- 1 egg yolk
- 5 tsp lemon zest from 2 lemons
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup molasses unsulfured
- 1 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, cardamom and salt and whisk until combined. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, add butter and both sugars and mix for 3 minutes or until light and fluffy.
- Turn speed down to low and add egg yolk, lemon zest and vanilla and mix until well incorporated.
- Add molasses and mix thoroughly then add flour mixture in three increments and mix until just combined. Make sure you scrape the bottom of the bowl making sure to thoroughly combine all ingredients into a cohesive yet soft dough.
- After the dough is complete, tightly cover the bowl and refrigerate for an hour.
- Preheat your oven to 375 F and line a baking sheet with a sheet of parchment and set aside.
- Once the dough has been refrigerated, pour the powdered sugar into a separate bowl.
- Use a tablespoon sized cookie scoop or spoon to measure out dough. Using cold hands, roll it into a ball using your palms. Next, thoroughly roll the cookie ball in powdered sugar and place on the prepared cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining dough making sure to space cookies 2 inches a part.
- Bake 1 sheet at a time for 10 to 12 minutes until cookies are puffy and cracked. The centers should still be soft however.
- Cool cookies on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes so they can set, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Repeat steps 8-10 until all cookies are baked and enjoy.
Video
Notes
Storage
It’s best to keep these cookies in an airtight container; they will stay fresh for up to a week. If the cookies begin to go stale early, take a slice of sandwich bread and stick it in the container. The moisture from the bread will release and rehydrate the cookies!Nutrition
Recipe Help
Tthese particular crinkle cookies are extra moist so the sugar ends up melting a bit. Not a problem, but if you want stark white confectioners’ sugar on top, coat the cookie dough balls in a little granulated sugar first. Just a light layer– then go heavy on that powdered sugar topping!
Yep of course! To freeze baked cookies, let them cool completely first. Freeze in single layers between sheets of parchment paper for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight or on the counter for about an hour. To freeze the raw cookie dough, chill the cookie dough as directed in the recipe below. After that, roll into balls, and chill the cookie dough balls in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Then, place the solid and cold cookie dough balls into a large zipped-top bag. Freeze cookie dough for up to 3 months. When it’s time to bake the cookies, remove them from the freezer and thaw on the counter for at least 30 minutes. Roll into powdered sugar and bake as directed.
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The cardamom and lemon add great flavor. Still tastes like gingerbread, but special gingerbread
Loved this recipe. I didn’t have any cardamom so just increased the ginger. I didn’t have to flattened them and they came out great! Huge hit. My family loved them!
Very pleased with the outcome! Love the lemon and cardamom additions. Perfect combination of crunchy and chewy. 10 mins was definitely enough in my oven though.
These came out perfect and delicious! Will be serving them on Christmas eve but will have to hide them until then! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. Have a blessed Christmas.
I made these and my family all loved them. I had a hard time getting enough powdered sugar to stick to the cookies but my second batch were better & they were super delicious!
These are my new favorite! Absolutely yummy
These taste really amazing! The dough is on the crumbly side, just mash & roll into balls. Press them down a little. I used a non-melting powdered sugar from King Arthur flour. They turned out really nice. Thank you for a great recipe!
Oh my goodness!!! If you are looking for an amazing gingerbread cookie recipe, look no further!!! The crunchy outside and soft inside makes for the perfect cookie!!!!❤️
Sent this to the 20 people in my family text thread;
Have I shared my love of grandbaby cakes, chef out of Atlanta? She’s the best. Follow her IG. And her ginger crinkle cookies are THE BOMB. Summer and I made them last weekend and dropped off on friends’ porches (Jimmy and summer refused to sing carols lol) and every friend texted me for recipe
These came out really well – great flavour and texture. Except they didn’t crack as much as I expected. I’ll try flatten them first next time. I’m also going to try orange zest, more ginger and less cardamom for my next batch.
Oh – another tip – don’t heat your oven at the start. The dough will be in the fridge for an hour, so a serious waste of electricity if you going to keep your oven on for all that time!