Ginger Molasses Cookies

I love ginger and for me a ginger molasses cookie is about as good as it gets. So I set out to find a great one and came across this recipe which I will mostly be faithful to here with a few changes.

One not-so-big change is that I am tripling the recipe in the process pictures. I end up giving tons away and want to make sure that a lot of people I know get them. This is not just a presumption either. I get asked to make them with subtle ("It's been a while since you made those...") and not-so-subtle ("Want cookie now!") requests on a semi-regular basis.

The other changes will just be incorporated into the recipe. Let's begin.

Step 1 Fire up the oven

I've mentioned it before, but it's worth mentioning again. Make sure that your oven is at 350 degrees. Buy a thermometer and stick it in there or else risk being off by 50 degrees or so and wasting your time.

Comments

[jessandstavro]

I too am a sucker for a good ginger cookie recipe. The only way this recipe can be improved upon is to add some ground black pepper. It gives them a lovely bite! Jessica

[RaNDoMLeiGH]

I do this too! I always add a touch of allspice, nutmeg, anise, cinnamon, and cloves, but ginger is the main one. And also put in candied ginger with the fresh. I got that idea from, believe it or not, a bag of wal-mart brand ginger snaps. Very snappy they were, too. Pepper, ground ginger, fresh ginger, candied ginger, sugar, brown sugar, molasses, real butter, and eggs. They probably don't make them any more (I quit shopping at Wal-mart), something like that is too good to last.

[Rian Sye]

Did you used to buy the ginger chewy cookies from there? those were my favorite cookies ever. Even being from Walmart, they were awesome. Do you know if this recipe is similar at all?

[cbrown222]

you said real butter, which makes it alot better, but also real eggs. i have 20 or so chickens and they lay eggs and there eggs are awesome. i added pepper to my recipe but i dont think i added enough... how much did you put in?

[button]

The cookies are great but I had to add more flour . There was no way that they could be rolled. Is this an altitude thing? Taste great - soft & chewy. Thanks

[bellamerenda]

I too found that I was unable to roll the dough without adding more flour, about another 1/2cup was just right. When all was said and done  they turned out beautifully and so tasty !!!

[bebo1998]

I love any cookie that ends up with crispy on edge, then chewy - and a molasses cookie like that should be great - most of the ones I have tasted are more cake-like - can't wait to try these.

[knexguy]

Hmm, tried it, they spread out WAY too much and you could basically see right through them in places. They stuck themselves to the tray and it took a knife, several brillo pads, and an hour to clean the tray up.

[fungus amungus]

Sounds like your oven was too hot.

[knexguy]

That's what I thought, but I had the oven at 180 C, which is about 3 degrees above what you recommended. Also, the dough was more like cake mixture, and did not hold together like yours.

[cbrown222]

i made these to impress my parents and they liked them alot and so do i they're awesome and they're so easy(coming from a 12 year old). thanks alot!

[zazuu]

I just made a batch today! This is my first time making ginger cookies.. These are amazing.. Mine weren't as cracked as yours, maybe I should leave them in a tad longer? Are there any nice toppings I could put on next time? I tried candied ginger. I cant wait to give them to my friend thats in the hospital. Thanks, mmmmmmmmmm

[scoochmaroo]

I also love ginger molasses cookies. We may need to have a showdown. A ginger molasses cookie-off. The best kind of showdown!

[fungus amungus]

I love a challenge. It's on!

[markstutzman]

I make a recipe very similar to this (2c flour, and brown sugar instead of white). Mine get rolled in cinnamon sugar before baking. Finally, I really like ginger, so I end up using 2 tsp powdered ginger, and 3 tbsp. fresh grated ginger. Highly recommended.

[fungus amungus]

Damn, you really do love ginger. I'll try upping the concentration next time. I hear you on the brown sugar as well. That's an excellent option. I also used to roll these in sugar beforehand, but haven't done that in a while. Didn't really like the crackly sensation when biting into it.

[markstutzman]

One other thing that this recipe is good for: If you've got an ice cream maker, make some homemade cinnamon ice cream and use it between 2 of these cookies to make incredible little ice cream sandwiches. It helps if you undercook the cookies just a bit (or use a bit less flour) so they aren't so hard when they're frozen.

[RaNDoMLeiGH]

mmmmmmmmmmmmm

[Whiternoise]

Hey! Awesome instructables, the cookies taste great, but a couple of questions: 1. How do you get them to crack? Mine went cookie shaped, but no crevices.. :( 2. How would you adapt to make it chocolate - i was thinking the same just minus spices, 50g flour replaced with cocoa, few chocolate chips, but not sure about the treacle staying in..

[elina31985]

Wow...the recipe looks great and I do intend to try it--but I also had to comment on the pictures--the photography is amazing!

[feeshy]

How many does this end up making? Also, I think a nice modification could be the addition of dark chocolate chunks. It goes quite well with ginger, and, well, who doesn't like chocolate?

[fungus amungus]

About 18 - 24. Depends a lot on how big you make them. Try adding chocolate if you want. I love chocolate, but I think it would overwhelm the ginger a bit.

[gmjhowe]

WOAH COOKIES! ,^{i knew you would out do me!}
Nice work, may i ask how you get such good pictures?? I guess that fact that i do most my work at night doesn't help.

[fungus amungus]

I shoot with a Canon Rebel XTi and a f/1.8 50mm lens. That lens helps a ton with the shallow focus. As for the light, I shoot during the day because it looks so much nicer than shooting at night. Preferably in the morning or afternoon.

[gmjhowe]

awww, that sounds expensive. I think i will get myself a proper daylight lamp

[hide98]

Great Instructable as always. I love ginger snaps, especially when they're fresh out of the oven and I will definitely be making this recipe over the weekend :D Great job!

[BeanGolem]

It's amazing what a really shallow depth of field can do for photos :D

[Brennn10]

Another great cookie instructable. Awesome pictures!