These chewy gingerbread cookies with molasses are deliciously spiced and full of comforting fall flavor. Your kitchen will smell great all day after baking these.
Serve a platter at your holiday gatherings.
I crave molasses lately. Soft and chewy gingerbread cookies hit my molasses craving square in the jaw and conquered. I just love these.
Make this gingerbread cookie recipe for outstanding ice cream sandwiches too. Seriously they are SO good.
Add these ginger cookies to your Christmas cookie box. What a wonderful foodie gift for your friends and family.
Note the cookies pictured above are flatter than the cookies in the video. Here’s why:
If you melt coconut oil completely into a liquid it will produce the flatter cookies. Use room temperature(or only slightly warmed) coconut oil for a soft but workable solid. Your result is a higher cookie structure.
GINGERBREAD COOKIE RECIPE:
These Cookies are Beautifully spiced and SO easy to make. The molasses brings in a rich deep intensity with the cinnamon and ginger.
This cookie recipe is dairy free (unless you make ice cream sandwiches).
Ingredient Notes:
Substitutions and 1 Omission:
- For this cookie recipe I substituted coconut oil for the butter. I LOVE the flavor coconut oil adds to my baked goods. So I often do use it in place of butter. You can use either.
- You can omit the baking powder if you want a less puffy cookie. This is a good idea for the ice cream sandwiches.
- If you are out of dark brown sugar you can make your own. Mix 1 cup of granulated white sugar with 2 tablespoon of molasses.
If you do decide to ice theses gingerbread cookies our decorator icing for cookies would be perfect with these.
There you have it. An easy cookie perfect for Fall and the holiday season.
Vegan Gingerbread Cookies Option:
If you have vegan friends here is how you make these cookies vegan. This recipe uses coconut oil which is vegan. Or you can use your favorite vegan butter if you prefer.
Just replace the egg with your favorite vegan egg replacer. I use ground flax meal. Here is the way I make ground flax into an egg replacer.
Ingredients:
- 1 Tablespoon ground flax meal
- 3 Tablespoons water
Method:
- Whisk the water and flax meal in a small bowl until blended together.
- Let the mixture sit about three minutes until it forms a gel. Use as directed for the egg.
For Gingerbread Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches:
I definitely recommend making ice cream sandwiches with this cookie recipe.
Vanilla bean ice cream and gingerbread Cookies make a great team in this fantastic fall treat. My family gobbled them right up. It’s a fun and unusual Fall treat for the family.
I’m so happy my Cuisinart ice cream maker does NOT care that summer is passed. That little wonder machine churns out our favorite ice creams without regard for the weather. It also doesn’t need messy rock salt. OR a churning crew to turn the handle.
I adapted the recipe for gingerbread ice cream sandwiches on the back of the Brer Rabbit Molasses bottle. Which I made with my homemade French Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.
The Method:
You will want to make your cookies flatter to make a good level cookie sandwich. I suggest you omit or reduce the baking powder by half for this purpose.
Please let us know how this recipe works out for you. Comment below and Follow us on Instagram.
Tag us with your pics of this recipe. We love to like, comment, and feature our Homemade Food Junkie recipes made from our bakers on our stories.
Your Printable Recipe Card:
Below is the complete printable recipe with process pictures. Find our recipe demonstration video at the bottom of the card.
If you choose to print the recipe the process pictures will not print. This is to save you ink and paper.
Gingerbread Cookies
Deliciously spicy and full of comforting fall flavor. These gingerbread cookies will make adorable cut outs for holiday parties.
Ingredients
- 2 Cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder (OPTIONAL-see notes)
- 2 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. cloves
- 1 tsp. salt
- 3/4 Cup coconut oil (or softened butter)See notes
- 1 Cup dark brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/4 Cup molasses
- 1 Tablespoon orange peel
- 1/4 Cup sugar, for rolling the cookie balls
Instructions
Prep the dough:
- Mix the coconut oil, dried orange peel and brown sugar together in a large bowl with an electric hand mixer until smooth.
- Mix in the egg, molasses and orange peel until well blended
- In a separate medium bowl whisk the dry ingredients together.
- Add the dry ingredients in small batches and mix until just incorporated
- Wrap the dough and chill it 15 minutes or so. DON"T let it get too cold or it will get hard. If that happens let it sit on the counter until it is workable. (coconut oil gets very stiff when it is cold)
Chill dough 30 minutes in the fridge if it does not hold together well.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Prepare two cookie sheets by oiling them, or using silpat sheets.
- unwrap the chilled dough.
- OPTION: If you want to roll the dough out for cut out cookies do that now. Bake them without the sugar on top if doing cutout cookie shapes.
- For drop cookies break off small pieces of the chilled dough.
- Make 30 evenly sized dough balls by pinching off the dough in small amounts and rolling it in your wet or oiled hands.
- Pour the white sugar into a small bowl.
- Roll the dough balls in the sugar and place on cookie sheets about 2 inches apart
- Bake 8 to 12 minutes or until the cookies are golden on top
- Cool on the cookie sheet one minute and then transfer to a cooling rack
- When the cookies are thoroughly cooled you can decorate and ice them if desired.
Notes
Vegan Gingerbread Cookies Option:
To make these cookies vegan replace the egg with your favorite vegan egg replacer. I use ground flax meal. Here is the way I make ground flax into an egg replacer.
Ingredients:
- 1 Tablespoon ground flax meal
- 3 Tablespoons water
Method:
- Whisk the water and flax meal in a small bowl until blended together.
- Let the mixture sit about three minutes until it forms a gel. Use as directed for the egg.
Baking powder option:
These cookies will be flatter if you omit the baking powder. This is great for cut out cookies and if you prefer to ice the baked cookies.
Coconut Oil:
A liquid coconut oil will produce a very flat cookie. A soft solid coconut oil will give you a cookie with a higher profile.
For Ice Cream Sandwiches:
You will want to make your cookies flatter to make a good level cookie sandwich. I suggest you eliminate or reduce the baking powder by half for this purpose.
Nutrition Information
Yield
30Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 125Total Fat 6gSaturated Fat 5gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 1gCholesterol 6mgSodium 119mgCarbohydrates 17gFiber 0gSugar 10gProtein 1g
peter @feedyoursoultoo
Wednesday 4th of November 2015
These look great.
homemadefoodjunkie
Thursday 5th of November 2015
Thank you Peter!
Suzy | The Mediterranean Dish
Tuesday 3rd of November 2015
We have a little love affair with gingerbread cookies at my house! I'll have to give these a try soon!
homemadefoodjunkie
Tuesday 3rd of November 2015
I hope you love them Suzy, We did!
Debi @ Life Currents
Tuesday 3rd of November 2015
My husband loves Gingerbread cookies, but I've never made them. Will have to try yours soon!
homemadefoodjunkie
Tuesday 3rd of November 2015
They are so easy to make Debi. He deserves a treat :)
Joanne/WineLady Cooks
Tuesday 3rd of November 2015
I do love this delicious cookie, so perfect for the fall. I'm especially loving the ice cream sandwich version. Thanks so much for sharing your wonderful recipe.
homemadefoodjunkie
Tuesday 3rd of November 2015
This is a good cookie and it makes a great ice cream sandwich! Thanks for stopping by Joanne!
Jennifer Stewart
Friday 23rd of October 2015
I think I want to build my first gingerbread house of the year out of these cookies! Thanks for sharing with saucy saturdays!
homemadefoodjunkie
Friday 23rd of October 2015
I would love to see that house jennifer!