Soft Gingerbread Cookies (Chewy)
By Emily Carter ·
Published
Quick answer
Whisk 3 cups of flour with baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Beat 3/4 cup of butter with brown sugar, then mix in 1/2 cup of molasses and 1 egg. Chill 1 hour, roll, cut into shapes and bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes until just set. Cool completely, then pipe with simple icing.
These gingerbread cookies bake up soft and chewy, with deep molasses and warm spice in every bite. The dough rolls cleanly and holds its shape, so your gingerbread men keep their arms and legs, and the quick bake keeps the centers tender instead of crunchy. Ice them simply with white piping, or leave them plain and let the spice do the talking.
Why you’ll love it
- Soft, chewy centers with lightly crisp edges, never hard or crunchy.
- Deep molasses spice flavor, warm and bold but not sharp.
- Holds its shape beautifully, so cut out cookies actually look like the cutters.
- One bowl of dough, one hour chill, then quick 10 minute bakes.
- A perfect decorating project, or delicious plain with no icing at all.
Ingredient notes
Molasses: unsulfured, the standard baking kind. It is the soul of gingerbread, giving the dark color, the chew and the deep flavor. Measure it in an oiled cup so it slides right out.
The spice trio: two tablespoons of ginger for warmth, one of cinnamon for sweetness and half a teaspoon of cloves for depth. Cloves are strong, so measure carefully, a heavy hand turns the cookies bitter.
Dark brown sugar: richer and more caramel like than light brown sugar, and it keeps the cookies moist and chewy. Pack it firmly into the cup when measuring.
Baking soda, not powder: soda reacts with the acidic molasses to give the right lift and the classic crackled top. Powder would puff the cookies out of shape.
Butter: room temperature so it creams properly with the sugar. Melted butter makes greasy dough that spreads, and cold butter never creams smooth.
The bake time rule that makes or breaks it
Two rules decide these cookies, and both are about restraint. First, pull the pan when the centers still look slightly soft, at 8 to 10 minutes. They will look underdone, and that is exactly right. The residual heat of the pan finishes them, and that slight underbake is the entire difference between soft and chewy and hard and crunchy. Second, chill the dough and keep it cold. Cold dough bakes thick with sharp edges, warm dough spreads thin with blurred shapes. Cool the cookies completely before icing, since even a little warmth melts the piping into a blur.
Variations
- Gingerbread sandwich cookies: bake round cookies, then sandwich pairs with vanilla buttercream or cream cheese frosting for a bakery style treat.
- Chocolate dipped: dip half of each cooled cookie in melted dark chocolate and sprinkle with crushed candy cane for a holiday upgrade.
- Spiced cut outs: use stars, trees and bells instead of gingerbread men for a mixed Christmas cookie tin from the same dough.
- Gingerbread houses: roll the dough slightly thicker and bake a few minutes longer for sturdier pieces that hold up to building.
What we learned testing it
- The 8 to 10 minute bake beat a 12 minute bake clearly. The longer bake gave crunchy cookies, while the shorter bake gave the soft, chewy centers this recipe promises.
- Dark brown sugar beat light brown sugar for flavor depth. The dark sugar batch tasted richer and more caramel like, which suits the molasses.
- Two tablespoons of ginger was the right heat level. One tablespoon tasted bland, while three turned sharp and peppery instead of warm.
Read how we test recipes.
Soft Gingerbread Cookies (Chewy)
Makes About 30 cookies · 1 hr 30 min total · Easy
Ingredients
Equipment
Stand mixer or hand mixer · Mixing bowls · Rolling pin · Gingerbread cookie cutters · Rimmed baking sheets · Parchment paper · Wire rack · Piping bag
Instructions
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Mix the spiced dough
Whisk the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and salt in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, then beat in the molasses, egg and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients on low speed just until a soft, dark dough forms. Divide in half, flatten into disks, wrap and chill for 1 hour. The chill firms the butter so the cookies bake thick instead of spreading thin.
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Cut out the shapes
On a lightly floured surface, roll one disk to 1/4 inch thick. Press gingerbread cutters straight down without twisting and transfer the shapes to parchment lined baking sheets, spacing them 1 inch apart. Gather and re roll the scraps once; overworked scraps bake tough. Chill the cut shapes 10 minutes if the kitchen is warm.
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Bake until just set
Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes, until the edges are set and the centers look just slightly soft. This is the soft cookie secret: pull them when they still look a touch underdone, since they finish setting on the hot pan. Cool on the pan 5 minutes, then move to a wire rack to cool completely.
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Cool and ice
Whisk a simple icing of powdered sugar with a spoonful of milk until it pipes smoothly, then decorate the completely cool cookies with outlines, faces and buttons. Add sprinkles while the icing is wet. Let the icing set at least 1 hour before stacking or packing into tins.
Notes
- Use unsulfured molasses, not blackstrap. Blackstrap is bitter and overpowering, while unsulfured molasses gives the deep, sweet spice flavor gingerbread is known for.
- Do not skip the chill. Warm gingerbread dough spreads, and spread gingerbread men lose their arms and legs in the oven.
- Pull the cookies early. A minute too long turns soft and chewy into hard and crunchy, and you cannot undo it.
- Roll the scraps only once. Each re roll develops more gluten, and the third generation cookies bake noticeably tougher.
Nutrition per serving
Nutrition information is being calculated.
Substitutions
- Unsulfured molasses
- Use dark corn syrup or golden syrup in a pinch. The flavor will be milder and less spiced, so add an extra 1/2 teaspoon of ginger.
- Butter
- Use a plant based butter stick for dairy free cookies. The texture stays soft and chewy, with a slightly less rich flavor.
- Simple icing
- Dust the warm cookies with powdered sugar instead of icing, or leave them plain. The cookies are flavorful enough to stand alone.
Storage and make-ahead
Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week, layering between parchment once iced. Undecorated cookies freeze well up to 3 months; thaw at room temperature and ice after thawing. The raw dough also freezes up to 3 months; thaw overnight in the fridge before rolling.
Frequently asked questions
How do I keep my gingerbread cookies soft and chewy?
Pull them from the oven when the centers still look slightly soft, at 8 to 10 minutes. They finish setting on the hot pan, and that slight underbake is what keeps the centers chewy. Overbaking by even 2 minutes turns them crunchy.
Why did my gingerbread men spread and lose their shape?
The dough was too warm or the oven was not fully preheated. Chill the dough the full hour, chill the cut shapes for 10 minutes if your kitchen is warm, and make sure the oven is at a full 350 degrees before the first pan goes in.
Can I make gingerbread cookie dough ahead?
Yes. The dough keeps in the fridge up to 3 days and actually bakes up with deeper spice flavor after a rest. It also freezes up to 3 months; thaw overnight in the fridge before rolling.
What is the best molasses for gingerbread cookies?
Unsulfured molasses, the regular baking kind. Blackstrap molasses is much stronger and more bitter, and it will overpower the spices. If all you have is blackstrap, use half molasses and half dark corn syrup.
Can I make these gingerbread cookies without icing?
Absolutely. The cookies are deeply spiced and delicious plain, and many people prefer them that way. A simple dusting of powdered sugar gives a pretty finish with no piping at all.
