Are you a fan of homemade cookies? Do you love warm, comforting flavours? Do you enjoy a few mindful minutes spent baking? If the answer is yes then this delicious easy Ginger Cookies Recipe is for you. Just a few simple ingredients and a few simple steps and you’ll have a batch of wonderful, homemade cookies baking in no time.
Yum… the wonderful aroma of freshly baked cookies!
Want to know more about these gorgeous-looking cookies? Of course, you do. These soft, chewy, ginger cookies are a little crisp on the outside and a little chewy on the inside. They’re gingery spicy but not hot spicy and go perfectly with a cup of tea or coffee. That cracked-looking surface makes them quite lovely to look at and irresistible.
These are definitely a cookie and not a ginger biscuit, these really aren’t the gingernut you might be looking for. They are however a very moreish soft and chewy ginger cookie and luckily they’re very easy to make and bake.
This simple ginger cookie recipe uses only a few everyday ingredients. Making them will take only a few minutes of your time and they don’t need to sit and chill either, unless, of course, you need them too.
A Few Facts about Ginger Cookies
Interestingly, using ginger in food has quite a history, the Greeks and the Romans were quite partial to a honey-sweetened gingerbread type of confection. Fast forward many hundreds of years to medieval times and ginger made its way via the trade routes to Europe as a highly prized commodity. It was valued especially for the spicy warmth it gave baked goods.
It’s remained very popular in baked recipes and from medieval times to now many ginger-based recipes, think of gingerbread houses, and gingerbread men, are an important part of feasts and celebrations everywhere.
What you need to know about Easy Ginger Cookies
- They’re really simple to make. The recipe doesn’t involve much more than melting the margarine with the sugar and the golden syrup (or light corn syrup).
- Texture – When baked they’re a little chewy in the middle with a little crunch at the edges. They soften a little after a few hours and make a quite delicious soft and chewy cookie.
- Flavour – They’re good and spicy. The recipe gives the level of ginger spice that I like but you can reduce or increase that amount to suit your own tastes.
- Big Cookies – the 1 1/2 tablespoon scoop of dough makes a good-sized cookie. Reduce this to a tablespoon if you want them small enough to sandwich together elegantly to make an ice-cream sandwich for example.
- No hanging around for the cookie dough to chill. Just get them into the oven… speedy!
Cookie Ingredients
- Flour – I’m using white self-raising flour (self-rising) in these cookies You could substitute this with gluten-free flour for a slightly crunchier cookie.
- Sweetener – I’m using muscovado sugar as it has that molasses vibe that goes so well with anything gingery. You could substitute caster sugar or light brown sugar if you wish. The golden syrup also sweetens the cookie and you could replace this with light corn syrup.
- Spices – this recipe uses ground ginger and a little cinnamon which is what makes these cookies so spicy warm and delicious.
- Fats – I use butter as I love the flavour this gives the finished cookie, but you could replace it with margarine that is suitable for baking (it’ll say on the label).
A Step-by-Step Guide to Making Easy Ginger Cookies
All of these steps are really easy and straightforward.
- Preheat the oven to 360F/180C/160 Fan.
- Melt the butter or margarine, golden syrup and sugar together in a saucepan or in the microwave. Don’t allow it to boil.
- Set the syrup to one side to cool a little whilst you measure the flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and bicarbonate of soda into a mixing bowl.
- Break the egg into a small bowl and whisk it a little. Add this to the flour with the cooled syrup and stir to form a dough. It will be fairly stiff. Make sure that you incorporate all of the flour.
- Using a cookie scoop (or 1 1/2 tablespoon amounts,) scoop out balls of dough and roll these in demerara sugar (otherwise known as turbinado sugar).
- Place them on a baking tray, lined with baking parchment. Space the cookie dough about 3 cms/ 1 1/2 inches apart to give them room to expand a little.
- Flatten the dough balls slightly using your hands. This will give you a large, slightly thick, chewy, cookie. Don’t flatten them if you want a nice thick cookie.
- Place in the oven for about 10 minutes to bake. The cookies are done when they’re golden brown around the edges.
- Leave the cookies on the tray for a few minutes to cool as they’re a little bit fragile straight out of the oven. Then move them onto a cooling rack to finish cooling.
Enjoy your freshly baked spiced ginger cookies!
Tips for Success
Here are a few things that you can do to ensure that you have the best ginger cookies.
- Measure all the ingredients accurately.
- Use fresh spices to ensure that you get the best flavours. Definitely try and buy spices from a store where you know that they have a regular product turnover so that the spices haven’t been sitting there for months on end.
- Adjust the amount of spices used to reflect your personal preferences.
- When melting the sugar, butter/margarine and syrup together, don’t allow the mixture to boil. That would make the cookies quite firm.
- Don’t over-bake them. Always set an oven timer as it can be so easy to get engrossed in other tasks. Set the oven timer for ten minutes. The cookies will be at their best if baked for no more than 10 minutes when they should have nice golden edges and be slightly soft in the middle.
- Want a chewier ginger cookie? Then reduce the baking time by a minute or two.
Substitutions and Variations to this Cookie Recipe
While this easy ginger cookie recipe is delightful on its own, you can get creative and add additional ingredients to enhance the flavour and the texture. Here are a few suggestions.
Golden syrup isn’t available everywhere in the world and can be substituted with light corn syrup, but I haven’t been able to try this for myself.
Consider adding some chopped stem ginger to the cookie dough. This will give little bits of extra sweet ginger in the cookie.
How about finishing it off with a simple lemon icing glaze? The lemon flavour goes really well with the ginger of the cookies. A drizzle of chocolate is also a wonderful touch.
How about sandwiching two cookies together with some lemon icing? Or use them to make an ice cream sandwich?
Feel free to experiment and make your spiced ginger cookies to suit your own preferences! And if you do please let me know because I love trying new things especially if it involves food.
Making Ginger Cookies as a gift
This recipe makes wonderful cookies which would make a lovely, thoughtful gift for a friend or family member. Obviously, how you wrap them to present them is completely your choice but how about these creative packaging ideas to make your gift even more thoughtful?
- Place the cookies in a festive tin or jar, tied with a ribbon and gift label.
- Package them in a decorative cookie box or tin complete with a pretty gift tag.
- Sometimes you can find small but pretty boxes specially made for gifting cookies and small cakes. They’re usually found in the baking aisle at the supermarket.
I’m sure that they’ll be appreciated however you present them.
Storing Ginger Cookies
These cookies will store beautifully for up to a week in an airtight container on the countertop.
Freezing the Cookie dough
The cookie dough freezes well. It is best to freeze the cookie dough scooped into balls and frozen on an open tray. Once frozen, pop them into a suitable freezer bag, they’ll keep for up to 3 months like this.
To bake them – heat the oven and bake according to the recipe. They’re done when they are golden around the edges and slightly soft in the middle.
Frequently Asked Questions (F.A.Q’s)
You may but you will need to adjust the amount of ginger used as fresh ginger will give a stronger more pungent flavour. Adjust the amount according to personal preference.
Yes, if you use a vegan, plant-based margarine that is suitable for baking instead of butter. You will also need to substitute a flax egg or chia egg for the egg which acts as a binder in this recipe.
These cookies will store for up to a week in an airtight container at room temperature on the countertop.
The cookie dough freezes well. It is best to freeze the cookie dough scooped into balls and frozen on an open tray. Once frozen, pop them into a suitable freezer bag, they’ll keep for up to 3 months like this.
To bake them – heat the oven and bake according to the recipe, they’re done when they are golden around the edges and slightly soft in the middle.
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Easy Ginger Cookies Recipe
Equipment
- mixing bowl
- spatula
- wooden spoon
- baking tray
- baking parchment
Ingredients
- 7/8 cup muscovado sugar
- 1/4 cup golden syrup use light corn syrup instead or maple syrup
- 1/2 cup butter or margarine suitable for baking
- 2 3/4 cups self-raising flour all-purpose flour
- 1 egg large
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 360F/180C/160 Fan.
- Melt the margarine, golden syrup and sugar together in a saucepan or in the microwave. Don’t allow it to boil.1/4 cup golden syrup, 1/2 cup butter, 7/8 cup muscovado sugar
- Set the syrup to one side to cool a little whilst you measure the flour, ginger, cinnamon and bicarbonate of soda into a mixing bowl.7/8 cup muscovado sugar, 1/2 cup butter, 2 3/4 cups self-raising flour, 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda, 2 teaspoons ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Break the egg into a small bowl and whisk it a little. Add this to the flour with the cooled syrup and stir to form a dough. It will be fairly stiff.1 egg
- Using a cookie scoop (or 1 1/2 tablespoon amounts,) scoop out balls of dough and place them on a baking tray, lined with baking parchment. Space the cookie dough about 3 cms/ 1 1/2 inches apart to give them room to expand a little.
- Flatten the dough balls slightly using your hands. This will give you a large, slightly thick, chewy, cookie. Don't flatten them if you want a nice thick cookie.
- Place in the oven for about 10 minutes to bake. The cookies are done when they’re golden brown around the edges.
- Leave the cookies on the tray for a few minutes to cool as they’re a little bit fragile straight out of the oven. Then move them onto a cooling rack to finish cooling.
Notes
Nutrition
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Cant wait to make these!Thankyou
I hope that you get to try them. If you like ginger cookies then you’ll love them.
Ohh, these look so delicious! Thank you for sharing this recipe with us! 🙂
They’re great dunked in coffee.
These cookies looked so good I wanted to eat my screen lol. And it only take 18 minutes to make them which is awesome!
You must try them one day soon 🙂
These look delicious – I’m going to make with a dairy free spread substitute to make them allergy free for us. Thanks for sharing your recipe 🙂
Let me know how you get on with the dairy-free spread… I often use an olive oil based spread if I’m cooking for my daughter (milk allergy) and they work out just as well. Very little difference in the cookie.
Looks so delicious! Can’t wait to give these a try
Thank you … dunk them in your next cup of coffee 🙂
You had me at big, cookie and chewy. I cannot wait to make these with my son.
They’re good to make with children. I hope you enjoy them.
These look amazing! Chewy in the middle with a little crisp on the edges is my favorite kind of cookie. I can’t wait to try these!
I hope you do try them.
Thanks for sharing this easy recipe! These ginger cookies look delicious!
Do try them – they’re lovely.
These cookies look fantastic. Crispy outside and chewy inside. Perfect!
I have to admit that I love them when they’re still slightly warm from the oven and the chocolate is all melty. Yummy!