These cookies are perfect for the holidays with warm spices like cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. But honestly, they are too good to eat just once a year!
**Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Cookies.
These cookies are full of bold holiday flavors: cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger – lots of ginger! Not only does this recipe call for ground ginger, but also for freshly grated ginger, which gives these cookies a zing of flavor!
When I bake these chocolate gingerbread cookies, the entire kitchen smells of wintry spices. It’s impossible not to feel like the holidays have arrived! But I promise you are not breaking any rules if you decide to bake these at other times of the year. I do!
When I made these cookies this week, both my kids were skeptical but gave me an enthusiastic “YUM!” when they tried them. The combination of the sweet, earthy flavor of chocolate and the zing of fresh ginger are what makes these cookies a real winner!
These cookies have a few extra steps than some other “simpler” cookies, but I guarantee the extra work will be worth it in the end! Chilling the dough makes it much easier to work with and prevents the dough from spreading too much when baking.
You’ll notice that this recipe does not have any eggs – that is not a typo! This is the first cookie recipe that I’ve made that didn’t have egg in it – and I was skeptical. But hey, it works! They are soft and chewy, just the way a cookie should be!
Tips and Tricks:
- Baking Sheets: After you have baked a batch of cookies and removed them from the pan, the tendency is to put another batch on the same pan right away, especially if you are short on time. For plump, soft cookies, it is important to allow your baking pan to cool to room temperature before adding more cookie dough. Adding cookie dough to a hot pan – or even a warm pan – will start the dough softening and melting before it gets into the oven. This will contribute to a cookie that spreads out too much in the oven. For a quick method of cooling your pans, run them under cold water for 20 to 30 seconds (or longer if needed) until cooled. Dry, and continue with your baking.
- Cooling your Cookie: When you take your finished cookies out of the oven, let them rest for 2 to 3 minutes before attempting to remove them from the baking sheet. The cookies are way too soft to transfer right out of the oven. But don’t allow them to sit on the hot baking sheet longer than a couple of minutes; the heat from the cookie sheet will cause your cookies to flatten out even more! After 2 to 3 minutes, use a spatula and move the cookies to a cooling rack, allowing air to circulate around the cookie to cool them quickly and evenly.
Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups + 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa
- 8 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup molasses
- 7 ounces chocolate chips, semisweet or dark chocolate
For Rolling Dough:
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cocoa. Set aside.
- In a large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and freshly grated ginger. Add the brown sugar, and beat on medium-low just until combined.
- Add molasses, and beat just until combined.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and combine. Do not over mix.
- Stir in the chocolate chips by hand.
- Turn dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Pat the dough out to about 1 inch thick. Seal with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper, or use a silicone pan liner.
- Roll dough into 1 ½ inch balls, then roll in sugar. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes. **If the cookies are too round for your preference, as soon as you take the pan out of the oven, take a drinking glass and press each cookie gently to flatten slightly.
- Allow the cookies to rest for 3 minutes before moving to a cooling rack.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups + 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa
- 8 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup molasses
- 7 ounces chocolate chips, semisweet or dark chocolate
For Rolling Dough:
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cocoa. Set aside.
- In a large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and freshly grated ginger. Add the brown sugar, and beat on medium-low just until combined.
- Add molasses, and beat just until combined.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and combine. Do not over mix.
- Stir in the chocolate chips by hand.
- Turn dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Pat the dough out to about 1 inch thick. Seal with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper, or use a silicone pan liner.
- Roll dough into 1 ½ inch balls, then roll in sugar. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes. **If the cookies are too round for your preference, as soon as you take the pan out of the oven, take a drinking glass and press each cookie gently to flatten slightly.
- Allow the cookies to rest for 3 minutes before moving to a cooling rack.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.