Chewy Gingerbread Cookies

Chewy Gingerbread Cookies have a bit more personality than plain ginger snaps. Soft, chewy, fragrantly aromatic and utterly addictive; a gingerbread lovers dream.

Chewy Gingerbread Cookies

Recipe updated November 2017 with new photos and baking tips.

These chewy gingerbread cookies are a recent addition to my Holiday Cookie List, chock full of the smells and tastes of Christmas. These tender cookies are soft and chewy at the centre with perfectly crisp edges.

Ginger is such a warm, comforting spice.

With the added raisins, all the great spice flavours of ginger, cloves and cinnamon, as well as a great cookie texture, I like to think of this a ginger snap with more personality! They are seriously addictive to gingerbread fans.

Don’t say you were not warned!

Chewy Gingerbread Cookies, just out of the oven.

Some tips for this Chewy Gingerbread Cookies recipe.

1) It is really important that the dough for these cookies is very cold or else they will spread too much on the pan. That is a good general rule for practically any chewy cookie recipe.

2)The cookie sheets/pans are also very important. I always use aluminum baking sheets because they heat up quickly and evenly, and just as importantly, cool down quickly. Some pans stay hot too long so the cookies continue to bake on the pan even after they have been removed from the oven, often resulting in a crispy and not chewy texture.

Chewy Gingerbread Cookies. The dough is rolled in sugar before baking.

3) It is very important that the oven be fully preheated so that the edges of the cookies set/bake quick enough to contain the shape of the cookie. Too low a heat can also cause cookies to spread on the pan.

Know your oven.

4) No two ovens are alike… EVER! I’ve seen ovens with thermostats that are off by 25 degrees and more. As always, when trying a new chewy cookie recipe, you should do small test batches of only a couple of cookies at a time. This will allow you to judge and adjust the temperature and time that will bake the cookies perfectly. Be sure to make a note on the recipe of the time and temperature once you get them just right for your oven

5)This cookie dough can be kept in the fridge for a couple of days and baked as needed. It also freezes very well. It is best to let the dough thaw in the fridge overnight when baking with frozen dough.

Chewy Gingerbread Cookies, very slightly flatten before baking.

If you are looking for more Christmas baking inspiration, we have gathered a collection of our Most Popular Christmas Recipes of the past 14 year.

Originally published December 17, 2009. Updated December 2020.

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Chewy Gingerbread Cookies

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Yield: 24 cookies or more

Chewy Gingerbread Raisin Cookies

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Chewy Gingerbread Raisin Cookies - Soft, chewy, fragrantly aromatic and utterly addictive. A gingerbread lovers dream.

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Ingredients

• 3/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 cup raisins, optional
• 1/2 cup white sugar for rolling

Instructions

1. In a bowl mix together the melted butter, sugar, and egg until blended.
2. Stir in the molasses & raisins.
3. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger and fold into the molasses mixture.
4. Cover, and chill dough for a couple of hours or overnight.
5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
6. Roll dough into 1 sized balls, and roll them in the remaining white sugar.
7. Place cookies 2 1/2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets, lined with parchment paper or silicone baking liners.
8. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow to rest on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to wire racks to cool.
9. This dough freezes well, so you can roll them into balls and freeze them, then take them out of the freezer, roll them in the sugar and bake as usual. They make take an extra 1 or 2 minutes in the oven this way but you can make a many or as few as you like.

Notes

Allow an additional 2 hours to the prep time to chill the dough.

Some tips for this Chewy Gingerbread Cookies recipe.

It is really important that the dough for these cookies is very cold or else they will spread too much on the pan. That is a good general rule for practically any chewy cookie recipe.

The cookie sheets/pans are also very important. I always use aluminum baking sheets because they heat up quickly and evenly, and just as importantly, cool down quickly. Some pans stay hot too long so the cookies continue to bake on the pan even after they have been removed from the oven, often resulting in a crispy and not chewy texture. 

It is very important that the oven be fully preheated so that the edges of the cookies set/bake quick enough to contain the shape of the cookie. Too low a heat can also cause cookies to spread on the pan.

Know your oven

No two ovens are alike...EVER! I've seen ovens with thermostats that are off by 25 degrees and more. As always, when trying a new chewy cookie recipe, you should do small test batches of only a couple of cookies at a time. This will allow you to judge and adjust the temperature and time that will bake the cookies perfectly. Be sure to make a note on the recipe of the time and temperature once you get them just right for your oven.

This cookie dough can be kept in the fridge for a couple of days and baked as needed. It also freezes very well. It is best to let the dough thaw in the fridge overnight when baking with frozen dough.

Nutrition

The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.

Nutrition Information

Yield

24

Serving Size

1 g
Amount Per Serving Calories 152Total Fat 6gSaturated Fat 3gUnsaturated Fat 0gCholesterol 22mgSodium 196mgCarbohydrates 23gSugar 10gProtein 1g

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