Traditional Ginger Snaps
These are not soft, cake-like cookies. They are meant to be thin, brittle, and unapologetically heavy on the ginger. If you want a cookie that fights back when you bite into it, this is the one.
Don't skimp on the spices
Ensure your ginger and cloves are fragrant. If the spices smell like dust in the jar, they will taste like dust in the cookie.
- Heavy-bottomed saucepan
- Stand mixer or electric hand mixer
- Two rimmed baking sheets
- Parchment paper
- Wire cooling rack
What goes in.
- 2 1/4 cupsall-purpose flour
- 2 tspground ginger
- 1 tspbaking soda
- 1 tspground cinnamon
- 1/2 tspground cloves
- 1/2 tspfine sea salt
- 3/4 cupunsalted butter, softened
- 1 cupdark brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cupunsulfured molasses
- 1 largeegg
- 1/3 cupgranulated sugar (for rolling)
Controlling the spread
Rolling the dough into tight, walnut-sized balls ensures they start with enough structure to crack properly on top while maintaining a clean, round edge.
The method.
Whisk the dry
Sift together flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
Cream the base
Beat the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until the mixture is light and aerated. Scrape down the bowl, then add the egg and molasses, beating until fully incorporated.
Combine
Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet, mixing only until the streaks of flour disappear. Do not overwork the dough or the cookies will turn tough.
Chill
Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. This firms up the fat and prevents the cookies from spreading into a flat puddle in the oven.
Roll and bake
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Scoop rounded tablespoons of dough, roll into balls, then roll in granulated sugar. Place on a parchment-lined sheet 2 inches apart.
The finish
Bake for 10–12 minutes. The cookies should have visible cracks on top and look set around the edges. Move them to a cooling rack immediately to ensure they harden into a snap.
Other turns to take.
Peppery Snap
Add 1/4 teaspoon of freshly cracked black pepper to the dry ingredients for a slow, lingering heat.
Citrus Infused
Add one tablespoon of finely grated orange zest to the butter and sugar when creaming to lift the heavy molasses flavor.
When it doesn't go to plan.
Use dark molasses, not blackstrap, which can be overly bitter.
If the dough is too sticky to roll, refrigerate it for another 15 minutes.
Store in an airtight container once completely cool to keep the edges crisp.
The ones that keep coming up.
Why didn't my cookies crack?
The oven temperature was likely too low, or the dough wasn't chilled long enough. The temperature shock is what creates the crinkle surface.