This is the best chewy iced gingerbread cookie recipe that stays soft and chewy and is topped with a white chocolate “fudge” frosting. YUM! This sweet, warm, and cozy cookie is the perfect addition to your holiday cookie platters along with Christmas tree cupcakes and Crumbl copycat sugar cookies, (make a white or green icing with Christmas sprinkles!).
If you’re serving these cookies to Santa, a glass of milk is the perfect accompaniment, but sweet cream cold foam coffee also pairs perfectly.
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
Table of Contents
What You’ll Love About Chewy Gingerbread Cookies
- Soft and chewy texture
- Warm and cozy spiced flavor
- Made with simple ingredients
- Just 32 minutes total time
- Customize your cookies with sprinkles
Ingredients
You’ll need some basic ingredients to make this recipe for chewy gingerbread cookies:
- Flour – Use all-purpose flour for best results. Whole wheat flour can sometimes be used blended with all-purpose flour, but I have not tested that so I’m not sure of the results.
- Baking soda – This helps the cookies rise and not be dense, hockey pucks!
- Spices – We use a combination of salt, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves for cookies that have a warm and cozy spiced flavor.
- Butter – Use high-quality butter for best results.
- Brown sugar – A general brown sugar will work. Using brown sugar in cookies helps them stay moist and chewy.
- Blackstrap molasses – The molasses imparts a lot of classic flavor, as well as some sweetness and helps give the gingerbread cookies a darker color.
- Egg – Use high-quality eggs for best results.
- Sugar – While the cookie recipe is made with all brown sugar, we’ll roll the cookies in granulated white sugar before baking which helps add a touch of sweetness as well as a nice texture to the exterior of the cookies.
- White chocolate – This is used in the white chocolate “fudge” frosting. You can use
How to Make Chewy Gingerbread Cookie Recipe
Ok, let’s get to these soft chewy gingerbread cookies! Here’s how we make them:
- Mix dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Set aside.
- Beat butter and sugar. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy with a hand mixer or stand mixer using the paddle attachment.
- Add in rest of wet ingredients. Beat in molasses, egg, and vanilla.
- Combine wet and dry ingredients. Fold in flour mixture just until combined.
- Form cookies. Scoop cookie dough into tablespoon-sized balls. Use a small cookie scoop to make it easy. Roll each ball in granulated sugar.
- Bake cookies. Bake the cookies on a prepared baking sheet (lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat) until edges are set. Cool on cookie sheets before frosting.
- Make white chocolate frosting. In a small microwave safe bowl, microwave butter and white chocolate in small increments until melted.
TIP: If mixture is too thick for dipping, stir in heavy whipping cream one teaspoon at a time, until desired consistency.
- Frost cookies. Dip cookies into frosting and top with sprinkles if using.
Storage Instructions
Store the chewy gingerbread cookies in an airtight container for 2-3 days.
Can you freeze iced gingerbread cookies?
Yes, you can freeze the cookies for 2-3 months in an airtight container in the freezer. Be sure to freeze them once the frosting is completely solid so that they don’t stick together.
More Sweet Recipes
If you like this iced gingerbread cookie recipe, you might also like some of these other easy sweet treats:
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Helpful Tools to Make Iced Gingerbread Cookies
- Small Cookie Scoop – A must for scooping cookies (or lamb meatballs!) quickly.
- Sheet Pan with Cooling Rack – This set has everything you need to bake and cool cookies and baked goods.
- Christmas Sprinkles Mix – This set has different sprinkles – perfect to let everyone decorate their own Christmas cookies!
Iced Gingerbread Cookie Recipe
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 32 minutes
- Yield: 12 cookies 1x
- Category: Cookies
Description
The best chewy gingerbread cookie recipe! Soft and chewy texture with a warmly spiced and sweet flavor. Customize for holidays with sprinkles!
Ingredients
For the cookies:
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Blackstrap molasses
- 1 egg
- Granulated sugar for rolling
For the fudge frosting:
- 1/2 cup white chocolate baking chips or bakers chocolate
- 1/4 cup butter
Instructions
For the cookies:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat, and set aside.
- In a medium bowl stir together flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and cloves. Set aside.
- In a larger bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Beat in molasses, egg, and vanilla.
- Fold in flour mixture just until combined.
- Scoop cookie dough into tablespoon-sized balls.
- Roll each ball in granulated sugar.
- Place about 2-inches inches apart on the prepared cookie sheet.
- Bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until edges of cookies are set.
- Cool on cookie sheets for 10 minutes
- Transfer cookies to a wire rack and cool completely before icing.
For the ganache:
- Add the butter and baking chips to a microwave safe bowl, and microwave in ten second intervals until melted.
- Stir to combine. Note: if chocolate mixture is too thick for dipping, stir in heavy whipping cream until desired consistency if reached.
- Dip each cookie into ganache, and let rest on parchment paper until set.
- If desired, add sprinkles while ganache is still soft.
Notes
- Baking chocolate, chocolate chips, different brands, etc. sometimes melt differently from others, so if they find their melted chocolate is too thick, or doesn’t want to combine well, adding some whipping cream is the key to success.
Keywords: chewy gingerbread cookies, chewy gingerbread cookie recipe
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Photo Credit: All photos in this post were take by Loren at Sweet Rustic Bakes
Kristen
I think this recipe has some good bones. I might up the salt because it tasted a little flat. Also it mentions adding vanilla but it doesn’t say how much.
★★★★
Emily
Thanks for pointing that out, I’ll update recipe to make sure the vanilla is listed!