Today I bring you the quintessential taste of the holidays. I can’t think of a better Christmas cookie than this one right here!
I got the recipe this is based on last year from a friend during a “cookie recipe exchange” we did at church. This year, I decided to do some tweaking, so I brought some butter into the recipe, upped the amount of ginger, and made a few other minor adjustments. The result: the softest, tastiest ginger cookie you ever did see.
I have a few notes as per usual.
Don’t overbake them!
I can’t stress this enough. As with most other cookies, you need to take these babies out of the oven before they feel done. If you see cracks on the top and are asking yourself, “Are these done?”—take them out! (And don’t forget to transfer them to a wire rack after five minutes of cooling.)
Shortening vs. butter
I learned while making this recipe the benefits of using both shortening and butter in a cookie recipe. Shortening lends a lighter and fluffier texture while butter, of course, lends a buttery flavor. The original recipe had only shortening in it, but I swapped in some butter because I wanted both of those things (and a huge hunk of shortening just kinda turns me off haha.)
Make small or large cookies
You can make smaller or larger cookies with this recipe—just adjust baking times accordingly. I found that a 1-inch ball of dough makes for a good “small” cookie size while a 1.5-inch ball of dough makes for a good “large” cookie size. I personally prefer the larger cookies. Bake smaller cookies for 12 to 15 minutes or larger cookies for 15 to 18 minutes.
Here’s the recipe! I hope you love it as much as I do!
Softest Ginger Cookies
Nutrition per portion
Ingredients
- 2 c (240 g) AP flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 ½ tsp ginger
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp cloves
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ c (95 g) shortening
- ¼ c (66 g) butter, room temp
- 1 c (127 g) sugar
- 1 large egg
- ¼ c (59 mL) molasses
Method
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease two cookie sheets or line with silicone baking mats.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and butter. Add the sugar, egg, and molasses and beat until light and fluffy.
- Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and mix until incorporated.
- Roll the dough into 1-inch balls for smaller cookies or 1.5-inch balls for larger cookies. Roll the balls in granulated sugar and set on the cookie sheet at least two inches apart. Do not press down on the dough balls.
- Bake smaller cookies for 12 to 15 minutes or larger cookies for 15 to 18 minutes, just until cracks begin to form. Err on the side of undercooking them so they’re still soft once they cool!
- Let cookies cool for five minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
