There is something decidedly seasonal about ginger cookies. Easy and fun, Ginger Sparkle cookies are some of my favourite cookies for the holidays.
Spicy enough for adults, sweet enough for kids and super simple. I love the way the sugar sparkles on the outside hitting your tongue with that first hint of sweetness.
Built for More
This recipe doubles, triples… quadruples easily without adjustment. Just do the math and away you go. The final product freezes well and the dough keeps beautifully in the fridge for INSTANT fresh cookies. Just soften to room temperature, shape, sugar and… bake.
There is a great art to baking cookies. Not too dry, not too crisp, even colour on the bottom. When they’re covered in sugar, like Ginger Sparkles you want to watch that your oven temperature is consistent.
Often there is a little loose sugar on the tray after baking, I like to give the baking sheet a little rinse between each batch. I prefer not to smell burnt sugar if I’m not trying to burn sugar. I’m crazy like that.
Take Good Advice
One of the best pieces of advice my Grandmother ever gave me was: “Always bake a test cookie.”
Excellent advice. Test the size, the spread, the oven, and the timing. Besides… you have to eat that one, it’s the rule.
The other really great piece of advice my Grandmother gave me was: “Marry a man with his own teeth.”
These were two separate conversations for the record. Many years later, finally found that elusive man who can chew his own food. (Excruciatingly high standards, I know.)
But, enough about me… you, go bake some cookies. Get the kids to help, they can make the little dough balls and roll them in sugar. Baking stretches math skills and baking cookies with someone you love makes marvellous memories.
Crisp on the outside, soft on the inside Ginger Sparkle cookies will make your ties curl up with glee!
Ingredients
UnitsScale
3/4cup butter
1cup sugar
1 egg
1/4cup molasses
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4cup flour
2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
Instructions
1. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar, and then add other wet ingredients and mix/beat well.
2. Add dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Dough should be soft and easy to handle and not sticky. For best results, fridge your dough for an hour to make it a little firmer before rolling or baking.
3. Shape cold dough into one inch balls and roll in sugar. Flatten slightly with pads of fingers so they spread easily.
4. Bake on an ungreased or parchment lined cookie sheet at 350° for 10 minutes, until bottom is lightly browned. Transfer to wire racks to cool.
Notes
Ginger Sparkles will be very soft fresh out of the oven, as they cool they harden to be crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. YUM.
Fearlessly cooking in her home kitchen just outside Ottawa, Canada; Cori Horton is a food photographer, food marketing consultant, recipe developer and sustainability advocate. A Cordon Bleu trained chef, Cori spent five years as the owner of Nova Scotia's Dragonfly Inn and now shares all things delicious - right here.
Hi Gypsy….I always use your recipe but it never turns out like yours :( Mine are so much darker and thinner and sometimes do no crack at all. Do you have ANY tips at all?? Thank you :)
Good Morning Rose –
First, thank you so much for your note, we love hearing from readers and when they are having an issue with a recipe I want to address it ASAP.
This is one of my oldest and most consistent recipes, I have been making it for 20 years with wicked results. So when I read your note Rose I thought… hmmmm, something is definitely amiss here. This one of the first recipes I posted on Food Gypsy three years ago, so I went back to my original notes and discovered that in the translation to the website the recipe read 1/2 cup of molasses instead of 1/4 cup of molasses.
I’ve adjusted the recipe above and I think you’ll find your cookies are MUCH lighter, rise higher and crackle with ease.
A quick crackle tip: I often fridge the rolled, sugared, flattened cookies if my kitchen is hot. The temperature difference makes them rise higher and spread less.
Please drop me a line and let me how you made out and THANK YOU SO MUCH for commenting here so we can correct the recipe. Happy Holidays and… have a delicious day!
~ Gypsy
Gypsy.. I just made a double batch using 1/2 cup of molasses ×2 and these cookies came out of the oven and went FLAT AS A PANCAKE. VERY DISAPPOINTING. I will try again using 1/4 cup × 2 and cross my fingers. You really should fix the recipe post, it’s still wrong based on this reply..
Hi Roger –
Thank you for your comment. Sorry to hear that you had trouble with the recipe. In fact, I did change the recipe, years ago. However we recently switched to a new recipe card format and server. It would appear that this recipe reverted the original. I have made the necessary changes above and will be re-shooting this recipe this holiday season. So will be testing, just to make sure.
I hate it when recipes fail me, so know that I heard you.
Butter is too expensive to waste!
Thanks again,
Cori (aka Gypsy)
Yum Yum Yum… can I have some…:-)))))
OF COURSE! You can have whatever you want.
Love,
Gypsy
Hi Gypsy….I always use your recipe but it never turns out like yours :( Mine are so much darker and thinner and sometimes do no crack at all. Do you have ANY tips at all?? Thank you :)
Good Morning Rose –
First, thank you so much for your note, we love hearing from readers and when they are having an issue with a recipe I want to address it ASAP.
This is one of my oldest and most consistent recipes, I have been making it for 20 years with wicked results. So when I read your note Rose I thought… hmmmm, something is definitely amiss here. This one of the first recipes I posted on Food Gypsy three years ago, so I went back to my original notes and discovered that in the translation to the website the recipe read 1/2 cup of molasses instead of 1/4 cup of molasses.
I’ve adjusted the recipe above and I think you’ll find your cookies are MUCH lighter, rise higher and crackle with ease.
A quick crackle tip: I often fridge the rolled, sugared, flattened cookies if my kitchen is hot. The temperature difference makes them rise higher and spread less.
Please drop me a line and let me how you made out and THANK YOU SO MUCH for commenting here so we can correct the recipe. Happy Holidays and… have a delicious day!
~ Gypsy
Gypsy.. I just made a double batch using 1/2 cup of molasses ×2 and these cookies came out of the oven and went FLAT AS A PANCAKE. VERY DISAPPOINTING. I will try again using 1/4 cup × 2 and cross my fingers. You really should fix the recipe post, it’s still wrong based on this reply..
Hi Roger –
Thank you for your comment. Sorry to hear that you had trouble with the recipe. In fact, I did change the recipe, years ago. However we recently switched to a new recipe card format and server. It would appear that this recipe reverted the original. I have made the necessary changes above and will be re-shooting this recipe this holiday season. So will be testing, just to make sure.
I hate it when recipes fail me, so know that I heard you.
Butter is too expensive to waste!
Thanks again,
Cori (aka Gypsy)
It’s cookie season! A holiday FAVOURITE. Ginger Sparkle Cookies – Hello Holidays! http://t.co/2RKIU9e63f