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Active Time
1 hr
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Total Time
10 hr
Typical gingersnaps lean toward the soothingly plain; these are the opposite of that, spicy with chewy crystallized ginger and aromatic with Chinese five-spice powder. Left unadorned, the cookies will continue to crisp over time; iced, they become softer and more cakey.
Ingredients
Makes about 3 dozen cookies
Special Equipment
Make dough:
Step 1
Whisk together flour, five-spice powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.
Step 2
Pulse ginger with 1/4 cup sugar in a food processor until finely ground.
Step 3
Add syrup, butter, egg, and remaining 3/4 cup sugar to processor and blend until mixture is thick and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add flour mixture and pulse just until a dough forms. Form dough into a disk and chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, at least 8 hours to allow flavors to develop.
Bake and ice cookies:
Step 4
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 325°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Step 5
Quarter dough. Keeping remaining 3 pieces wrapped in plastic wrap and chilled, roll out 1 piece of dough on a lightly floured sheet of wax paper with a lightly floured rolling pin to 3/4 inch thick. (If dough becomes too soft to roll out, chill on wax paper until firm.) Cut out rounds with cutter and transfer to 1 lined baking sheet, arranging cookies about 2 inches apart.
Step 6
Bake cookies until slightly puffed and a shade darker, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool 5 minutes on sheet. If desired, make holes with piping tip near edges to hang cookies, then transfer cookies (still on parchment) to a rack to cool completely. (Cookies will flatten slightly as they cool.)
Step 7
While first batch is baking, roll out and cut another batch, arranging cookies on second lined sheet. Bake in same manner, then gather scraps and chill until dough is firm enough to reroll, 15 to 20 minutes. Make more cookies with scraps (reroll scraps only once) and remaining pieces of dough, cooling sheets and lining them with fresh parchment before using.
Step 8
If usingicingand coloring it, transfer small batches of icing to small bowls, 1 for each color, and tint with food coloring. Spoon each color of icing into a separate pastry bag, pressing out excess air. Twist bag firmly just above icing, then decoratively pipe icing onto cookies. Let icing dry completely (about 1 hour, depending on humidity) before serving or storing cookies.
•Cookies are best when dough is chilled 8 hours to allow flavors to develop, but if you're in a hurry, dough can be chilled just 2 hours. Dough can be chilled up to 3 days.
•Using a pastry bag fitted with a piping tip results in cleaner lines of icing, but you can use small sealable plastic bags. Spoon each color of icing into a separate sealable bag, pressing out excess air, and snip an 3/4-inch opening in 1 bottom corner of each bag.
•Cookies keep, layered between sheets of parchment if iced, in an airtight container at room temperature 5 days.
Leave a Review
Reviews (36)
Back to TopHonestly, these are my all time favorite cookies. As others have mentioned, the flavor is subtle. It is the texture that is special. They are impossible to stop eating, so chewy! I was thrilled to track down the recipe and I will break my veganism to make them this year. Don’t judge me! They are that good.
aschwartz1
Planet Earth
12/9/2020
Just made these from my old copy of Gourmet (12/2006). I've wanted to make these for years--they are so beautiful! The cookies themselves could be more strongly flavored--"gingersnaps" they are not. Still, they do have a pleasant if mild flavor. The magazine says to roll the dough to 1/8", which is what I did to good effect. For all the people who had "batter" rather than dough--I'm guessing the butter wasn't sufficiently cooled when you mixed it in. The same thing happened to me and I know my butter was not cool enough (I was in a hurry). I did add an extra 1/2 cup of flour, then I plopped it in to a bowl and let it chill for 24 hours. I ended up with a delightfully easy dough to roll out. If you want to do the icing decorations, you need to thin it down (to about a shampoo consistency). I had a lot of fun and beautiful results--just like the picture (it took A LOT of red food coloring to approximate that color, though)!
lkmbs
12/8/2018
Also if you don't have Lyle's Golden Syrup, you can use corn syrup with a little molasses mixed in.
pasrty2010
12/24/2016
I've made this many years ago and remember it turned out great. I didn't have a problem with the dough being too wet. I made it recently and did get that issue. However, I just left the dough in the bowl and pressed plastic wrap onto the surface well. I did not add extra flour. It turned out just fine in regards to texture. I didn't have crystalized ginger, so I used about 1 tb. dried. Crystal is better if you have it. Also used 3 tsp. five spice. Otherwise, no problems rolling out the dough and cutting into rounds. I did chill the shapes on the sheet for a couple minutes in the freezer before baking. They spread but not that much - keep an eye on your true oven temp because baking below 325 will make them spread more. If not using crystalized ginger, these definitely need icing for added sweetness. To get the red icing, use Winton No Taste Red gel coloring. You'll have red in no time.
pasrty2010
san jose, ca
12/24/2016
LOVE this recipe! I have made them for about four years now around this time and not once have I had a problem. I follow the directions exactly as written and they have always turned out.
charcrist
Missoula, MT
12/11/2013
These were very good. Do not over bake!
kesteele
San Francisco
12/29/2010
I love this cookie, added some ground ginger. Also, I do nor do well with roll and cut so I used a small cookie scoop to drop into granulated sugar and coat, this did not require parchment.
laurwarr
12/27/2010
I would never make this recipe again. The "dough" was more like a batter. After reading several reviews I learned I was not the only person who had this experience. I added some extra flour and another egg and ended up with a cake-like cookie, but nothing that could be rolled out.
lmjacobs
12/22/2010
Disappointing - not that strong (and I fresh ground my spices and added a little more). However, the worst thing was the texture - hard to roll out - and BOY, do these things spread. Also, I was disappointed that you did not get any of the chewy-ness of the candied ginger, as it was ground to a powder. There are better ginger snaps out there, I know it!
brittydear_cook
12/20/2010
These are good but the definitive BEST ginger cookie on this site is the Ginger Spice Cookie (B.A. March 2000). I have been making them for years for my customers (have a catering business) and they are the bomb! I am always trying new recipes but always go back to that one. They freeze well and I make them in 2" sizes which people love for parties and teas.
junodog
12/9/2010
These cookies did not turn out well at all. I added extra flour (1/2 cup) after reading another review and they baked into a big blob. Very disappointing.
Anonymous
Phoenix, AZ
12/9/2009
我做的饼干之前阅读所有的评论。I did add 1/2 a cup of flour. measured 5 spice closer to 2 tsp. I didn't frost the cookies because I wanted them to stay crunchy. We didn't even try rolling them out, just rolled the dough into a ball and smash to 1/8". I wouldn't mind some extra spice but as a cookie to bring to parties, I would leave as is. The cookie went over very well, great flavor. I would like a tip on chopping the ginger, the food processor didn't do a great job so I ended up chopping it which wasn't as fine as it should have been. As for the golden syrup, I looked it up online and it was suggested as a substitute for Caro syrup and something else. I found it at my store (pricy). I was surprized at how thick it was. I measured using a measuring cup and a knife to level it off as I would flour. Making the whole thing in a food processor was a great idea. Thanks to everyone who wrote reviews.
cournay
Canton, MI
1/2/2009
These are great, and a good balance in the all-very-sweet cookie box. I'm not sure why some say they aren't flavorful or intense; I guess it's the quality of your spices (or maybe not letting the dough refrigerate long enough). Mine were quite intense. I just took balls from the dough and flattened them into shape, which worked quite easily. Some cookie eaters preferred them plain, some with icing -- but with icing, I'd make them a little thicker.
Anonymous
NY,NY
12/31/2008
I have made these three times now and found it easiest to roll the dough into 2 logs, chill, and thinly slice, about 1/4". I then top with Sugar in the Raw before baking. I also add more 5 spice and ginger for an intense flavor. The dough also freezes well, just slice and bake.
Anonymous
Phila, PA
12/23/2008
Ok...Certainly could not get mine to look like yours, BUT they were very easy. They were not spicy at all, which was disappointing, but they have a nice buttery ginger flavor. I would make them again....
Anonymous
Hong Kong
12/13/2008
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