Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies

Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies are the ultimate holiday treat—soft, chewy, and packed with warm gingerbread flavor. Rolled in sugar before baking, they crack open into gorgeous crinkles that look festive and taste even better. Plus, they stay soft for days, making them perfect for cookie swaps, gifting, or just enjoying with a cup of cocoa.

Love More Christmas Cookies? Try My Cranberry Orange Cookies or this Cherry Snowball Cookies next.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

These cookies strike the perfect balance—soft and chewy like molasses cookies, but with just the right amount of gingerbread spice. They’re festive without being overpowering, stay fresh for days, and are so addictive that even picky eaters can’t resist sneaking extras. Perfect for holidays, cookie swaps, or just because, they’re a treat the whole family will love.

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Ingredient List

For the Cookie Dough:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour (375 g)
• ¾ cup packed dark brown sugar (150 g)
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened but still cool, cubed (about 170 g)
• ¾ cup unsulphured molasses (not blackstrap)
• 2 tablespoons milk

For Rolling:

• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup confectioners’ sugar

Quick substitution note – if you only have light brown sugar, whatever, use it. And if you can’t find cloves, just skip them or throw in some nutmeg. Don’t stress about it too much.

Why These Ingredients Work

The brown sugar keeps everything moist and chewy. That’s key because nobody wants hockey puck cookies. The molasses gives you that deep gingerbread flavor without being too intense – and please, for the love of all that’s holy, don’t use blackstrap molasses. Made that mistake once and they tasted like dirt.

All those spices sound like a lot, but trust the process. The cinnamon and ginger are doing most of the heavy lifting here. The butter needs to be soft enough to mix but not melted – I usually leave it out for about an hour before I start.

That double sugar thing seems extra, but it’s what makes these cookies look like you actually know what you’re doing in the kitchen.

Essential Tools and Equipment

Nothing fancy needed – just a mixer (hand or stand, doesn’t matter), regular measuring stuff, baking sheets, parchment paper, and cooling racks. I use one of those cookie scoops because I’m terrible at making things the same size otherwise.

How To Make Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies

Step 1: Mix the Dry Ingredients

Dump all your dry stuff in the mixer bowl – flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and all the spices. Mix it on low for like 20 seconds just so everything gets friendly with each other.

Step 2: Add the Butter

Toss in your butter chunks and let the mixer go on medium-low until it looks like wet sand. Takes maybe a minute and a half. Don’t rush this part or your cookies will be weird.

Step 3: Incorporate Wet Ingredients

Pour in the molasses and milk while the mixer’s going slow. Once it starts looking like actual dough (about 20 seconds), crank it up to medium for another 10 seconds. Stop there – nobody likes tough cookies.

Step 4: Chill the Dough

Split the dough in half, make it into disks, wrap in plastic wrap. Stick it in the freezer for 30 minutes if you’re impatient like me, or the fridge for 2 hours if you’re a planner. I usually make this the night before because mornings are crazy enough.

Step 5: Prep for Baking

Heat oven to 350°F. Line your baking sheets with parchment paper – don’t even think about skipping this step. Set up two bowls, one with regular sugar, one with powdered sugar.

Step 6: Shape and Coat

Scoop out heaping tablespoons of dough and roll them into balls. Here’s the fun part – roll each ball in the regular sugar first, then the powdered sugar. Really coat them good, don’t be stingy.

Step 7: Bake to Perfection

Put them on the baking sheets about an inch apart. Twelve minutes in the oven – they should look set in the middle but still soft. They might look underdone but they’re not, promise.

Step 8: Cool Properly

Leave them on the hot baking sheet for 2 minutes, then move to cooling racks. This is important – they’re fragile when they’re hot.

You Must Know

The butter thing is crucial. Press it with your finger – if it leaves a dent but doesn’t smoosh completely, you’re good. Too soft and your cookies turn into pancakes. Too hard and they won’t mix right.

Don’t skip the chilling step. I tried once when I was running late and ended up with cookie batter spreading all over my pans like some kind of disaster movie. Just don’t.

My Personal Secret: I make extra dough and freeze the already-rolled, sugar-coated balls. When people drop by unexpectedly, I just throw them in the oven. Makes me look way more prepared than I actually am.

Pro Tips & Cooking Hacks

Spoon your flour into the measuring cup, don’t scoop it. Scooping packs it down and you get dry cookies. Nobody wants that.

Always use parchment paper. I’ve tried the spray stuff and it makes the cookies spread funny. Parchment is foolproof.

These look underdone when you take them out. That’s normal. They keep cooking on the hot pan, so trust the process.

Check your spices. If they don’t smell strong when you open the jar, they’re probably too old to do much good.

Flavor Variations & Suggestions

Want to change things up? Orange zest is amazing in these – just grate a whole orange into the dough. My neighbor does this and they’re incredible.

Some people add mini chocolate chips. Not traditional, but whatever makes you happy. My kids lobby for this constantly.

If you really want to go wild, chop up some crystallized ginger and mix it in. Just a little though – that stuff is intense.

Make-Ahead Options

This recipe is perfect for getting ahead of the game. The dough keeps in the fridge for three days or the freezer for months. I usually double the batch and freeze half because why not?

You can even roll them into balls, coat them in sugar, and freeze them on baking sheets. Once they’re solid, dump them in freezer bags. Bake straight from frozen – just add a minute or two.

Recipe Notes & Baker’s Tips

Seriously, use the right molasses. Unsulphured, not blackstrap. Blackstrap is for health nuts, not cookies. It tastes awful in baked goods.

Don’t skip either sugar coating. I know it seems like overkill, but it’s what makes these cookies crack and look professional.

These actually get better after sitting overnight. The flavors kind of settle in together. Try not to eat them all the first day.

Serving Suggestions

Milk is obvious but coffee works too. I like them with tea in the afternoon. For fancy occasions, crumble them over vanilla ice cream.

They make good gifts if you can resist eating them all. I use old cookie tins with parchment paper between layers. People always think I’m way more domestic than I really am.

How to Store Your Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies

Airtight container on the counter for about a week. They actually get softer and better after a day or two. For longer storage, freeze them for up to three months.

If they ever get stale (doesn’t happen much around here), stick a piece of bread in the container overnight. The cookies suck up the moisture from the bread and get soft again.

Allergy Information

These have gluten and dairy, obviously. For gluten-free, use that cup-for-cup flour substitute stuff. For dairy-free, plant butter works fine, and use whatever milk alternative you like.

Questions I Get Asked A Lot

Can I use something instead of molasses?

Not really. Honey or corn syrup won’t taste the same. Molasses is what makes these actually gingerbread-flavored.

Why didn’t mine crack?

Usually your oven’s running hot or you forgot one of the sugar steps. Also don’t overbake them – they need to stay soft to crack right.

Can I make these gluten-free?

Yeah, just swap the flour for that 1-to-1 stuff. Might be a little different texture-wise but still good.

How do I know they’re done?

They look set in the middle but still soft. Don’t wait for them to look completely done or they’ll be overbaked.

Can I freeze the dough?

Totally. The dough freezes great. You can even pre-shape them before freezing.

💬 Tried this recipe? Drop a comment below! I love seeing how everyone’s turn out – especially if you tried any of the variations!