There is something magic about these soft ginger cookies with icing drizzle. The old fashioned flavor, the chew, and the drizzle add up to the perfect Christmas cookie! This recipe is also perfect for making in advance and storing in the freezer until you are ready to bake. Warm cookies on demand is my kind of life!
Christmas cookie season is in full swing and I’ve been baking up a storm. These soft ginger cookies with icing drizzle have already been to one cookie exchange and been gifted all over town. I *had* to bake extra test batches to get them just right (had nothing to do with loving these cookies of course) and Jonathan took some to work before I ate them all.
The Best Soft Ginger Cookies
I sent a lot of cookies to work with Jonathan but one of his coworkers has declared these the best ones I’ve ever sent in! I didn’t think I could top the Cinnamon Roll Sugar Cookies I did this fall but apparently these landed at the top of his list!
The original recipe comes from my Great Aunt Ruth. She got the recipe from a neighbor, Mrs. Ladd, in the 1950s. They lived in a garden apartment in St. Paul, MN where the rent was $39 a month! I think the least I have ever paid for rent in my adult life was $300 for one room in a house!
I never much liked the hard ginger snap cookies that showed up in my life as a kiddo. Sometime in my early 20s I was visiting my aunt and she made these soft ginger cookies for me. I was totally hooked. As it turned out I’m just a soft ginger cookie kind of girl! Sometimes I make them plain and sometimes I drizzle them with white chocolate or icing. Both ways they ware wonderful with coffee or milk.
Tools In This Post: Every cookie has a perfect size. Don’t ask me why – it just is. I own about five different size scoops (I bake a LOT) but even if you only make cookies a few times a year is is worth owning one this size. It is a pretty good all around scoop! And they are not expensive to pick up. Got a gift exchange coming up? Grab one of these and box it up with a recipe and some chocolate chips or mix the dry ingredients together for a batch of cookies and include them! Sort of store bought and sort of homemade. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!
Soft Ginger Cookies with Icing Drizzle
Ingredients
- 2 cups granulated white sugar plus additional for rolling
- 1 1/2 cups salted butter
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup molasses
- 4 cups flour
- 4 tsp. baking soda
- 2 tsp. ginger
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. cloves
- Almond bark white chocolate or icing to decorate as desired
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the sugar and butter on high scraping the sides as needed until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the egg and molasses until combined.
- Add the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. Beat on low speed until combined.
- Use a 1 ½” cookie scoop to form the dough into round balls about 1 1/2”. Roll in sugar and freeze for about 30 minutes or until you want to bake them. (These can be left in the freezer for a month or two and baked on demand if desired.)
- Preheat the oven to 375 F and bake 8-10 minutes until the edges and tops are just set.
- Allow cookies to cool and drizzle your choice of melted almond bark, white chocolate or a powdered sugar icing over cookies with a fork. Serve after the topping sets.
Your Rating Matters
When you leave a comment or star rating, it means more than you might think. It helps me understand what you’re enjoying, builds trust for other readers, and supports real, tested cooking content. If you have a moment, I’d truly appreciate you sharing your experience. - Mirlandra
Nutrition Estimate
A Note on Nutrition
Nutritional info is an imperfect estimate. Please take it with a grain of salt.
I read each and every comment and I try to respond to questions asap, so ask away! If you’ve made a recipe, I would love to hear about it! Please come back and share your experience and give the recipe a 5-star rating so other people will know how much you loved it!
Cassandra Carter says
I LOVE this recipe!!! I added more ginger, but they are extremely yummy!!! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!!
Mirlandra says
You are welcome I’m so glad you enjoyed these! I always look forward to having them at Christmas!
Sue says
I did not see any salt in the list of ingredients yet I see in the details listed in the instructions section 3.Add the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt.
I chose to not add any and was thankful that I did not add.
Can you look at editing the mention of salt out if there really is none Tobe added?
Mirlandra says
Oh thank you! That is a great catch! Assuming you use salted butter there is no additional salt needed. I’ve updated the recipe to reflect that. I apricate you letting me know so I could get it fixed up!