Chewy Gingerbread Cookies

This website uses affiliate links which may earn commission for purchases made at no additional cost to you.

I’ve never been a big fan of the snappy iced gingerbread cookies, but I’ve always loved their chewier cousin, aka these easy chewy gingerbread cookies.

They’re chewy, gooey, and spiced to perfection! Plus, the sprinkle of raw coconut sugar on top gives these simple chewy gingerbread cookies an extra textural element. 

Whether you bake these for your family, or triple the batch to give as a gift to friends (because who doesn’t like cookies), you can’t go wrong with this chewy gingerbread cookie recipe.

Ingredients For These Chewy Gingerbread Cookies

Here’s everything you’ll need to make the best chewy gingerbread cookies. 

• Spelt flour: You’ve heard me go on and on about their flour before, but One Degree Organics Sprouted Spelt Flour is truly the best (no this isn’t an ad, I just love their flour). Their flour uses sprouted spelt, which means the nutrients are more bioavailable, and it’s easier on your digestion. 
• Vegan butter: My favorite vegan butter is Miyoko’s unsalted vegan butter; it has wonderful ingredients. Obviously, if you’re not vegan/dairy-free you can use regular butter. 
• Coconut sugar 
• Molasses: Expanding more on which molasses is best below. But I love Wholesome Sweetener Unsulphured Molasses; the flavor profile is perfect! If you want to make these chewy gingerbread cookies with no molasses, you can substitute equal amounts of date syrup. 
• Cashew milk: Baking is super finicky, so using a different milk than I do could skew how the cookie tastes/the texture. So I highly recommend using my homemade cashew milk for best results.
• Vanilla paste: Vanilla paste is just so much better than vanilla extract. And yes, almost all vanilla paste will have cane sugar in it. But since we’re using such a small amount in this recipe, I feel like it’s negligible. 
• Spices: Including cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. 
• Baking powder and baking soda
• Kosher salt 

Let’s Talk Molasses 

So first off, not all molasses is the same. You can’t use different brands (or molasses varieties) interchangeably. 

But like, what even is molasses? It’s essentially just the juice of sugar cane or sugar beets that is boiled down to remove the sugar crystals.

Regarding molasses varieties, breaking down the two most common ones you’ll see at the store: 

• Regular Molasses: Usually referred to as light or regular molasses, this is produced after the first or second boiling. This means the molasses will still be quite sweet and light in color. This is what you should be using for gingerbread cookies, cakes, loaves, etc. 
• Blackstrap Molasses: This comes from the third boiling and is very bitter. I would only ever use this for savory cooking. Never use this in baked goods as the bitterness will ruin the final product. 

A Few Notes…

• Measure the ingredients carefully. I highly recommend using the gram measurements provided for best results, because something as little as improperly measuring the flour can skew this recipe. And speaking of grams, linking the kitchen scale I use all the time here.
• Add extra ginger if you like your gingerbread cookies on the more ginger-forward side. I’d opt for 1 ½ tsp instead of 1 tsp. 
• Don’t overmix the dough. The more you mix the dough, the more gluten will develop, making your cookies gummy, tough and dry.
• Bang the cookies on the counter 5-6x. When the cookies are done baking, I like to bang the baking sheet on the counter 5-6 times, this gives the cookies that signature tortoiseshell look and crackle.
• Garnish the cookies with a sprinkle of coconut sugar for presentation. The crunchy, raw coconut sugar adds a nice textural element to these chewy and soft cookies. 

And that’s all for these cookies – I can’t wait for you to make them! Don’t forget to leave a starred rating and review, means the world to hear your feedback! If you have any questions, leave a comment below or send me a message on Instagram.

Print

Older Ginger Molasses Cookie Recipe

If you’re looking for the older version of this recipe, leaving the full recipe for you below! Although, I highly recommend making the newer version – it’s so much better!

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup tahini 
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar 
• 3 tbsp molasses 
• 1/4 cup cashew milk 
• 1 tsp vanilla extract 
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda 
• 1/2 tsp baking powder 
• 2 tsp ground ginger 
• 1 tsp cinnamon 
• 1/2 tsp cloves 
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt 
• 1 1/2 cups spelt flour

Directions

1. In a bowl add the tahini, coconut sugar, molasses, cashew milk and vanilla extract. Using a whisk, mix the ingredients together until it looks silky and smooth — about 3 minutes. 
2. Next, add in the baking soda, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Whisk well until the spices are fully incorporated. The batter should become lighter in color as you mix it. 
3. Finally, add in the spelt flour. Swap out the whisk for a rubber spatula and gently fold the flour into the wet ingredients until just combined.
4. Cover the bowl with a towel or plastic wrap and pop in the fridge to chill for 1 hour. This will help the cookies develop even more flavor. 
5. About halfway through the chill process, preheat your oven to 350°F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. 
6. Once the cookies are done chilling, unwrap the dough and divide the dough into eight equal pieces. Roll the dough pieces into balls and flatten each dough ball onto the prepared cookie sheet to form a round cookie. These cookies won’t spread too much while baking, so make sure they’re the thickness and shape you desire. 
7. Bake the cookies in the oven for 9 minutes until cracked on the top – they will continue to crack and cook as they cool on the counter. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool on the counter for 10 minutes. During this time they’ll continue to cook and crack on the top, so be patient. 
8. Store the cookies at room temp on a plate wrapped in plastic wrap or a glass tupperware.