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This vintage old fashioned ginger snap cookies recipe makes the most delicious spiced cookies that are crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. Perfect for Christmas cookie swaps, gift giving or any time of the year!
My blogger friends and I are sharing some of our favorite Christmas cookies. Be sure to check out the other four delicious cookie recipes at the end of this post!
Inspiration for Old Fashioned Ginger Snap Cookies
These cookies are quite famous with my husband’s family. My mother-in-law has been making them for family gatherings and church bake sales for decades! She even brought them to Florida each year when she’d visit her other two sons and their families during the holidays.
I don’t know where the original recipe came from, but we have this tattered old copy that my husband estimates is at least 50 years old. When we got married, our favors for the guests at our winter wedding were bags of homemade ginger snaps!
Ginger Snap Cookie Ingredients
- 3/4 cup of vegetable shortening
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup molasses (I used blackstrap molasses)
- 2 cups flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground cloves
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
How to Make Ginger Snap Cookies
The first step is to cream the vegetable shortening and sugar. I used these pre-measured sticks of shortening which made the job a lot easier!
I recommend using an electric hand mixer to cream the shortening and sugar. It comes out light and fluffy. You can still do it by hand if you don’t have a mixer, though.
After you add the egg and molasses, sift the flour, baking soda and spices into the wet ingredients. I like to use my vintage sifter.
Mix the wet and dry ingredients together with a wooden spoon until thoroughly combined.
Roll the dough into about 1 1/2 inch balls.
Roll the balls of dough in sugar.
Spread the dough balls about 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes.
Remove cookies from the oven and allow them to cool on a metal rack. They are done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
I love the crackle texture of these dairy free ginger snap cookies! It’s easy to make small batch ginger snap cookies, too. I only baked one sheet of fifteen cookies and refrigerated the extra dough to make more later.
Grandma’s spice cookies came out so good! My husband gave me the ultimate compliment and said they tasted very much like his mom’s cookies.
Print Recipe
5 from 3 votes
Old Fashioned Ginger Snap Cookies
This vintage old fashioned ginger snap cookies recipe makes the most delicious spiced cookies that are crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. Perfect for Christmas cookie swaps, gift giving or any time of the year!
Prep Time30 mins
Cook Time12 mins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Christmas cookies, Cookies, ginger snaps
Servings: 45 cookies
Calories: 55kcal
Equipment
Electric hand mixer
Mixing bowl
Measuring cups and spoons
Wooden spoon
Sifter
Cookie Sheet
Parchment paper
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup vegetable shortening
- 1 cup granulated sugar plus 1/4 cup extra for coating
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground cloves
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream vegetable shortening with an electic hand mixer. Add sugar gradually and cream until light and fluffy.
Add egg and molasses and mix until smooth.
Sift flour, baking soda and spices into the wet mixture and stir well.
Roll dough by hand into 2 1/2 inch balls.
Roll dough balls in sugar.
Place about 2 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake cookies for 12 minutes. They are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
How many calories in a gingersnap cookie?
There are approximately 55 calories in one old fashioned ginger snap cookie.
Can you use ginger snap cookies for nausea?
Yes! Gingersnap cookies are a good snack to combat nausea related to pregnancy or motion sickness. Ginger is well known to be a natural remedy that can help ease an upset stomach.
What to do with leftover ginger snap cookies?
Ginger snap cookies make great gifts! Put leftover ginger snap cookies in a tin and share them with family, friends or neighbors. What about ginger snaps for teachers? Send some extra ginger snaps to school with your children as a token of appreciation. They also freeze well for up to two months. Wrap gingersnaps in plastic wrap and store them in the freezer in an airtight container lined with aluminum foil.
I’m really looking forward to baking and hosting a cookie swap party this year! Besides these Old Fashioned Ginger Snap Cookies, I’ll also be making my Holiday Coconut Apricot Bars. Oh, how I love Christmas cookies!
More Christmas Cookie Recipes
These chocolate-dipped Christmas tree cookies decorated with white chocolate, pistachios and freeze-dried raspberries look impressive but are very easy to make. Your family and friends will love to receive these cookies as homemade Christmas gifts – that’s if you can bear to give them away in the first place!
This Chocolate No Bake Cookie Recipe makes a quick irresistible chocolaty treat.
Christmas Magic Cookie Bars are rich, yet delicious with a buttery graham cracker crust layered with chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, coconut flakes then topped off with red and green m&m, baked to golden perfection, they make for the perfect holiday treat.
This festive Peppermint Snowball Cookie Recipe is a light buttery cookie from scratch. With a hint of peppermint extract, then rolled in crushed candy canes and confectioners’ sugar. It’s like Christmas in every bite.
