This chewy triple ginger cookies recipe creates sweet, spicy, and chewy cookies that are perfect for the holiday season! If you like a spice cookie that packs a punch, these are the classic ginger cookies you’ve been looking for!
These are THE BEST ginger cookies! This soft ginger cookie recipe is one of my family’s favorite cookie recipes that my mom has been making these for years. Thanks to the use of three types of ginger, these delicious cookies have intense ginger flavor that has you coming back for more.
If you or someone you love is a fan of spice cookies, you need to give this triple ginger cookie recipe a try. And don’t forget to check out all of my cookie recipes for your holiday baking needs!
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Perfectly chewy ginger cookies. The texture of these cookies is chewy and lovely.
Bold and spicy flavors. These molasses cookies are bursting with a wonderful amount of ginger spice, that is bold, spicy, and fun.
Easy to make. This is an easy cookie recipe to prepare, making it a great option for all levels of bakers.
Ingredients Needed
Three kinds of ginger! A combination of ground, crystallized, and dried ginger gives these soft, chewy cookies their intense flavor.
Dark molasses. Molasses is a key ingredient in many ginger / gingerbread cookies. It has a warm, sweet, and somewhat smoky flavor. For a more robust molasses flavor, we’ve used dark molasses. For a milder flavor, you can use a light molasses if preferred.
Turbinado sugar for rolling. Turbinado sugar is made from sugar cane (like regular granulated sugar), but it is less processed. This results in grains that are coarser and darker, adding nice texture to the outside of your cookies. Turbinado sugar also has a very slight molasses flavor, making it an excellent choice for this recipe!
See the recipe card at the bottom of the post for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Ingredient Tip – Room Temperature Eggs
Using room temperature eggs is often suggested for baking because the eggs will incorporate into the butter easier. This results in a smooth, uniform batter. If you’re setting your eggs out on the counter to bring them up to room temperature, the standard rule of thumb is to set them out for at least 30 minutes prior to using them.
Step-By-Step Instructions
Place the dried, minced ginger and water into a small bowl and set aside.
In a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment), add the softened butter and brown sugar.
Cream the butter and brown sugar together until well combined (if using a stand mixer, beat on low speed until the ingredients are mostly incorporated then increase to medium-high speed until fluffy). The mixture should look fluffy. It may be a little grainy because of the sugar.
Add in remaining wet ingredients (the molasses and eggs) and mix until combined.
Slowly add the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt, and ground ginger) into the bowl and mix until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.
Add in the re-hydrated ginger and crystallized ginger.
Gently mix until well distributed throughout the dough. Cover the bowl with plastic-wrap and place into the refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes (up to overnight).
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F. Optionally line baking sheets with parchment paper if preferred for ease of cleaning.
Scoop 1 tablespoon-sized portions of chilled dough, roll into balls, and roll turbinado sugar to fully coat each dough ball.
Place dough balls 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the edges are golden-brown.
Allow the cookies to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Recipe Variations and Substitutions
- Use fresh ginger instead of dried ginger. If you can’t find dried ginger, or prefer to use fresh, you can replace the 2 Tablespoons of dried ginger + 2 Tablespoons of water in the recipe card with 2 Tablespoons of fresh ginger root that is finely chopped.
- Make into slice and bake cookies. Roll dough into a 1-½″ thick log prior to chilling. Wrap the log in plastic wrap and refrigerate. When ready to bake, slice into small discs, roll the edges in sugar (and sprinkled additional on top if desired), and bake as directed.
Making a Cookie Tray?
Because ginger is such a strong flavor, putting these triple ginger cookies onto a larger cookie tray may cause everything to taste gingery. This is also applicable with mint or peanut butter treats (like these Chocolate Peppermint Kiss Cookies, Chocolate Mint Squares, and Peanut Butter Blossoms) BUT this is easy to avoid! Pack your triple ginger cookies on a separate plate (at least for transport to your event), and this will prevent this from happening!
Expert Tips
Midwest chilling tip: embrace and use the cold winter weather! If you live in a place that is cold when you make this soft ginger cookie recipe, you can chill your dough outside! Find a flat surface, ensure your dough is covered well, and let mother nature chill your dough for you.
Use a cookie scoop to get all of your cookies to be the same size. While not a necessity, a cookie scoop is a super helpful tool that I use a lot in my kitchen. This small cookie scoop is the perfect size for this triple ginger cookies recipe. For larger cookie lovers, a medium cookie scoop or large cookie scoop may be preferred. If you can’t decide which size to get, they do have a variety pack of cookie scoops so you can try them all!
Storage
Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. You can also freeze these cookies in a gallon-sized zip-top bag or airtight container for up to 3 months.
Recipe FAQs
There is some debate on this, but generally the terms candied ginger and crystallized ginger are used interchangeably.
Candied ginger MAY be stored in a syrup (but not always), whereas crystallized ginger always refers to the dried and sugar coated ginger.
For this recipe, we do not want to use a ginger stored in a syrup. This will add too much moisture to your cookies, altering the final product.
Molasses is a key ingredient in many ginger / gingerbread cookies. It has a warm, sweet, and somewhat smoky flavor. Most ginger cookie recipes will call for a dark molasses. This is because dark molasses has a more robust flavor, great for baking. For a milder flavor, use a light molasses.
Love This Recipe? You May Also Enjoy
Chewy Triple Ginger Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon dried minced ginger*
- 2 tablespoon water*
- 1 cup 2 sticks salted butter, softened
- 1 C brown sugar
- ½ C dark molasses
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 2 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅔ C chopped crystallized ginger*
- 3 C all-purpose flour
- ½ C turbinado sugar for rolling*
Instructions
- Place the dried, minced ginger and water into a small bowl and set aside to rehydrate.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar.
- Beat in the molasses and eggs until combined.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt, and ground ginger) into the bowl and mix until combined.
- Gently stir in the re-hydrated ginger and crystallized ginger until well distributed.
- Cover the bowl with plastic-wrap and place into the refrigerator to chill.
- Chill the triple ginger cookie dough for at least 30 minutes.*
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Scoop 1 tablespoon-sized portions of chilled dough into your hand and roll into balls. Then roll the balls in turbinado sugar to fully coat each dough ball.
- Place balls 2 inches apart on a baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the edges are golden-brown.
- Allow the cookies to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Enjoy!
- Store cooled cookies in an air-tight container.
Kel says
Is it supposed to be packed brown sugar?
Meredith says
Hi Kel, yes, brown sugar should always be tightly packed when measured out. Let me know how the cookie baking goes!
Marina says
I have made these a few times last year and plan on making them again in a few weeks, but I must say these are the best ginger cookies I have ever made. Very chewy and everyone I have given them to have commented how great they are.
Meredith says
This makes me so happy to hear Marina!! Thank you so much for making our recipe, and I’m so glad everyone you share them with loves them too 🙂
Misty says
Does anyone know how these would turn out with a gluten free 1:1 flour swap?
Meredith says
Hi Misty, I haven’t tried this cookie recipe with a GF 1:1 flour, but I’ve done a ton of other recipes using the Bob’s GF 1:1 flour and they’ve all turned out nicely. I think it would work just fine for these too! The texture will be a little different than the all-purpose flour, but I think you’ll still end up with a delicious ginger cookie. Please let me know if you give it a try!
Kim says
Im an advid baker and your ginger cookies didnt crackle i chilled the dough i have oven thermometer some cookies i flatened a little to see the difference i doubled pan and still no crackle???
Meredith says
Hi Kim, this is bizarre! Great job on chilling and checking the oven temperature, that is where I would have started as well. Have you checked to make sure your baking soda is still good? If it’s not, the cookies may not rise/spread as expected which could affect the ‘crinkle’. Another thought is did you ensure your cookie dough balls were well coated in the turbinado sugar? If they were only lightly coated or some spots weren’t coated well they may also not show that ‘crinkle’ as they bake. But even without a ‘crackle’, I hope the cookies were still wonderfully chewy and delicious (I’m sure they were!).
David says
Easily the best of ginger cookies I’ve ever had. Very chewy, and the crystallized ginger in their mix for snaps of spicy sweetness.
Meredith says
So happy to hear you love these too! Thanks for making my recipe.
CB says
These are a holiday staple! Easy to make and always a holiday hit!
Meredith says
So glad you love them too CB! These are definitely a holiday staple in our house too!