Frosted Ginger Cookies

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Frosted Ginger Cookies. Linda Larsen
  • 40 mins
  • Prep: 30 mins,
  • Cook: 10 mins
  • Yield: 24 cookies (24 servings)
Ratings

By Linda Larsen

Updated 08/18/17

Ginger cookies remind me of old fashioned children's stories about stay at home moms who baked every day. Kids would come home from school and immediately raid the cookie jar and eat the wonderful treats with a big glass of cold milk.

Frosted Ginger Cookies are so easy and so good and bring back memories of simpler times. You can leave the frosting off if you'd like, but I think it tempers the spices and adds a nice texture to the cookies. These are soft cookies and chewy too.

To make the best cookies, make sure that you always measure the ingredients carefully, especially flour. Too often, cookies are dry or hard because they contain too much flour. Follow my instructions to make sure you get the best result.

Store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature to keep them soft. If you do want to put them into a cookie jar, put the cookies into a sealed baggie or food safe plastic bag first. These cookies also freeze very well; just thaw them at room temperature.

What You'll Need

  • 3/4 cup butter (softened)
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup sugar (granulated)
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla
  • 1 tablespoon orange juice
  • 1/4 cup molasses
  • 1 tablespoon crystallized ginger (very finely chopped)
  • 1 egg
  • 2 1/4 cups flour
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons ginger (ground)
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon cloves (ground)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

How to Make It

In a large bowl, beat together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla, orange juice, molasses, crystallized ginger, and egg and beat well using a spoon or an electric mixer.

Sift together the flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, ground cloves, and salt and mix well. Then and the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Beat until combined, but do not over beat.

Cover the dough and chill it for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 350°F when you're ready to bake. Roll the dough into 1" balls, place them 3" apart on ungreased cookie sheets, and flatten with the bottom of a glass.

Bake the cookies for 9 to 12 minutes or until they are set and golden brown. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 3 minutes, then carefully remove them with a spatula to wire racks to cool completely. Store them at room temperature in an airtight container.

If desired, frost with Buttercream Frosting and let stand until frosting is firm. If you frost the cookies, it's better that they aren't put into a cookie jar. 

Nutritional Guidelines (per serving)
Calories 118
Total Fat 7 g
Saturated Fat 4 g
Unsaturated Fat 2 g
Cholesterol 24 mg
Sodium 119 mg
Carbohydrates 14 g
Dietary Fiber 0 g
Protein 1 g
(The nutrition information on our recipes is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. Individual results may vary.)