Generously rolled in sugar, oh so chewy on the outside and soft in the centers these Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies are pure Joy to make.
Deep taste of festive spices and molasses when gets combined with rich flavor of cocoa, there is no way you can stop at one. Imagine chewy Molasses Cookies and Soft Chocolate Cookies had a baby. Only slightly muted in chocolate flavor and that's intentional!
Coz believe me you don't want chocolate to overpower those warm spices and delicate molasses flavor.
Why you will love these cookies:
- Rolled in sugar for sparkly and crinkly tops
- Ultimate combination of soft, chewy and crunchy (from rolled sugar)
- Classic Ginger Molasses Cookies get a makeover with addition of cocoa and chocolate chips
Ingredients needed:
Butter: Make sure to use room temperature butter. Remember it shouldn't turn too soft. I don't recommend microwaving it in small increments when using for cookie doughs. You see butter when microwaved for a few seconds might not heat up evenly. Some portions will melt way too much than others. This extra soft (melty) butter will bake greasy cookies. We want the butter to be able to cream properly.
Just take out some out of refrigerator in time when you wish to make cookie dough.
Sugar: We are using brown sugar which makes super soft cookies. For rolling you will need about ¼ cup of granulated sugar.
Molasses: You can use any variety of unsulphured molasses but avoid blackstrap kind.
Baking Soda: Baking soda is used to lift cookies as they bake and then the cookies fall as they cool, creating crinkly tops.
Spices: Warm spices like ginger, clove and nutmeg compliment molasses very well here. You can even grate fresh ginger and skip ground ginger if you want a more concentrated flavor in these cookies.
Cocoa Powder: We need only a little amount of cocoa to flavor these cookies. I used natural unsweetened coca here. Both natural and dutch processed will work in a pinch.
How we bring the dough together:
Using butter at right temperature (butter shouldn't be too greasy), we cream butter and sugar together. Slowly we incorporate spices, molasses, cocoa and flour to bring the dough together.
You might notice the mixture curdles a bit after you add molasses to it. But this is totally normal. Dough will come together once you add flour to the mix.
Chill the Dough:
We surely need the dough to be chilled if we don't want gingerbread puddles on cookie trays. Now the point is should you chill dough or should you chill dough balls?
Well if you ask me, I personally prefer to chill cookie dough balls for most cookie doughs. But typically cookie dough made with molasses tends to be a bit softer and stickier than most other doughs. So for this recipe we will chill the dough first.
After chilling dough for sometime, we will roll the cookie dough balls. Then we will roll these in granulated sugar. Place 9-12 dough balls on one cookie tray when ready to bake.
Quick Tip:
You can chill dough balls, placed closely in a cookie tray/any plate in refrigerator after rolling in granulated sugar. Or you can also chill them by quickly freezing them till you preheat the oven. Chilled dough balls (in refrigerator/freezer) make thicker cookies.
Dough balls chilled in the freezer take 10-15 minutes max to chill and those bake beautifully thick as well.
If you liked these Cookies give it a star review. Do tell me in the comments below, how did this turn out for you!
And don’t forget to share your creations with me on Instagram at #greedyeatsblog Let's connect on Pinterest and Facebook too!
More Holiday Cookies you will love:
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4 ingredients Sugar Cookie Truffles
Recipe
Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies
Equipment
- Hand/stand Mixer
Ingredients
- ½ Cup (1 stick) Butter (unsalted, at room temperature)
- ½ cup Brown Sugar (packed)
- 2 teaspoons Ground Ginger
- 1 teaspoons Ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoons Ground Nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoons Ground Cloves
- ¼ teaspoons Baking Soda
- ⅛ teaspoons Salt
- ½ cup Unsulphured Molasses
- 1 and ½ cups All Purpose Flour
- 2 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder (both natural and dutch processed work)
- 1 cup Chocolate Chips
- ¼ cup Granulated Sugar
Instructions
- Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment in a large mixing bowl, cream butter, all the spices, baking soda, salt and sugar together till the mixture get creamy. This should take about 3 minutes at high speed.½ Cup (1 stick) Butter, 2 teaspoons Ground Ginger, 1 teaspoons Ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoons Ground Nutmeg, ¼ teaspoons Ground Cloves, ¼ teaspoons Baking Soda, ⅛ teaspoons Salt, ½ cup Brown Sugar
- Add molasses and beat to combine. Scrape the sides and bottom of bowl as needed.½ cup Unsulphured Molasses
- Now add in flour and cocoa powder and mix at low speed just till combined. Add and mix in the chocolate chips too (save some for topping after the cookies come out of oven). It is important to chill this dough before rolling it as it will be sticky due to the addition of molasses. Chill the dough for at least 2 hours. You may also chill it overnight.1 and ½ cups All Purpose Flour, 2 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder, 1 cup Chocolate Chips
- Roll the Chilled Dough: Take the dough out of refrigerator and if you chilled it overnight, allow to sit on counter top for a bit (about 10 minutes) before rolling. Scoop the dough using a medium cookie scoop and roll it into dough balls. About 1 and ½ inch each. Roll all the balls in granulated sugar to coat and refrigerate until ready to bake/oven preheats.¼ cup Granulated Sugar
- Preheat oven to 325°F and line 2 large baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper. Place dough balls 3 inches apart on baking sheets. 9-12 balls on one cookie tray at a time.
- Bake the cookies for about 11-13 minutes. Their tops will start to crack slightly at this point. Take the cookies out of oven and press in a few more chocolate chips if needed for decoration. Allow the cookies to cool down on baking sheets for 7-8 minutes and then transfer on wire rack to cool completely.
Sonia Seivwright
Chocolate and gingerbread together sounds lush, and I love that you roll them in sugar before baking. These feel perfect for a cosy afternoon bake with my daughter, especially when the house needs warming up.
Jas
Hmmm these cookies bring back good memories from childhood. I must make a batch this up in week!
LisaLisa
Gosh, I wouldn't mind a few of these now with a glass of cold milk. I've never had chocolate gingerbread cookies, but you better believe I am going to try this recipe...thanks for sharing.
Beth
Ooh. These sound so good! I love the combo of the chocolate and gingerbread. I can't wait to make these.