Old fashioned Ginger Cookies, are the perfect cookies to bake to go around the neighborhood during the holiday season. The spices in the cookies fill the whole house with a wonderful aroma.
I was very skeptical about making a spice loaded cookie as I was not sure how my boys will like it. Turns out that this ginger cookie is one of the favorite in house not only during the holidays but anytime of the year. As soon as I begin making plans for holiday baking, the first request that I get from boys are for this ginger cookies.
The best part about this cookie is that there is no shaping involved. Also the recipe yields a large quantity of cookies and it is perfect to pass around the neighborhood.
Preparation time – 15 mins
Cooking time – about 12 mins for each batch
Difficulty level – medium
Ingredients to make Old fashioned Ginger Cookies – Makes around 60 cookies
- All purpose flour – 2 ½ cups
- Baking soda – 1 tsp
- Ginger (ground) – 1 ½ tsp
- Cinnamon (ground) – ¼ tsp
- Cloves (ground) – ¼ tsp
- Butter – ½ cup (room temperature, diced)
- Caster (super fine) sugar – 1 ¾ cup
- Egg – 1
- Molasses – 4 tbsp
- Fresh lemon juice – 1 tsp
Procedure to make Old fashioned Ginger Cookies –
- Preheat the oven to 325 F and grease 3 baking sheets.
- Sift the flour, baking soda and spices into a small bowl and set aside.
- Place the butter and two-thirds of the sugar in the bowl of the mixer and cream together until light and fluffy. Lightly beat in the egg and stir it in.
- Stir in the treacle and the lemon juice. Now add the flour mixture and mix in thoroughly to make soft dough.
- Shape the dough into 2 cm balls. Roll these balls in the remaining sugar to coat and place them on the prepared baking sheets, spaced around 2 inches apart to allow the dough to spread.
- Bake for about 12 minutes, or until the cookies are just firm to touch. With a spatula transfer the cookies to a wire rack and cool completely.
Notes and observations –
- Always use fresh spices when making any cookies. Spices left in the spice rack for over a period of time lose their flavor and aroma.
- These cookies need to be baked in batches. It is best not to put more than 2 trays in the oven at a time.

Old fashioned Ginger Cookies
Old fashioned Ginger Cookies, are the perfect cookies to bake to go around the neighborhood during the holiday season. The spices in the cookies fill the whole house with a wonderful aroma.
Ingredients
- All purpose flour – 2 ½ cups
- Baking soda – 1 tsp
- Ginger ground – 1 ½ tsp
- Cinnamon ground – ¼ tsp
- Cloves ground – ¼ tsp
- Butter – ½ cup room temperature, diced
- Caster super fine sugar – 1 ¾ cup
- Egg – 1
- Molasses – 4 tbsp
- Fresh lemon juice – 1 tsp
Instructions
-
Preheat the oven to 325 F and grease 3 baking sheets.
-
Sift the flour, baking soda and spices into a small bowl and set aside.
-
Place the butter and two-thirds of the sugar in the bowl of the mixer and cream together until light and fluffy. Lightly beat in the egg and stir it in.
-
Stir in the treacle and the lemon juice. Now add the flour mixture and mix in thoroughly to make soft dough.
-
Shape the dough into 2 cm balls. Roll these balls in the remaining sugar to coat and place them on the prepared baking sheets, spaced around 2 inches apart to allow the dough to spread.
-
Bake for about 12 minutes, or until the cookies are just firm to touch. With a spatula transfer the cookies to a wire rack and cool completely.
Recipe Notes
Always use fresh spices when making any cookies. Spices left in the spice rack for over a period of time lose their flavor and aroma. These cookies need to be baked in batches. It is best not to put more than 2 trays in the oven at a time. Storing-The cookies store well at room temperature in an airtight container for a week.
Love ginger cookies, these look great!
Thanks Kim!
These look lovely and would be great for Christmas. I also think they’d be the kind of cookie my children would enjoy making with me.
Thanks Corina! My kids love rolling the cookies with me and it is a great way to involve them in the holiday baking.
You know it’s Christmas when all these wonderful cookies show up! I love ginger cookies, I think I like them even more than chocolate chip (yikes!). These look great.
Jolina, you spoke my words! I love ginger cookies more than chocolate chip cookies 🙂
These look like the perfect cookie to leave out for Santa (if I don’t eat them all first!!). Beautiful!
Thanks Jessy! That is exactly the reason I make my favorite cookies for Santa 🙂
These would very easily be one of my favorite cookies too! I can imagine that wonderful tempting aroma – would make me wanna devour these as soon as they emerged from the oven!
Thanks Shashi! Love holidays for bakes like these 🙂
The cookies look fantastic Snadhya, very nicely done. Somehow the ginger cookies always got missed by me..
They look fantastic, Sandhya. My kids loved them a couple of seasons ago when I baked similar ginger flavored cookies.
Totally love the crackly look of these cookies! Nice, spiced and sugary…
Those Cookies are just adorable. Having Spiced Cookies are always a go for me.
The cookies looks soo delicious. Will make them for Christmas. Thanks for the recipe.
Those ginger cookies look delicious – spicy and flavorful. They look perfect to make during the holiday season.
None like ginger cookies here, but am the one who would love to munch some. Wish i get a box of this flavourful cookies from you. Prefect holiday season cookies.
They are apt for the holiday season. The cookies look perfect.
These are flavourful cookies and the crinkle look on them makes them so beautiful. No wonder kids look forward to holidays.
cookies looking great. I love when cookies spread themselves while baking. Have not yet made any so far with this quality. absolutely delightful cookies must say.
with all the spices, these are the perfect cookies for the holiday season
I used to think that ginger cookies would be overpowering, but you’re right, they are absolutely not! I haven’t had them in ages, and your recipe is inspiring me to make some again
I love these recipes – the ones that are made every year and family looks forward to them! So special. Your little one will have such wonderful memories from these cookies – they look delicious!!
I am so amazed on how perfectly round they all are and uniform I never get my cookies to look this great!
These just scream holidays to me, too! I love the glittery sugar coating on the outside. Now I want some!
I think everyone has a ginger cookie in their collection. I know I sure do. In fact, I still make my mom’s recipe (from her handwritten notes) during the holidays. These look so delicious.
You know that it is winter when there are more and more ginger recipes around. This is also the time when I hunt for good ginger recipes. Super excited about your old fashioned ginger cookies!
Ginger cookies are so yummy! I love that you got the crackling and the coating of sugar just perfect on your batch- yum!
Yummy! there’s a reason these cookies have been favorites for years … it’s because the classic flavor is so perfectly balanced between sweet / spicy, chewy / crunchy.
These cookies look like everything I want in a fall cookie! I am drooling here.
I love ginger cookies and these are always the perfect way to set the Christmas mood. Love ginger cookies with warm spices in winter and these look perfect.
The cookies look and sound delicious!! What a wonderful way to celebrate the holiday season with yummy spicy ginger cookies. Your recipe is a little different than mine. I’m going to try yours instead of mine this year.
The Christms season is on! Ginger cookies are so perfect for this season and I love how the house smells of ginger cookies!
I absolutely love ginger cookies and these look fabulous! I wish I could reach in and grab one!
Ginger cookies are one of my favorite Holiday season cookies. I love how yours turned out. They look so delicious. I wish I have one or two right now with my tea.
Old fashioned ginger cookies sounds delicious, it is really hard to think about holidays without ginger cookies.
Any substitute for egg ? Thanku 😊
I love a good ginger cookie! Didn’t realize how easy these were. Definitely trying this recipe!