Soft, Spicy, Heavenly Ginger Cookies Recipe

Ingredients

3/4 cup margarine, softened
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup molasses
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup raisins (optional)
2 tablespoons white sugar

Preparation

Step 1

In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the molasses. Mix the water and baking soda and stir.

Sift together the flour, salt, and dry spices; add gradually to the sugar-margarine mixture. Gradually stir the sifted ingredients, along with the ginger and raisins, into the molasses mixture.

Shape dough into walnut sized balls, and roll them in the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. (The dough may be too soft to handle at this point- I suggest either adding a bit of flour, or refrigerating for 20 minutes[or even overnight]).

Place the cookies 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet, and flatten slightly. Bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes.
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REVIEWS: (126)

I am a huge ginger-lover, so this may be a little biased, but these are probably the best cookies I have even eaten! I used butter instead of margarine, but other than that I followed the recipe. The fresh ginger is really what makes these cookies so amazing. I would definitely recommend not putting in grated ginger instead of finely chopped ginger because the tiny chunks are phenomenal! Mine cooked for about 10-11 minutes (I made 3 batches) and are so pretty! They're crinkly and sparkly on the outside and wonderfully chewy on the inside! I love these- I'd give them 5,000 stars if I could!

I'm one of those who "hates" ginger, so I made this for mom and grandma and they completely fell in love with these chewy, ginger-ey cookies, although my mom, who is a ginger fanatic said that she could do with even more ground ginger! I used butter instead of margarine, and honey instead of molasses. I also used the optional raisins, and since I was in a hurry, I added more flour (about 3 or 4 heaped tablespoons extra) to make the dough less sticky and easier to handle, instead of refrigerating. I also needed to use more than 2 tablespoons of sugar to roll them in... it just got sucked right in! :-) The baking time is perfect and in 12 minutes these cookies turned a lovely golden colour. The aroma wafting in my kitchen while these were baking was simply dreamy! Thanks pollen... this was a huge hit!

Heavenly indeed! I made these cookies to give as Xmas gifts, and they were so scrumptious I had to wrap them up very quickly or DH (who "hates" ginger) & I would have eaten them all! I used a mixture of treacle and golden syrup instead of the molasses, and found chilling the mix for an hour before rolling was a very good idea. As Mallina says, the fresh ginger just makes these cookies! Now to make a batch for ourselves...

Made these little beauties over the weekend and they turned out great. Substituted maple syrup for the molasses and they tasted great anyway.(but everything else was by the recipe) Soft while warm and perfectly crunchy after they cooled.

Baked these last night, intending them to be for my fiance, since I usually don't care much for ginger cookies (molasses = eww), but I think I have already eaten more of them than he has! These are delicious! I made them non-vegan by using butter and an egg plus about 1 T of water in place of the 1/3C. Also used just slightly less sugar, and 3/4C whole wheat flour. The boy doesn't like raisins, so those were also left out. After mixing up the dough, I let it sit covered in the fridge overnight, and then only baked for about 8 minutes. This recipe will definitely have a permanent spot in my recipe box! Thanks pollen!

Five stars for this recipe. I did make a couple of changes. I used unsalted butter instead of margarine. Also omitted the water and added 1 egg. Did not add raisins. All else the same. The house smelled so wonderful while these were baking. Both the flavor and texture of these cookies are exceptional. I must have made mine big, because I got 29 cookies from the recipe as written. Will definitely make again.

My husband loved these!!! I also gave the recipe out to a friend after she tried them. They both said they were soft, perfect spice, and very tasty!! I did skip the raisin (DH doesn't like them) and used a bit more fresh ginger. Thanks so much!!

These cookies are awesome, and true to the title! (soft, spicy, & heavenly!) They were such a hit, that I've had to make them twice in a week. Thanks for the recipe.

I made these cookies to use up some fresh ginger I had in the house, and I'm so glad I did! They were delicious--great amount of flavor but not overpowering. I baked them for 10 minutes and they were nice and soft. I also used butter in place of the margarine, and an egg in place of the water. Also, I accidentally used 2 tbsp of fresh ginger, and they were still delicious. Not too ginger-y at all. My batch made closer to 70 cookies, so I'm not sure if I made them too small, but they were decent sized. I'm sure I won't have a problem using up extra ginger anymore :)

My husband was asking for soft ginger cookies last night. These were the best ever! Thank you for posting. Already transferred to my recipe book!

OMG! So freakin' good! I made these because my husband's cholesterol is higher than I'd like and I decided to cook vegan exclusively at home (I've always cooked vegetarian). He happily eats vegan entrees, but is very wary of vegan desserts, due to an unfortunate attempt at black forest cake containing baby food prunes. He gobbled these up! So did I, my stepdaughter, two of my nieces, my brother-in-law, etc. They were really easy to make, too. I foresee many, many batches of these in my future.

These are wonderful cookies that are simple and easy to make and keep very well. A favorite with ALL the people I've made them for (if I don't eat them all first)--and many of them, like myself, or not even vegan. To change it up a little, I like rolling the dough balls in coarse sugar to add a little extra crunch on the outside and make them extra sparkly. These are also especially lovely for the colder months and the holidays! :)