I love crunchy gingersnaps but tend to jump from recipe to recipe, and many end up being chewy. Today, rather than try a new gingersnaps recipe, I made one of my old favorites but with a few changes.
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English Gingersnaps #2
My favorite gingersnaps recipe is based on "English Gingersnaps #2" in Maida Heatter's Book of Great Cookies
This is a relatively small batch recipe and should give you just about 32 gingersnaps.
Crunchy Gingersnaps Update -- Flour Type
I made a batch recently with bleached flour and the cookies came out chewy rather than crunchy. To be safe, use unbleached (preferably King Arthur) flour for these cookies.
Help! My Gingersnaps Aren't Crunchy Enough
Gingersnaps are supposed to be crunchy, but sometimes things go awry. For instance, today I made the cookies with bleached flour and they came out chewy. Given the situation, I'm sharing a few things to do to help get the level of crunchiness you deserve! I used #3 and then went and bought some unbleached King Arthur flour.
#1. Follow the recipe and make sure not to use too much flour. Too much flour can make a cookie softer, as can reducing sugar. #2. If the cookies aren't crunchy enough, you can try baking at a lower temperature for a longer time. In this case, you'd reduce the temperature to 325F and try baking for 12 minutes. A lower temperature will help the cookies bake more evenly so you won't have crispy edges and soft centers. #3. If your cookies STILL aren't crunchy enough, let them cool then put them on a cookie sheet and bake at 250 for about 10 to 12 minutes. Turn off the oven and let them sit in the warm oven for another 10. #4. Still not happy with the level of crunchiness? Try a recipe with shortening.
More Cookies With Ginger
Recipe
Crunchy Gingersnaps
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter (84 grams)
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour (134 grams)**
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon allspice
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar (100 grams)
- 2 tablespoons mild molasses (40 grams)
- 2 tablespoons lightly beaten egg (24 grams)
- ¼ teaspoon grated lemon zest
- granulated sugar for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Have ready two ungreased heavy duty baking sheets.
- In a medium size saucepan, melt the butter over medium and continue cooking just until it starts to turn brown -- swirl often to keep it from burning. Remove from heat to cool slightly.
- Meanwhile, thoroughly stir the flour, soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, black pepper and cayenne together in a mixing bowl.
- Add the brown sugar and stir well to make a uniform dry mixture.
- Make a hole in the center of the flour mixture and add the egg, molasses and lemon zest. With a fork or a whisk, mix the egg and the molasses together in the little hole, then use a mixing spoon and stir them into the flour.
- Add the melted browned butter and stir to make dough. It should be thick and kind of oily.
- Using a rounded teaspoon, shape dough into small balls – you should get about 32 total, so be careful not to make them too big. Roll the balls in sugar, arrange on baking sheet spacing about 2 inches apart, and bake one sheet at a time for 8 to 10 minutes at 350F. Dough should spread and crack. When cookies appear done, remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Sue says
I made these and we love them. They're dangerously addictive! I'm sending the rest to my daughter who needs a little pick me up and will appreciate the little bit of warmth from the cayenne.
When I get around to making those other cookies I'll let you know how they turn out.
Anna says
Hey Lisa! Thanks for stopping by.
Louise, a lot of people like chewy which is probably why there are so many great chewy recipes out there.
Sue, my cookie is really different. That article offers at least four major tips and the recipe is completely different. Let me know if you try that one. Hope you get a chance to relax and do some fun baking.
Sue says
I like gingersnaps both ways! I think I saw that same article but haven't read it yet I feel like I just got the Clif notes version. 😉 Thanks!
I'll definitely be trying these. The list of things to try is getting really long again! This fall has been so incredibly busy!!! Almost no time to bake anything other than staples!!!!
Louise says
I love ginger cookies and prefer chewy ones. I think I replace my ground ginger every time I bake ginger cookies just to assure it has the proper edge.
jersey Girl Cooks says
They look great! I make gingersnaps every year for Xmas.
Katrina says
So with knowing browned butter makes them crispier, is that true for any cookie with browned butter?
I always think I don't like gingersnaps, then when I have a few, I love them. Though I do prefer chewy ones.
Nom! says
I loooove gingersnaps!!! These a must bake
Nom!
Gloria says
These sound good! Can you feel the cayenne kick? I love crispy gingersnaps (or any gingersnaps) dunked in milk!