Spice Up Your Holiday Season with the Ultimate Ginger Cookie

Everyone has a favorite holiday cookie. Mine just happens to be molasses ginger cookies. So what happens when you take a classic favorite, and make it just that much better? Sounds impossible, but we did it with these Spicy Ginger Cookies. The cookie includes powdered ginger, and the ginger flavor is pumped up with the addition of freshly grated ginger and crystallized ginger. Not only that, but the glaze also includes fresh ginger, and the garnish is candied ginger. As a ginger enthusiast, that’s what I like to hear!

Start by mixing your dry ingredients in a bowl- flour, baking soda, ground ginger, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and ground allspice.

Next, combine the softened butter and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl.

Mix, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally, until creamy.

Add the molasses to the butter mixture…

…and the eggs…

…and the honey…

…and finally, grated ginger. If you’re like me, you probably don’t like grating fresh ginger root. It takes forever, and I usually end up grating my fingers on my Microplane. That’s where this lifesaver comes in handy:

You can buy tubes of freshly grated ginger in the produce department, usually by the fresh herbs. I love having it on hand to use in stir-fries, cookies, or whatever else I might need it for.

Now mix everything you’ve added to the mixture together until it is combined.

Now whisk together the dry mixture you set aside earlier…

…and add to the butter mixture.

Mix until the cookie mixture is combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.

Now, it’s time to add in yet another layer of ginger flavor. This time we’re adding crystallized ginger, which usually comes in containers like this:

It most likely will look like this:

The chunks in the bottle are slightly larger than I would want in a cookie, so finely chop them until they’re about this size:

Now stir the chopped ginger into the cookie dough.

Cover the bowl with plastic food wrap, and place it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, or until it is firm. This will make the dough easier to roll into balls.

Once the dough is chilled, take it out of the fridge, heat your oven to 350°F, and set up your "cookie station." Place coarse grain sugar in a small bowl, and set it aside.

I like to use a cookie scoop which makes for easier portioning. This particular scoop makes perfect 1 ½-balls.

Now, roll the ball of dough in the sugar you set aside.

Place onto an ungreased cookie sheet, about 3 inches apart.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, but be careful not to over bake the cookies. If you do, it will make the cookies tough, which is not what you want. When they come out of the oven, they will look puffy and the edges will be slightly set.

Let them cool on the pan for a few minutes (this will make it easier to remove from the sheets). The cookies will lose a bit of their puffiness, but that’s okay!

It’s time to glaze! Mix the powdered sugar, freshly grated ginger, and milk in a small bowl.

Whisk the mixture to combine.

Spread about a teaspoon of glaze onto each cookie.

Now, top the cookies with some extra chopped candied ginger.

Now, if that isn’t the ultimate ginger cookie, I don’t know what is!

If you love ginger as much as I do, you’ll absolutely love these Spicy Ginger Cookies. Try them for yourself…you’ll see!

Check back in a few days when Amanda will share a tasty pasta dish, perfect for a weeknight meal.

Mallory is a Product Specialist in the Test Kitchens at Land O'Lakes and writes for our Recipe Buzz® Blog.