A reader asked if I would post my recipe for Ginger Sparklers and since they are my all-time favourite cookie, I had to oblige!!!
I was going to tack this onto another post, but decided I was liable to forget.
Ginger Sparklers
With electric beaters, cream together:
- 3/4 cup butter (softened)
- 1 cup brown sugar
Add:
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup molasses
Mix in:
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon*
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
*The original recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and ginger, and 1/2 teaspoon of cloves, but I like my ginger cookies spicy, so I always double to 2 teaspoons of cinnamon and ginger and 1 teaspoon of cloves.
The dough will be quite soft and sticky. (For American bakers, your flour is lighter/has a lower protein content than Canadian flour so you might need to add a bit of extra flour; for Canadian’s, I find 2 cups is the perfect amount, but it IS sticky and will not work for rolling/cutting.)
I use a medium-sized cookie scoop (~2 tablespoons) to measure out the dough; roll each ball in white sugar and place onto a parchment-paper lined baking tray. Make sure to leave lots of space as these cookies will spread. I dip a fork into white sugar and make a cross-hatched pattern on the top.
Bake at 375°F (190°C) for 6-8 minutes. You want the bottoms to be nicely browned, but the cookies will seem a bit soft and doughy. Allow them to cool on the pan for 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.
- You can stir in ~1 cup of chocolate chips to the dough, and the ginger/chocolate combination is wonderful (though if I’m going to make ginger + chocolate cookies, I often use the Fall Chocolate Chip Spiced Cookie Levain recipe—here—but do find those cookies don’t store as well and go dry/stale much faster than the Ginger Sparkler recipe I’ve shared above.)
Enjoy!
- What’s your favourite cookie recipe?
- Ginger cookies: do you like them soft or crispy; spicy or mellow?
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I have a small amount of Molasses in my cupboard- left over from making gingerbread. I’ll have to try this. Would chilling the dough help with thestickiness?
I think your spice levels are a little too much for my taste buds. I’ll keep with the original recipe.
I did not know that flour is different in Canada- is it what I would call bread flour, or something in between? The flour I use for cookies and muffins is called all purpose flour. I buy bread flour ( higher protein level) for bread and pizza dough.
This recipe actually matches my mom’s Molasses cookie recipe! So definitely baking these today for nostalgia!
Awww. This makes me so happy!!!! I hope they turn out well. If nothing else, your house will smell delicious!
I don’t mind the stickyness because having a wet(ish) dough means they spread and stay soft, but if you wanted to roll it out for cutouts, it would need a bit more flour and some chilling!
Our Canadian AP flour is more like bread flour! It’s all I use (I don’t buy cake flour), but it is a bit “tougher” I think than American flour.
Nom! It’s been forever since I’ve had a ginger cookie. If I made these, no one else in my house would touch them, so they would be mine all mine. Looks like I have talked myself into making a batch! (Aside to self: when is the last time that I used molasses? Hmmm….)
I am intrigued by the US/Canada flour difference. I just put it into Google and it’s a thing! If anyone wants to know what rabbit hole I am digging into this morning, this is it.
I so rarely use molasses!!!!
It is a thing! I have an aunt that use to have a home bakery and she would stock up on ALL THE CANADIAN flour when she was in Canada (and molasses; you can buy it in massive jugs up here). She preferred Canadian flour for her bread products (though our AP is more like your bread flour).
Oh, yum. i like your idea to double the spices! A whole teaspoon of cloves sounds like a LOT, though, but we’ll just have to trust you! I was a little sad this year that my family voted for me NOT to make a ginger/molasses cookie this season, since I was already making gingerbread cutout cookies. I usually make the super soft molasses cookies from Sally’s Baking Addiction, but not this year. I was thinking of making one more cookie to finish off the season, so I’ll ask the family if they would like these ginger sparklers!
It is a lot of cloves; I love them spicy, but it is definitely a “proceed at your own risk” sort of thing.
Ok I kind of want to try to make these with the GF flour I have. They sound so good! I prefer a softer cookie versus one that is more crisp! I loved my mom’s gingerbread cookies when I was young but there is no way I could make them GF (rolling out GF dough does not work!). I also love a very basic chocolate chip cookie. I am glad our boys tend to like a cookie cake for their birthdays. I much prefer that to a traditional cake. I am just not a cake person!
Zimtstern ( cinnamon stars) is a gluten free cookie that can be rolled out and cut into shape, if you have a desire to do cut out cookies.
I love soft ginger cookies!!!!!
I almost never makes cakes; though Belle does LOVE chocolate cake with chocolate icing!
These are actually my favorite cookie. Mine do not spread out, but are puffed up and rounded. I’m not sure why because my recipe only calls for 1 teaspoon of baking soda, but 2 1/4 C flour. Everything else is the same. I do only bake them at 350 for 10 minutes, so maybe it’s the lower heat?
The lower heat might have something to do with it?? Most of my cookie recipes bake at 350, but this one has always worked well for me at 375 (which is what the recipe calls for).
Those sound similar to my grandma’s gingersnap recipe! I like to underbake them so they are really chewy and delicious. Ginger is such a great flavour. I mean, it goes from sweet to savoury, it’s a hard worker!
Yes! Underbaking is KEY for soft, chewy cookies.
I love ginger in sweet and savoury settings; fresh ginger root in a soup or stir fry is delish!
These look delicious! We still have a bunch of cookies from Christmas, but perhaps we have capacity for more! 😉
Re the US versus Canada flour, I saw someone mention wondering why in an earlier comment. I believe the varieties of wheat that can thrive in Canada tend to produce more protein which makes the flour a little “harder”.
I didn’t bake many cookies for Christmas so these were the main ones consumed; there are a few left and I call dibs on at least one of them!
Thank you for sharing the recipe! The cookies look delightful!
Thank you for this recipe. I can’t wait to try it.
I was searching your site for recipes for the cinnamon coffee cake and no bake cheesecake you often highlight. I haven’t found them, so I’m wondering if you have posted them in the past?
I don’t have those recipes posted, I don’t think. I will make a note to write these up and post them!!!
Looking forward to it! Thank you.
This is very similar to my favorite cookie recipe! So much so, my sister had it artfully designed and printed and it’s hanging in my kitchen! It calls for shortening instead of butter (as many cookie recipes in the 70s did I feel like) and slightly less flour at 2 cups. And less spices! I never thought to up the spices but I will have to try! We press ours with a glass dipped in sugar instead of forks. My family considers these an everyday cookie (not a Christmas one) but I never made any gingerbread cookies this year (last year they didn’t get eaten and I turned them into a pie crust instead) so maybe I’ll give your version a try once my Christmas cookies are gone! I like the name ginger sparklers more than molasses sugar!
My mom’s recipe when I was growing up also had shortening!
I do like things very spicy (of this type of spices!), so proceed with caution 🙂
A glass dipped in sugar! That sounds genius.
I’m going to try these 🙂
Behind on my blog reading – so excited to see this recipe. Thanks for sharing! I have some extra molasses so will try these this weekend.
I hope you enjoy them 🙂
As someone forever on the hunt for the perfect chewy/soft ginger cookie … I’m trying this one soon! 😀 This sounds perfectly delicious.