Giant Ginger Cookies

Ginger cookies are a holiday staple, and we wouldn’t dare let a holiday season go by without baking a batch or two. There are hundreds of recipes out there, from snappy shortbread-like cookies to soft and chewy ones like these. While these ginger cookies aren’t the crisp type you would decorate with royal icing and candy buttons, their spiced flavor and soft texture is just perfect—they're the decorvow molasses cookies you'll make again and again. Add one to your kids’ lunch box for a surprise mid-day treat or bake a batch for your neighborhood cookie swap. They will loom large in the holiday cookie collection, in terms of both size and flavor. One is sure to satisfy, but we won’t blame you if you go in for seconds.

What Makes These Giant Ginger Cookies Unique

When you think of gingerbread cookies, the first thing that usually comes to mind is crisp and crumbly cutouts of gingerbread people, snowflakes, mittens, and more. These cookies, while much larger, also have a different texture. They are soft, chewy, and have crinkly sugar-crusted tops. The ingredients are not dissimilar from other gingerbread cookies, but the ratios differ slightly. 

• Less butter: The more butter you use in a cookie dough, the more thin and crispy the dough will become. Less butter will result in a more cakey cookie. This recipe uses just enough butter in relation to the amount of sugar and flour to keep the cookies soft and chewy as they spread in the oven. 
• Combination of sugars: We use both granulated and light brown sugar in this recipe. Both add flavor and moisture, but the granulated sugar helps lighten the dough, while the brown sugar contributes to the chewiness. 
• Adding molasses: Molasses, the distinguishing flavor in brown sugar, is added to the cookie dough to make it even softer. Plus, it drives home that classic gingerbread cookie flavor. 

Aside from the flavor and texture of these cookies, you’ll notice they are much larger than your average cookie, but that’s what makes them special. The recipe makes twelve giant cookies. The dough balls are flattened into 3-inch rounds, and they spread even more as they bake.

3 Ways to Add More Ginger Flavor

Ginger, allspice, and black pepper are the dried spices used in this recipe, and they are likely already part of your spice rack. One whole tablespoon of ground ginger goes into this cookie dough, which imparts the ideal amount of ginger flavor, in our humble opinion. For an even stronger ginger punch, try one of the below suggestions: 

• Fresh ginger: Grate a knob of fresh, peeled ginger on a microplane zester to use in place of the dried spice. Dried ground ginger has a stronger, more condensed flavor than fresh, so use about 3 tablespoons of fresh in this recipe. 
• Crystallized ginger: Crystallized ginger can be diced and stirred into the batter, either in addition to or instead of ground ginger. For this recipe, we recommend using both–stir another ⅓-to-½-cup of bite-size bits of crystallized ginger into the dough before shaping the cookies. 
• Double the ground ginger: This suggestion is for the tried-and-true ginger lovers out there. Double the amount of ground ginger and you’ll get a cookie that’s both sweet and spicy.