I take my ginger cookies very seriously. So when I say that these are the “best ginger cookies ever”, you should regard that as the highest praise. Seriously, these are the best ginger cookies I have ever put in my mouth. These ginger cookies are the perfect texture. Crispy on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside. Not too sweet. Not too spicy. It might seem weird that I wanted to bake or even eat a cookie after the holidays, but I was flipping through the January issue of Sunset and the teaser for the recipe was talking about how they didn’t really want to include this recipe in the issue, but they were so good the had to be added. I have to agree 100%.
1/2 cup chopped crystallized ginger
3/4 cup sugar
6 Tablespoons butter, room temperature
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Sanding sugar (optional)
Add the crystallized ginger and 1/3 cup sugar to a food processor (you could use a blender for this step if you don’t have a food processor). Pulse until finely ground. Pour into a bowl.
Add the butter and 1/3 cup sugar to the food processor. (I don’t wash out the bowl.) Whirl until light and fluffy.
Whirl until light and fluffy.
Add the ginger mixture, molasses, and egg. Run until smooth.
In a bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Add the flour mixture to the food processor and run until the dough comes together. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for one hour.
Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and coat in sugar. I used a mixture of regular sugar and sanding sugar. Place the balls 2 inches apart on parchment lined baking sheets. I got about 36 cookies out of this.
Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on a rack.
This recipe is from the January 2014 issue of Sunset magazine.

The Best Ginger Cookies Ever
The Best Ginger Cookies Ever - These really are the best ginger cookies. Crisp on the outside and super chewy on the inside. Obsessed.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup chopped crystallized ginger
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 6 Tablespoons butter, room temperature
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1 egg
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- Sanding sugar (optional)
Instructions
- Add the crystallized ginger and 1/3 cup sugar to a food processor (you could use a blender for this step if you don’t have a food processor). Pulse until finely ground. Pour into a bowl.
- In a bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- Add the butter and 1/3 cup sugar to the food processor. (I don’t wash out the bowl.) Whirl until light and fluffy. Add the ginger mixture, molasses, and egg. Run until smooth.
- Add flour mixture the to the food processor and run until the dough comes together. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for one hour.
- Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and coat in sugar. I used a mixture of regular sugar and sanding sugar. Place the balls 2 inches apart on parchment lined baking sheets. I got about 36 cookies out of this.
- Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on a rack.
Nutrition Information:
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 0Total Fat: 0g
Jozie Rabyor
Wednesday 30th of September 2020
Hi, Bree. I'm Jozie Rabyor, the woman who originally created this recipe in 1997. I thought you may enjoy a little bit about the background.
Commercially available crystallized ginger was pretty new back then. I found it in a specialty store as a candy, not an ingredient, but it did get me thinking. Google itself was incorporated the year after I created this recipe, so I couldn't do an internet search. I did look in a lot of cookbooks for cookies that used it, but found nothing, so I decided to experiment on my own.
I combined ingredients mentioned in a few other recipes and averaged their amounts. It quickly became obvious that I couldn’t mince the sticky ginger as finely as I wanted to. A light bulb went on, and I dragged my food processor out from its cabinet. The ginger promptly stuck to the blades in a large gluey mass. With crossed fingers, I threw in some sugar and it worked. On a roll now, but not wanting the ginger any more pulverized, I dumped it and the sugar onto waxed paper, then mixed the rest of the sugar and the wet ingredients together before adding the ginger back.
I’d intended here to transfer these wets to my stand mixer, then blend in the drys. I’d never heard of making cookie dough in a food processor. I can’t say what made me decide instead to add the flour and spices to the processor bowl and literally give it a whirl. Laziness, probably, if I’m honest.
The final outcome was sheer beginner's luck. At a friend’s insistence, I sent the recipe to Sunset Magazine. A year later, they included these cookies in their “Readers’ Choice” column. I didn’t think much about the recipe’s life after that, so you can imagine my surprise when another friend called in 2014 to say the magazine had included my experiment in their "25 Best Recipes Ever Published in Sunset" issue. And you’re correct that although their list was limited to one recipe in each of two dozen categories, their editors couldn't decide on a single “best” cookie, so they published two. (I’m blushing now.)
Since then, thanks to the internet, a lot of people have said nice things about this recipe. Thanks for continuing to share it around. Your photos are fabulous and I’m super happy you enjoyed the cookies. Evidently when we take chances in the kitchen, sometimes the angels smile.
Bree Hester
Wednesday 14th of October 2020
Hello Jozie! Thank you so much for coming here and sharing the backstory of this recipe. I love it so much and have continued to make it year after year. Funny story, my grandmother brought my mom home a food processor home from a trip to Paris before they were really a thing here in the states and she was one of the first in the US to have a Cuisinart.
Vickie
Saturday 18th of April 2020
Made these cookies this morning and they are so delicious! I don't have a food processor, so I used my blender on the crystalized ginger and sugar step, and used a mixer for the rest. I kind of did things a little out of order. I creamed my butter and sugar, then blended in the molasses and egg, then just added all the dry ingredients. Every oven is different, so I only baked mine 11 minutes. I like the way they came out firm, but still softer than a ginger snap. I only got 25 cookies out of it, so I am sure I made them bigger than a 1" round ball.
I found the crystalized ginger in the produce section of our Walmart. I used unsulfured molasses which gives the cookies that old-fashioned molasses cookie taste, but the ginger is still the star of the recipe!
Bree Hester
Tuesday 21st of April 2020
Glad these worked for you, I love this cookie recipe.
mare
Wednesday 18th of July 2018
I would love to try this but I have a bag of crystallized ginger from Costco. Can I use this recipe??? Add more sugar??? Thanks
bakedbree
Thursday 26th of July 2018
You can try it for sure. I wouldn't add any more sugar, crystallized ginger is coated in sugar.
Charlotte
Wednesday 3rd of January 2018
Hello, is it possible to use fresh ginger instead of crystallized? Thank you!
bakedbree
Friday 5th of January 2018
You can for sure try it. My only concern is that it would be too wet.
Vera Kaltinick
Saturday 17th of December 2016
Thanks, bakedbree I really love the texture of these cookies. I have made a few batches and they have all come out differently. Beginners luck the first batch were perfect, just like your picture . I have experienced the gamut of results from balls to pancakes, but they are always delicious and I got many compliments at the culinary high school where I work. I had to double the recipe so I switched to the kitchen aid from the cuisinart. I think I would let the dough warm up a bit more and I give them a final push into the sanding sugar to flatten them a bit. Great recipe - I'll be back. Thanks.
bakedbree
Sunday 18th of December 2016
I'm glad that you like them!