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Giant Ginger Cookies

Giant Ginger Cookies

My friend Suzanne's daughter Audrey (age 10) loves to cook. The last time I was there to visit, Audrey presented me with one of these fabulous cookies. Here's what she has to say about them...

"I wanted to make these cookies because my mom always made these cookies when I was little and they tasted soooo good. The first two times I made them they didn't turn out so good (forgot to add the baking soda). The third time's the charm though. This time they turned out perfectly. I made them all by myself, without any help from mom."

Audrey M. Age 10.

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Giant Ginger Cookies Recipe

Ingredients

4-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons ground ginger*
2 teaspoons baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon*
1 teaspoon ground cloves*
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups butter (3 sticks), room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup molasses
3/4 cup coarse sugar or granulated sugar

* Can substitute the ground ginger, cinnamon, and cloves for an equal amount of pumpkin pie spice.

Method

1 In a medium mixing bowl stir together flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt; set aside.

2 In a large mixing bowl beat together butter with the 2 cups granulated sugar. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs and molasses. Beat in the flour mixture, using a wooden spoon.

3 Shape dough into 2-inch balls using 1/4 cup dough. Roll balls in the 3/4 cup coarse or granulated sugar. Place about 2-1/2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

4 Bake in a 350°F oven for 12 to 14 minutes or until cookies are light brown and puffed. Cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool. Store in a tightly covered container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Makes two dozen 4-inch cookies.

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27 Comments

Are these soft cookies or crunchy cookies when they are done?

Posted by: Jennifer on November 10, 2005 5:49 AM

This made my day. Just in time for the long weekend!

Posted by: Sherpa on November 10, 2005 6:16 AM

Cute post, Elise and Audrey! The cookies look just wonderful.

Posted by: Nic on November 10, 2005 11:29 AM

Keep up the good work Audrey! My daughter is 3 and I can't keep her out of the kitchen!

Posted by: Kevin on November 10, 2005 1:57 PM

Hi Jennifer - they are about half-way between chewy and crunchy. If you want them chewy, you can substitute shortening for the butter. Crisco sells a trans-fat free shortening, by the way. If you want them cruncher, cook them longer.

Hi Sherpa - thanks for saying hello, and thanks for reminding us that there is a long weekend this weekend. No mail tomorrow.

Hi Nic - Thanks Nic, Audrey did such a great job on these cookies.

Hi Kevin - I love it. Isn't great when kids are actually interested in where food comes from and how we prepare it?

Posted by: Elise Author Profile Page on November 10, 2005 2:03 PM

Three sticks of butter? OMG :(

Posted by: Anderson on November 11, 2005 8:46 AM

Three sticks of butter! MMMMMmmmmmm Buttterrrr.... ;-)

Kids teach me in the kitchen as well. They show me how to have fun again!

Posted by: Kevin on November 12, 2005 7:24 AM

Hi Anderson - those three sticks of butter go with 4 1/2 cups of flour to make two dozen 4 inch wide cookies. It seems like a lot because it's a big recipe.

Hi Kevin - Kids do put delight in things, don't they?

Posted by: Elise Author Profile Page on November 13, 2005 1:05 PM

Great cookies! They were soft and tasted awesome and were really easy to make. I love the idea of GIANT cookies! Thanks for the recipe...

Posted by: Tina on November 14, 2005 5:49 AM

I made these this weekend (with some modifications) with my 3 and 4 years olds over the weekend, and they turned out wonderful.

My modifications were to increase all ingredients, except for the butter by half, and I substituted 2 cups of brown sugar for the granulated to help keep the cookies chewy.

Posted by: Eric on November 14, 2005 11:34 AM

I made these cookies this weekend and they were a huge HIT with friends and family! Thanks so much for sharing this recipe- I am going to make these cookies over and over again this holiday season!

Posted by: Caroline on November 14, 2005 1:01 PM

Wow, I am going to have to try these after reading all these wonderful comments. I have had this recipe bookmarked online for about a month now. I will try it tomorrow when the stores open!

Posted by: ashley on December 25, 2006 10:02 AM

I ate one of the most wonderful gingerbread cookies when I was 16 years old and have been looking for the recipe ever since(I'm 23 now). I have no idea if this is the same recipe but it definitely tastes like the one I remember. WOW!!!! THANK YOU! It is just sooooo delicious!!

I used the large Pampered Chef scoop and it made 50-52 cookies...I think I had 3 or 4,LOL! My 2 toddler daughters love them too. Needless to say this recipe will stay in my family cookbook.

P.S. I baked some harder than others since I enjoy the crunchier texture more than my husband. Very easy to do and it only takes a minute or two more.

Posted by: Lillian Wengerd on December 28, 2006 6:00 PM

I just wanted to say THANK YOU for an excellent website and THANK YOU for helping me win my family's annual Cookie Contest this year! I made your Giant Ginger Cookies and won two prizes-- "Most Delicious" and the "Grand Prize." I now have a new Silpat and a gift card to Sur la Table thanks to you! Everyone loved them. I made them as written, but I used organic sugar (evaporated cane juice) instead of regular white granulated, and it actually improved the recipe, which I didn't think possible. I used a small scoop to make golfball sized balls, and they were perfect. Thank you!

Posted by: AB on May 20, 2007 9:52 AM

hello, thanks for the recipe.
I am not native english speaker and the amounts you have written in cups are not familiar to me. I havea few questions:
1-When you say 'cup' do you mean the cup we use to drink coffee?
2-how big is your teapooon? for example is it big enough to eat ice cream or is it something smaller just to stir tea? some people call desert spoon teaspoon that is why I am asking.
3- I hate cinnamon what if I omit cinnamon and just add ginger?
4- is there an alternative to baking soda??

yesim THANKS!

Posted by: Anonymous on June 16, 2007 2:41 PM

Hello Anonymous - this website uses American standard measurements which are different from most of the rest of the world. To convert to grams and liters, use the "Measurement Converter" in the left side bar. Regarding the use of baking soda (a leavening agent). Usually you cannot substitute. But in this case, if I didn't have access to baking soda, but I did have access to baking powder, I might try making the cookies with 1 teaspoon of baking powder. Otherwise, I would skip it all together and see it worked. The eggs will provide some leavening.

Posted by: Elise on June 16, 2007 2:49 PM

Hi there Elise and Audrey, I just couldn't believe it when I saw these fabulous cookies. I have been looking for this recipe for 3 years now. A young lady made these for my boyufriend Garry after he wrote her a glowing letter of reference. She arrived at the door with a hugh plate of these wonderful cookies. She was always going to give him the recipe, however....you know teens are rather busy these days. I was so excited to see these in the picture. My last sheet of cookies are still in the oven. Thanks to both of you. They are so delicious. I had to cook mine appoximately 20 minutes, however every oven is different. We are enjoying your cookies here in Pictou County, Nova Scotia. Kind of you ladies to share these Giant Ginger Cookies.

Posted by: Darlene in Nova Scotia on July 20, 2007 3:05 PM

I just made them for an early Thanksgiving dinnner thing. They came out great. I LOVE them!

I didn't make them as giant cookies. And therefore I got 54 cookies out the batch.

They were chewy on the inside and a little bit hard on the outside.

So good.

THANKS!!!

Posted by: Garion on November 17, 2007 9:05 PM

Wow--These are great! I just finished making them and they were a hit with my husband, who is a picky sweet-eater. Thanks for the wonderful recipe!

Posted by: Meg on December 26, 2007 9:20 PM

SO good! Thank you for yet another wonderful recipe. I just made these with my 3 year old, and she loves them too.

Posted by: April on January 25, 2008 2:41 PM

These are fantastic! I added about a 1/2 TBS. of grated fresh ginger, and it gave them a nice bite.

Posted by: Dewi on April 20, 2008 8:58 PM

I just whipped these up and they are fantastic! Soft and very richly flavoured. Thanks for a great recipe that I will be using again and again.

Posted by: ecstatic on April 29, 2008 6:42 PM

My girl, your recipe turned out great. Thank you a lot for sharing, my family loved them :)

Take Care

Posted by: Juan Ortiz on November 4, 2008 9:46 AM

I make something similar to these cookies and then top them off with a browned butter icing. This is my key dessert at the Holidays. Yum Yum.

Posted by: Darby "The Dessert Diva" on November 20, 2008 7:28 AM

I am beginning to gain local fame for these awesome cookies. Thank you for the recipe - these are my favorite cookies to bake ever and SO good for the holiday season!

Posted by: tracy on December 5, 2008 12:40 PM

Yummy. Made them this afternoon while my husband was shoveling outside all that snow. His comment was that those were the best cookies I had ever made.
From the north in Canada .
Lorraine
p.s. They are awesome.

Posted by: lorraine a. tait on February 27, 2009 12:53 PM

WOW! these were just perfect! I halved the recipe to make a bout 2 1/2 dozen average sized cookies. They were perfect with just the right amount of chewiness and crunch. mmmmm....

Posted by: Kate on April 7, 2009 12:55 PM

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