Mom’s Ginger Snaps

These Mom’s Ginger Snaps are the kind of old-fashioned cookie recipe worth keeping close. They have deep molasses flavor, warm ginger and cinnamon, and just enough clove to give every bite that unmistakable ginger-snap spice. Rolling the dough in granulated sugar creates a lightly sparkling exterior with crisp edges and a pleasantly chewy center when the cookies are baked just until set.

I especially like this recipe because it uses vegetable oil instead of softened butter, so there is no creaming and no waiting for butter to come to room temperature. The dough comes together quickly, making these perfect for busy afternoons, holiday cookie trays, or a simple after-school treat with a cold glass of milk. The original recipe yields a generous three dozen cookies, but they disappear surprisingly fast in my house.

Love this recipe? Pin it to your Cookie Recipes board on Pinterest so you don’t lose it!

Ingredients

Ginger Snap Dough

1 cup packed light brown sugar

¾ cup vegetable oil

¼ cup molasses

1 large egg

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground cloves

¼ tsp salt

Sugar Coating

⅓ cup granulated sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven. Heat the oven to 190°C / 375°F. Have ungreased baking sheets ready.
2. Mix the wet ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, vegetable oil, molasses, and egg until evenly combined.
3. Combine the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt.
4. Make the dough. Gradually stir the dry mixture into the molasses mixture just until a uniform dough forms. Avoid excessive mixing once the flour disappears.
5. Shape and coat. Form the dough into approximately 1¼-inch balls. Roll each ball in granulated sugar until evenly coated.
6. Arrange. Place the dough balls about 2 inches apart on the baking sheets to leave room for spreading.
7. Bake. Bake at 190°C / 375°F for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are set and the centers look firm. For a slightly chewier cookie, stay toward the shorter end of the baking range.
8. Cool. Let the cookies rest briefly on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Cooking Notes

Do not flatten the dough balls before baking unless you specifically want thinner cookies. The heat of the oven will encourage them to spread naturally.

Measure the flour carefully. Too much flour can make ginger snaps dry and prevent proper spreading. Spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level it rather than packing it down.

For a crisper ginger snap, bake closer to 12 minutes and allow the cookies to cool completely before judging their texture. They become firmer as they cool.

Use regular or unsulphured molasses rather than blackstrap molasses unless you specifically enjoy its stronger, more bitter flavor.

Store completely cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. For longer storage, the baked cookies can also be frozen.

Nutrition

The recipe produces approximately 36 cookies, or 3 dozen, with one cookie treated as one serving. The supplied nutrition information reports 105 calories per cookie, which is consistent with the calorie density expected from the brown sugar, vegetable oil, molasses, flour, egg, and sugar coating.

Estimated Nutrition per Serving

Calories: 105 kcal
Fat: 5.0 g
Carb: 15.0 g
Protein: 1.0 g

Yields: 36 servings; 1 cookie per serving.

Recipe Science

Ginger snaps are molasses-based spice cookies built around flour, sugar, vegetable oil, molasses, egg, and baking soda. Ginger provides the dominant spice note, while cinnamon and cloves broaden the aroma. Baking at 190°C / 375°F encourages relatively quick spreading, browning, and surface setting.

The brown sugar and molasses are hygroscopic, meaning they attract and retain moisture, while vegetable oil remains liquid at room temperature. Those characteristics help explain why this version can retain some tenderness even though the exterior becomes firmer after cooling. Baking soda also reacts within the dough and contributes to spreading and browning. The granulated sugar coating adds surface texture and a light crystalline crunch.

This is a practical cookie for everyday baking because the oil-based dough requires no butter softening or creaming. Once cooled, the cookies should be stored airtight to control moisture exchange; reheating is generally unnecessary. The spice proportions can be adjusted modestly without substantially changing the dough structure.

Dietary Notes & Health Alerts: Based on the supplied nutrition data, one cookie contains approximately 1 g saturated fat and 91 mg sodium, both comfortably below 20% of their respective FDA Daily Values. Total sugar is listed as 9 g, but the supplied data does not distinguish added sugar from naturally occurring sugar, so an exact FDA added-sugar assessment cannot be made. Because these are sugar-forward cookies, portion size remains the most practical consideration.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• No Butter Required: Vegetable oil eliminates the need to soften or cream butter, keeping preparation wonderfully straightforward.
• Classic Ginger Snap Flavor: Molasses, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves create a deep, fragrant combination of sweetness and warming spice.
• Quick to Bake: With about 15 minutes of prep and roughly 10-12 minutes in the oven, a batch can be ready in under half an hour.
• Perfect for Sharing: Three dozen cookies provide plenty for cookie exchanges, lunchboxes, holiday platters, or freezing for later.
• Easy Texture Control: A slightly shorter bake gives you a softer center, while a little more oven time produces a crisper snap.

FAQ

• Can I make the dough ahead? Yes. Cover it tightly and refrigerate it. If the chilled dough becomes too firm to scoop easily, let it sit briefly at room temperature before shaping.
• Why did my ginger snaps turn out hard? They may have baked too long. Remove them once the centers are set; remember that the cookies continue firming as they cool.
• Can I use dark brown sugar? Yes. Dark brown sugar will give the cookies a slightly deeper molasses character and darker color.
• Can I freeze ginger snaps? Yes. Cool the cookies completely, then freeze them in an airtight freezer-safe container with parchment between layers.
• Can I make them spicier? Absolutely. A little additional ground ginger will strengthen the ginger flavor without dramatically altering the dough.

Conclusion

There is something especially comforting about a simple, old-fashioned ginger snap, and this is the sort of collected recipe I’m happy to keep in regular rotation. Baking is always a little personal, so feel free to make these softer, crisper, or spicier until they taste just right to your family.

Do you prefer your ginger snaps crisp enough to dunk, or soft and chewy in the middle? Happy baking, friends!