Gingerbread Drop Cookies (Redux)

Oh my goodness, these cookies make my kitchen smell Christmas-y.

I originally shared this recipe here back in 2015. Since many of you may be new around here, I thought it was worth sharing again. Why? If you love gingerbread cookies, then you will love these. If you love gingerbread cookies but don’t want to roll out cute gingerbread people shapes, then you will love these even more. These gingerbread drop cookies were a huge hit with me, my family, and friends. I gave them 5 out of 5 hats rating back when I used to rate recipes on the blog. That rating has been handy to remind myself of how good something was, so maybe I should bring that back?

Anyway, this is the same great recipe as 7 years ago (wow time flies). I love when I can count on a recipe to always come out great every time. It’s early in the holiday season so these will go straight into the freezer.

Every year I put holiday cookie boxes together for my family and friends and these are sure to make the cut. Well, that’s assuming that they last long enough to make it into the boxes.

Gingerbread Drop Cookies Recipe
(Makes about 24 cookies)

Ingredients:

1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup molasses
1 large egg
2 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (equivalent to 272 grams)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons white sugar (topping)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with a silicon mat or parchment paper.
In a large bowl, mix together the brown sugar, shortening, molasses, and egg. Note, I recommend greasing the measuring cup with cooking spray before you measure the molasses because it will come out WAY easier. These are the wet ingredients.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and salt. These are the dry ingredients.
Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until the cookie dough comes together.
Add the white sugar to a small bowl and set it aside.
Roll the cookie dough into balls, about 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of dough each. I use the OXO good grips medium cookie scoop.
Dip the tops of the dough balls in the sugar.
Place the dough balls onto the prepared cookie sheet, sugared sides facing up.
Bake the cookies for 13 to 16 minutes. (Mine took 14 minutes.) DO NOT overcook the cookies. They will look soft and underbaked but they will settle and firm up once cooled.
Allow the cookies to cool for about 2 minutes and then carefully transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. (Or once they have firmed up enough so they don’t get mangled when you try to move them.)