Soft Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

🎄Holiday Chocolate Ginger Cookies

These simple, holiday cookies are topped with a star-shaped chocolate button giving them adorable festive charm. They are packed with the flavors of cinnamon, ginger, molasses, chocolate, and even a bit of orange zest.

The flavor of these cookies is heavy on the gingerbread, and light on the chocolate. I based them on a gingersnap molasses cookie recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction, but added some cocoa and orange zest for a flavorful twist. You might be questioning my use of orange zest, but it actually ties together the ginger and chocolate elements. It also adds a light, fresh flavor that keeps the ginger taste from becoming too intense.

These Christmas cookies have the most desirable holiday trait of all–they stay moist forever! You can store them at room temperature in a plastic tub, and they’ll still be soft and delicious a week later with nary a stale crumb. Plus, one batch of this recipe makes a ton—about 5 dozen cookies. That’s going to go a long way toward filling holes in your cookie plates!

🧾What You’ll Need

Ingredients

Are you ready to start baking? Check out these ingredient tips as you gather everything you’ll need. (Links are affiliate links and I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.)

• All-purpose flour: “Regular” flour, aka all-purpose, is what we’re using to give the cookies structure. I recommend using a food scale to weigh the flour (and all of your ingredients!) for a more accurate result, but you can also spoon it into the measuring cup and gently level it off.
• Unsweetened cocoa powder: Use a high-quality cocoa powder, like my personal favorite Cacao Barry Extra Brute. Because it’s sold in bulk it’s relatively affordable. No matter what you use, look for cocoa that is Dutch-processed (also known as alkalized), because it has a deeper, richer flavor and color. However, you can swap in regular unsweetened cocoa powder without needing to make any other adjustments. Cookies made with regular cocoa powder will be lighter in color and might have a lighter cocoa flavor.
• Baking soda: To help the cookies rise and adds to their soft, chewy texture.
• Spices: Ground ginger in a MUST in this recipe! (The name “gingerbread” was probably a giveaway for that.) The recipe also calls for ground cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, and allspice, which I think rounds out the spice profile nicely.
• Unsalted butter and salt: Your butter should be at room temperature to make these cookies. This means it’s pliable but cool–you don’t want it to be greasy and melty. I always recommend unsalted butter in baking, so you can control the precise amount of salt. If you only have salted butter, use that but omit the additional salt in the recipe.
• Sugars: Use a combination of brown sugar and granulated sugar to give this recipe the perfect blend of sweetness. The brown sugar gives the cookies a deeper flavor and helps keep them moist. A little granulated sugar gives the cookies their signature crispy edges.
• Molasses: Be sure to use regular molasses in this recipe, not blackstrap molasses. I like using Grandma’s Original Unsulfured Molasses.
• Egg: Use a large room temperature egg. You can let it sit out for 20-30 minutes, or for quicker warming, submerge it in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes.
• Vanilla extract: I love the flavor of Nielsen-Massey Bourbon vanilla extract. It’s my absolute FAVORITE! However, you can use any other brand you like.
• Orange zest: Fresh zest is always best!
• Chocolate stars: I used Brach’s milk chocolate stars, which can usually be found in the baking aisle around the holidays. If you can’t find them, substitute unwrapped Hershey’s kisses in their place.

Equipment

You won’t need much in the way of specialty equipment to make these cookies–just a few baking basics! (Links are affiliate links and I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.)

• Baking sheets: Use quality aluminum baking sheets to help the cookies bake evenly and prevent the bottoms from burning.
• Parchment paper:I never bake directly on my baking sheets–it’s all about the parchment, baby! You can also use silicone liners if you prefer.
• Mixer: You will need some kind of mixer to properly blend the cookie dough; either a stand mixer or hand mixer will work well.
• Cookie scoop: I love this OXO cookie scoop–it’s lasted me for years, and makes perfect-sized cookies, every time! It’s optional, but very helpful.
• Microplane:When zesting citrus fruit, I like to use a microplane. It makes the job a breeze.

📸Photo Tutorial: How to Make Soft Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

1. Mix dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 3/4 cups (12.3oz) flour, 1/4 cup (.75oz) cocoa powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 2 tsp ginger, 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/4 tsp each cloves, nutmeg and allspice. Set aside.

3. Add other wet ingredients: Add 1/3 cup (4.5oz) molasses, the large egg, 2 tsp vanilla extract, and 1 tsp orange zest. Mix well.

4. Add dry ingredients: Stop the mixer and add the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

5. Chill: Place the dough on a piece of cling wrap, and wrap it well and chill for at least 2 hours (overnight is even better).
6. Prepare to bake: Preheat oven to 350°F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
7. Roll cookie dough balls: Scoop and roll chilled cookie dough into 1-inch balls. Pour some granulated sugar into a shallow bowl and roll the dough balls in it.

💭Variations

These cookies are delicious as they are, but feel free to use some creativity to change things up. Here’s some ideas to get you started.

• Different coating: Try rolling the pre-cooked cookie balls in crushed gingersnaps, cinnamon sugar or powdered sugar.
• Alternate cookie base: Use a different cookie dough base like snickerdoodle, traditional gingerbread or peanut butter. Roll the cookie dough balls in sugar and bake as directed, pressing a chocolate button on top immediately after removing them from the oven.
• Switch the spices or extract: If you don’t have all the spices in the recipe or just don’t like one or two of them, it’s fine to leave them out completely or add a little extra cinnamon to replace them. You can also use a different flavoring extract. I think an orange extract would be lovely instead of vanilla.
• Try other candies: Sometimes it’s hard to track down the chocolate buttons. So, feel free to try other types of candy for the top such has Hershey Hugs, Kisses or Rolos.