A beautifully soft and chewy gingerbread cookie drizzled with a simple glaze.
Ingredients
- 115 grams (1/2 cup or 1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 100 grams (1/2 cup) caster sugar or granulated sugar
- 45 grams (1/4 cup) brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 30 ml (2 tablespoons) golden syrup
- 210 grams (1 and 1/2 cups) plain flour or all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2-3 teaspoons ground ginger (I prefer 3 teaspoons but adjust to your taste)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 80 grams (1/3 cup) white sugar or granulated sugar, for rolling (see notes)
- Sea salt flakes, for decorating
Golden syrup glaze
- 65 grams (1/2 cup) icing sugar or powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 teaspoon golden syrup
- 2-3 teaspoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Line two baking trays or cookie sheets with baking paper or parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, add butter, caster sugar and brown sugar. Beat using an electric mixer on medium speed for a minute or two until smooth and creamy.
- Add vanilla, egg and golden syrup and beat briefly on medium speed until combined.
- Add flour, baking soda, salt, ginger and cinnamon and mix on low speed until a soft cookie dough forms.
- Scoop cookie dough into balls (approximately 2 tablespoons or 35 grams) and roll them smooth using your hands.
- Place extra white sugar in a small bowl. Roll each cookie dough ball in the sugar until completely covered.
- Place cookie dough balls on prepared trays, leaving room for the cookies to spread naturally in the oven.
- Bake cookies for 11-12 minutes or until they’re golden on the edges. Take the cookie trays out of the oven and give them a bang two or three times on the bench to deflate the cookies. Then carefully transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Make the glaze. In a small bowl, add icing sugar, golden syrup and milk. Stir until smooth. If it’s two thick, add a little extra milk. If you accidentally make it too thick, add a little more icing sugar.
- Sprinkle sea salt over cooled cookies. Use a teaspoon to drizzle the glaze over each cookie.
Notes
Caster sugar: If you don’t have access to caster sugar, you can use granulated sugar or white sugar.
Golden syrup: I’ve used golden syrup in these cookies. If you don’t have access to it, you can use molasses instead (just don’t use blackstrap molasses which is extremely bitter). As for the glaze, you could substitute maple syrup, vanilla or honey.
Ginger: I’ve put 3 teaspoons of ginger in these cookies as I love them undeniably gingery. You can absolutely reduce the amount of ginger to two teaspoons (or less) if you like.
Cinnamon: To add a bit more festive spices, I’ve added a little cinnamon. You can omit if you like.
White sugar: I’ve rolled these cookies in white sugar which is a slightly large granule than caster sugar. You can use white sugar or granulated sugar or simply more caster sugar if that’s what you have on hand.
Cookie spreading: This recipe relies on the careful balance of wet ingredients to dry ingredients. And the temperature of your butter is key. If your butter is too cold, the cookies won’t spread correctly. Make sure you use softened butter and also make sure you measure your flour correctly. Use a kitchen scale for accuracy. Even just a tablespoon of extra of flour will also stop these cookies from spreading.
Storage: Keep these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. They will keep well for days – but I have to say, they are incredibly good fresh out of the oven.
Make-ahead: You can easily make these cookies a day or two in advance. If you want to make them weeks in advance, consider rolling and then freezing the cookie dough.
You can then thaw the cookie dough balls at room temperature for 15-30 minutes depending on your climate. Then just roll the balls in sugar and bake as per the instructions below. If they are still a little frozen, you can add a minute or two to the baking time.
