These ginger crackle cookies are perfect for Christmas gifts, so if you are going for edible gifts this year then these would make a wonderful addition to your other homemade creations.
All the spices of Christmas, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, mixed spice and nutmeg, make these cookies taste amazing and the kitchen smells so festive as they bake.
Easy to make, tie them with festive ribbons or butchers string to make them look pretty to give as presents.
I’ve made them for my daughters to have as a special treat for their after-school snacks for a couple of days, and to take to their Christmas parties at school.
Drifts of icing sugar make these spiced crackle cookies look festive even if there is no snow where you are.
Sadly the light sprinkling of snow we had where we live in Surrey last weekend has long gone and with it the likelihood of a white Christmas here.
Such a shame but it is normal for it to be colder in January and February than in December of course.
Crackle effect
The eagle-eyed among you will notice that the crackle effect on my cookies is not that easy to see.
As the cookies are quite light in colour there is not such a great crackle effect as with chocolate cookies where the icing sugar and dark cookie contract much more, and I also think my dough needed to be chilled for longer.
But it is all real-life here so here are my ginger crackle cookies anyway! I would recommend leaving the mixture for two hours at least to chill in the fridge before shaping the dough and then baking.
Mine was chilled for one hour and it spread quite a lot, which is what you want to avoid to get a better crackle effect.
These are lovely chewy cookies, crisp around the edges. Very moreish, I’ve had to hide the rest away so there will be some left for snacks and to stop me snaffling them all.
I’ll make another batch hopefully to give as gifts when we visit friends and family over Christmas.
Ingredients
Here’s what you will need – quantities are further down the page in the recipe card.
- plain flour
- baking powder
- salt
- ground cinnamon
- ground cloves
- ground ginger
- mixed spice
- ground nutmeg
- eggs
- caster sugar
- unsalted butter
- icing sugar
Method
- Place the flour, spices, baking powder and salt in a bowl, mix and set aside.
- Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until it is light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs and mix well.
- Gradually beat in the flour and spice mixture until well combined.
- Place the whole bowl in the fridge and refrigerate for at least two hours.
- Preheat your oven to 180℃ / 350℉ and line two baking trays with baking paper.
- Using a dessertspoon, take spoonfuls of the cookie dough and then form them into small balls of approx 2 cm / 1 inch diameter by rolling them in your hands.
- Roll each ball in the bowl of icing sugar until covered completely.
- Space the balls out on the baking trays as they will spread as they cook.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden. The cookies will harden as they cool.
- Allow to cool, sprinkle with more icing sugar and enjoy.
More cookie recipes
More festive cookie ideas from me and my blogging friends:
- chocolate crinkle cookies
- crispy clementine cookies from Fab Food 4 All
- cranberry and white chocolate cookies from Emily’s Recipes and Reviews
- wholemeal clotted cream shortbread from Tin and Thyme
- Icelandic Christmas meringue cookies from Veggie Desserts
- spiced orange shortbread from Recipes from a Pantry
- chocolate chip and cranberry snickerdoodle biscuits from Fuss Free Flavours
- Maltese almond cookies from The Petite Cook
- melted snowman cookies from Gingey Bites
Pin my ginger crackle cookies for later
Recipe
Ginger Crackle Cookies
Ingredients
- 215 g plain flour (all-purpose flour)
- 1.5 tsp baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground cloves
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- 0.5 tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 eggs
- 230 g caster sugar (superfine sugar)
- 110 g unsalted butter
- A small bowlful of icing sugar
Instructions
- Place the flour, spices, baking powder and salt in a bowl, mix and set aside.215 g plain flour (all-purpose flour), 1.5 tsp baking powder, Pinch of salt, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp ground cloves, 1 tsp ground ginger, 1 tsp mixed spice, 0.5 tsp ground nutmeg
- Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until it is light and fluffy.230 g caster sugar (superfine sugar), 110 g unsalted butter
- Add the eggs and mix well.2 eggs
- Gradually beat in the flour and spice mixture until well combined.
- Place the whole bowl in the fridge and refrigerate for at least two hours.
- Preheat your oven to 180℃ / 350℉ and line two baking trays with baking paper.
- Using a dessertspoon, take spoonfuls of the cookie dough and then form them into small balls of approx 2 cm / 1 inch diameter by rolling them in your hands.
- Roll each ball in the bowl of icing sugar until covered completely.A small bowlful of icing sugar
- Space the balls out on the baking trays as they will spread as they cook.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden. The cookies will harden as they cool.
- Allow to cool, sprinkle with more icing sugar and enjoy.
Jil says
Would these work with almonds?
bakingqueen74 says
Yes it would be tasty if you add almonds too!
Choclette says
These sound gorgeous Lucy. Lucky kids I say. I have something very similar in mind to make as gifts this year, so your tip on chilling is timely.
bakingqueen74 says
Thank you yes please chill as long as poss!
Camilla Hawkins says
Love the sound of these cookies with all those Christmas spices and better still no cutting out:-)
bakingqueen74 says
Thanks Camilla yes that is one less step and much less washing up too – bonus!