Like a cross between a classic oatmeal cookie and a warmly-spiced gingerbread cookie, these Ginger Oatmeal Cookies are a childhood favorite and they’re perfect for holiday baking season! Add these Christmas Cookies to your dessert trays, gift baskets, and cookie plates for Santa — everyone loves them!
You guys…THESE are the cookies of my childhood! You know how some nostalgic foods just bring back so many wonderful memories? Ginger Oatmeal Cookies are high on my personal list!
One of my best friends growing up (and still today) was Katie. We met in Kindergarten and we stayed close friends through college. While my own mom is an amazing cook (and has taught me 99.9% of the things I know in the kitchen), cookies were never her forte. Instead, I went to Katie’s house for the BEST homemade cookies a girl could dream of. And while I love all of Mrs. Hodgdon’s baking, THESE ginger cookies have always been my absolute favorite.
So imagine my excitement when I was sifting through some of my mom’s old recipes and I came across a handwritten card with this recipe on it! My mom must have asked Mrs. Hodgdon for the recipe about 30 years ago when she realized that I adored these cookies. And while I can’t say that I remember my mom ever actually making the cookies herself, I am happy to report that I am using the recipe card and baking them for my own family! And of course, my three boys all love them too. 🙂
They are a chewy, buttery, ginger-y cookie that everyone should have a chance to taste. Truly…they are simple dessert PERFECTION. Enjoy, friends — and be sure to share the love (in cookie form)!
[Tweet “A classic chewy Ginger Oatmeal #Cookie is a must-make on your holiday baking list!”]
Ginger Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup butter softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup molasses
- 1 ½ cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon cloves
- ¾ teaspoon ginger
- 2 cups Old-Fashioned oats
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together butter and sugar.
- Add egg and molasses. Mix until combined.
- In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture and blend until combined.
- Stir in oatmeal.
- Drop dough onto baking sheets. Bake for approximately 8 minutes, or until just golden brown. The cookies will still look soft, which is fine. They will firm up a little bit as they cool, but they will still be nice and chewy!
- Cool on pan for 1 minute, then remove to wire racks to cool completely.
Jen | Baked by an Introvert says
November 30, 2015 at 7:35 amI’m so excited to see holiday cookies popping up! These oatmeal cookies spiked with ginger sounds right up my alley!
Blair says
November 30, 2015 at 7:28 pmI know, Jen — this is such a fun time of year! Especially for bakers like YOU! 🙂
Gayle @ Pumpkin 'N Spice says
November 30, 2015 at 7:44 amI can almost taste these cookies, Blair! They sound amazing! I love the ginger and oatmeal combo. What a perfect cookie to ring in the holiday season with! Pinned!
Blair says
November 30, 2015 at 7:28 pmThanks, Gayle! They really are so perfect for the season!
Kerry Burris says
November 30, 2015 at 11:48 pmI can’t wait too bake these cookies, and I have been looking for a good peanutbutter cookie recipe.
Blair says
December 1, 2015 at 8:36 amEnjoy, Kerry! I hope that you love them! 🙂
Michelle says
December 1, 2015 at 1:01 amI was wondering about the ginger, were you talking about ground ginger or fresh?
Blair says
December 1, 2015 at 8:36 amHi, Michelle! Sorry for the confusion! Just ground ginger — no need to use the fresh stuff. 🙂
Robyn @ Simply Fresh Dinners says
December 1, 2015 at 10:11 amOh, I’m all about texture with my food and love a good chewy cookie. Oatmeal is the best and even though I don’t eat desserts much, these would end up on my plate every time. I’m finally going to do some Christmas baking this year and I’ll be making these. I’ll be sure to send you some pics when I do but they’ll be with my phone so don’t expect much, lol.
Absolutely love these photos, Blair 🙂
Blair says
December 2, 2015 at 2:31 pmThat’s awesome, Robyn! Definitely send me some photos if you have a chance to make the cookies. I know you’ll love them! 🙂
Nancy McIntosh says
December 2, 2015 at 4:06 pmBlair, these cookies look delicious! Would you please tell me what kind of molasses you use? Thank you.
Blair says
December 2, 2015 at 5:26 pmHi, Nancy! I use the brand of molasses that I can find at my small country grocery store (nothing special!). It’s called “Grandma’s Molasses” and here is a link to their website: http://www.grandmasmolasses.com/
Enjoy!!
Terry says
April 13, 2016 at 12:15 pmHi Diane, I am in the mood to try Your Ginger Oatmeal Cookies, looking at all the recipes your’s won out! They r in the oven now, almost ready. Your recipe was so easy a quick now I can enjoy my afternoon tea. I added more of the spices. They are heavenly!
Blair says
April 13, 2016 at 1:05 pmOh, I bet they smell amazing in the oven! Thanks for letting me know, Terry…and enjoy!
Kathy says
April 29, 2016 at 2:04 pmI tried this recipe, measuring all ingredients carefully. The cookies were dry and crumbly, not at all chewy. I had to throw most of them away.
Blair says
April 29, 2016 at 2:13 pmBummer, Kathy! I’m sorry to hear that! Oven temps definitely vary…did they just get cooked for too long? I’m sorry that I don’t know exactly what went wrong. 🙁
Suzie says
July 25, 2016 at 4:46 pmGood afternoon, Blair?
I have a bottle of SPICE WORLD squeeze ginger (1t = 1 serving, 5g) I REALLY want to try it in your ginger oatmeal cookies. How much would I use to equal the 3/4 t. dried ginger?
Blair says
July 25, 2016 at 4:56 pmHi, Suzie! Isn’t that squeeze ginger so great?! I love it as a shortcut! I’ve never used it in baking, but if I were to guess, I would suggest trying about 1 1/2 teaspoons of the squeeze ginger. As a general rule of thumb, you can double the amount of fresh herbs since dried herbs and spices are more concentrated. Hope that helps!
Dean says
February 11, 2017 at 5:50 pmMade these cookies this afternoon – or something like them, anyway. A friend had borrowed my molasses, but I had a jar of honey I’d gotten at a farmer’s market a while back. I wasn’t sure about the right way to do the substitution, so I just put in a generous spoon of honey. I used 3/4 c brown sugar and 1/4 c white as well, because my usual cookbook calls for it.
The first batch I made were waaaay too gooey and broke up when I tried to take them off the cookie sheet. I stuck the rest of the batter in the freezer for 10 minutes, and the second batch spread less and firmed up better, but was still gooey enough that it broke up.
After that, I added 1/4 c more flour and a 1/2 tsp baking powder, and it worked! they puffed up a bit instead of spreading, but still came out chewy and so good.
I used fresh ginger as well (finding the ginger left over from last week’s curry was what led me to this recipe) and it worked just fine. The clove and the ginger blend really wonderfully.
So, I guess the lesson here is that I should follow the recipe more closely next time. But still, chilling the dough and adding a bit more flour/baking powder worked really well to get a good consistency. Thanks for sharing this!
Blair says
February 11, 2017 at 6:56 pmSo glad that you figured it out, Dean! These are still some of our family’s favorite go-to cookies. Thanks for sharing with us! 🙂
Phoebe says
May 31, 2018 at 3:42 amSooo good what a great texture.
Have to admit though- 3/4 of a teaspoon of ginger I could barely taste. So I made it 4 tablespoons- plus I finely grated a ginger root into it! Made it extra spicey and tastey. For those who really love a kick of ginger out there I recommend upping the dosage and even adding the fresh ginger- they are still chewy just more spicy.
Thank you,
Blair says
May 31, 2018 at 5:13 amThanks for that feedback, Phoebe! You’re right — it’s a mild ginger taste, so feel free to load them up with more spice if you prefer more kick! 🙂
Kathryn says
November 6, 2017 at 3:22 pmHi Blair!
Any chance of substitution of applesauce for the sugar? Thanks!
Blair says
November 6, 2017 at 3:44 pmHi, Kathryn! I honestly have no idea. I’ve never tested the recipe with applesauce, so I’m not sure how it would turn out. The texture would definitely be different, and they would definitely not be as sweet, but I’m not sure if the dough would “work” or if it would spread or be too thin?
Robert says
January 5, 2018 at 7:20 pmI would like to try these with pancake syrup (maple) instead of molasses and a cup of raisins. What do you think? My granddaughter is calling for grandpa cookies Canadian style.
Blair says
January 6, 2018 at 5:46 amThat’s cute, Robert! Nothing better than baking for the little ones!
Using raisins will be a great addition.
As far as the maple syrup goes, I’m not sure what the final product will be like. Maple syrup obviously has a different flavor than molasses, so that will change the taste of the cookies a bit (but they would still be delicious). The maple syrup is much thinner than molasses, though, so I’m more concerned about the texture of the dough. I just haven’t tried the maple syrup to know if they will set up properly or not.
Barbara says
March 16, 2018 at 1:48 pmThese cookies are my family’s new favourites. With winter hanging on up here in Canada, they are a welcome treat. ThamKs so much for sharing!
Here’s a Five Star rating from us!
Blair says
March 16, 2018 at 2:00 pmThat’s wonderful, Barbara! They are definitely one of my all-time favorites as well. I’m so glad to be able to share them with you! 🙂
Jim Mooney says
December 14, 2018 at 2:58 pmSounds really good! Does the combo of sugar and molasses serve as the equivalent of dark brown sugar? Also, I am an amateur experimenter. I have a large jar of candied ginger in the pantry. That stuff is great to munch on, and I thought: what a delight it might be to bite into small chunks of this in a cookie! Ever used the stuff? How much of the sugar do you think I should cut back if I used say a cup of the candied ginger?
Blair says
December 14, 2018 at 3:01 pmHi, Jim! The molasses has a very distinct flavor, which I don’t think you can replicate with dark brown sugar. It’s what gives gingerbread its classic flavor, and I think it’s a must in these cookies. 🙂 As far as the candied ginger goes, I think it would be a nice add-in (kind of like stirring nuts into a cookie dough), but I wouldn’t use it as a sugar substitute or the texture of the cookies will change. Hope that helps, and enjoy!
Jim Mooney says
December 15, 2018 at 3:05 pmThanx for quick response! I tried the experiment, adding 2/3 cup of candied ginger when I folded in the oats (I also added some Craisins and some coursely-chopped pecans). I was on target: the ginger kind of floats through a mouthful of cookie, producing spurts of ginger flavor as I chew. Made a bunch for Christmas presents, so will see how others react.
Blair says
December 15, 2018 at 3:29 pmWonderful!!! They sound amazing, Jim! I’ll have to see if I can find some candied ginger near me to add to my next batch! 🙂
Deborah says
January 1, 2019 at 4:31 pmI just made these using Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-free flour blend. They turned out really well! They’re chewy and delicious. I tripled the spices as we love a good kick of spice.
Thank you for sharing this yummy recipe! 🙂
Ni says
February 20, 2019 at 10:51 amHi! Can I use oat flour instead of all purpose flour?
Blair says
February 20, 2019 at 2:00 pmHi, Ni! Oat flour is definitely not an equal substitute for all purpose flour, so it will completely change the texture of the cookies. For instance, the oat flour doesn’t contain gluten, so it might make the cookies fall apart or heavy. Here’s a good article on baking with oat flour, which might help: https://www.livestrong.com/article/557742-baking-with-oat-flour-vs-wheat-flour/
Carol says
April 19, 2019 at 7:20 pmThe cookies tasted ok, but dough was very stiff. Not soft and chewy as recipe stated. No way I could have made these as drop cookies. Rolled dough into balls, pressed with fork…still did not spread. Have triple checked to make sure I copied amounts correctly. Did you use white or brown sugar or combination? Will try again, but don’t understand why mine were so different. So disappointing.
Tami says
May 13, 2019 at 11:19 pmLove these cookies as well as everyone that I have given them to. I add between 1/2 and 1cup non-crystalized candied ginger cut up into 1/4 inch pieces to add more chew, texture, and a bit more ginger flavor. Hint while cutting up the sticky candied ginger I put in a bowl with a small amount of powdered sugar to coat helps to get individual pieces. As one friend said, “it’s a party in her mouth”. I also bake on parchment paper no sticking whatsoever. Thanks for the recipe!
Blair says
May 14, 2019 at 5:21 amThe added candied ginger sounds amazing! Thanks for the tip, Tami! 🙂