Take a step back in time with a classic holiday treat! Soft and chewy, thick, and warmly-spiced, these old-fashioned gingerbread cookies (or ginger cakes), have been a Colonial Williamsburg favorite for generations.
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If you’re looking for even more old-fashioned recipes from Colonial Williamsburg, be sure to try the King’s Arms Tavern peanut soup and the queen’s cake from the Raleigh Tavern Bakery, too!
These were so fun to make and delicious! Tasted just like the Williamsburg bakery cookies! Wish I could post a pic! Thank you!!
– Stacy
How to Make Old Fashioned Ginger Cookies | 1-Minute Video
As a life-long Virginian, I’ve spent quite a bit of time in Williamsburg, and it’s still one of my absolute favorite parts of our state. If you want a real treat, visit Colonial Williamsburg during the holidays — it’s a truly magical place!
What to Know Before You Get Started
- The taste and texture of the Raleigh Tavern gingerbread cakes are truly unique. They’re warmly spiced with a strong molasses flavor, but they’re not overly sweet and the texture is a perfect cross between a cookie and a cake. They’re soft (not crispy like some gingerbread cookies), and they’re thick, chewy, and “cakey.”
- While there is plenty of molasses flavor in this cookie recipe, the spices are mild. These are not “spicy” cookies. Instead, they contain just very subtle notes of ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon. If you prefer a stronger flavor, you can increase the ginger to 1 tablespoon, add ½ teaspoon of cloves, and ¼ teaspoon of allspice — the cookies just won’t taste quite like the authentic Williamsburg gingerbread.
- With a few tweaks, you can use this recipe to cut out soft gingerbread man cookies.
How to Make this Traditional Gingerbread Recipe
I did some research online and ultimately adapted the Raleigh Tavern Bakery’s original recipe, so you know these authentic cookies are the “real deal.” The end result instantly sends me back to my childhood!
- Whisk together sugar, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, and ground cinnamon, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl.
- Add softened butter, evaporated milk, and molasses. Start on low speed with an electric mixer, and then gradually increase to medium speed or medium-high speed until the dry ingredients are creamed together with the butter.
- Gradually mix in the flour until a stiff dough forms.
- Roll out the dough on a well floured surface with a floured rolling pin (there’s no need to chill the dough first!). Don’t be shy with the flour. Keep your work surface very well floured to prevent the dough from sticking to the board when rolling and cutting. It’s also helpful to flour the cookie cutter before each use. Roll the dough thicker than other typical cut-out cookies. I like about ½-inch thick dough, which yields thick, soft, chewy cookies (rather than thin, crispy cookies).
- Cut into shapes and arrange on baking sheets lined with parchment paper or silicone mats. I use a round biscuit cutter that measures 2 ½ inches in diameter to make large cookies — just like you find at the Raleigh Tavern Bakery. Re-roll the dough scraps as many times as necessary in order to use all of the dough.
- Bake in a 375°F preheated oven for 10-12 minutes. Do not overbake the cookies or they will become hard and crisp. To maintain the soft, chewy, cake-like texture, remove them from the oven while they’re still soft. Cool on a wire rack, then package to store or enjoy immediately! They’re delicious with a mug of homemade hot chocolate!
Storage Tips
Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
To bake the cookies in advance, allow them to cool completely, wrap tightly, and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw on the counter at room temperature.
These cookies turned out fantastic! They will be a new holiday tradition for our family. They are super easy and fast to make and truly do taste like old fashioned gingerbread that you remember from childhood.
– Pat
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Watch How to Make It
Williamsburg Old Fashioned Ginger Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened at room temperature
- ½ cup evaporated milk
- 1 cup molasses (I use Grandma's brand)
- 4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted (plus additional 1 -1 ½ cups of flour, as needed, to form a workable dough)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda.
- Add softened butter, evaporated milk, and molasses. With an electric mixer, start on the lowest speed so that the liquid doesn’t splash out of the bowl. Gradually increase the speed until the butter and sugar are creamed together and completely smooth.
- With the mixer on low speed, gradually add 4 cups of flour (one cup at a time), mixing until the flour is incorporated.
- The dough should be stiff enough to handle without sticking to your fingers, so if it’s still too wet and sticky, add additional flour (½ cup at a time), just until a fairly stiff dough comes together.
- When the dough is smooth, roll it out to ½-inch thickness on a very well-floured surface.
- Use a 2 ½-inch round biscuit cutter (or other cookie cutter) to cut the dough into round shapes. Continue to add as much flour as necessary to the dough, the rolling pin, and the cookie cutters to prevent the dough from sticking. Place shapes onto prepared baking sheets.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until slightly golden brown but still soft. Make sure that you don't bake them for too long or they will become hard and crispy. To maintain the soft, chewy, cake-like texture, pull them out of the often while they're still soft and let them firm up slightly while they cool.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- The classic Williamsburg gingerbread cakes are large, round cookies without any icing or other decorations. That said, the thick, chewy cookies do make a great base for traditional Christmas frostings and decorations! If you (or your kids) prefer soft gingerbread cookies with icing, then I suggest preparing a batch of royal icing and getting creative!
- Recipe adapted from MakingHistoryNow.com
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published in 2017. It was updated in November, 2024.
I just made these with the kids and they are really yummy! I was nervous about no egg and vanilla added but they are fantastic! I’ll be making another batch shortly after Christmas.
That’s great, Katherine! I’m so glad that you enjoyed them! 🙂
I love the cookies at the Inn in Williamsburg and was thrilled to find the recipe and plan to make them soon. Do you maybe have the recipe for the Shewsbury cakes you can purchase there. The large sugar cookies? Love Williamsburg and I wish I lived close enough to go during Christmas sometime.
Hi, Sheree! No, I don’t — but I’ll definitely work on a recipe for the coming year! Thanks for the suggestion!
Hello. I adore these Gingerbread cookies. I live strolling the streets of Williamsburg with one of these cookies, a cup of warm cider and stopping at one of the many bonfires during The Grand Illumination. Just perfect. One of the comments mentioned Queen Cake. I cannot find a recipe for it. I had some at one of the taverns and loved it but cannot find a recipe even in my Williamsburg cookbook. Do you or anyone posting here have a recipe? I sure would be grateful. Thank you and Happy New Year!
Hi, Bonnie! I will definitely share a recipe for Queens Cake in the coming months — I just need to perfect it. 🙂 Stay tuned!
I made these for the Christmas time to go along with all the other cookies I was baking. They was good, but not much in ginger flavor. I added what it was called for and you could not even tell that they was gingerbread cookies. I think it would need extra ginger added or use fresh grounded ginger to get the ginger taste.
I know it’s only September, but I saw this recipe on Pinterest and had to try it. I have very vague memories of these cookies (or their copycats) being sold at The Pottery in Williamsburg back in the late 80s and early 90s when we were stationed in VirginiaBeach. (Am I right about this?) I am always on the lookout for a great molasses cookie, and I am doing the slightly-warm-out-of-the-oven taste test as I write this! They are VERY good!! I used a total of 22 oz of flour in order to get the right consistency for rolling and cutting, which works out to just under 4 1/2 cups. (I measure all large amounts of dry ingredients by weight, not volume). I baked them on parchment-lined cushioned baking sheets for 11 minutes per pan. Also, I sprinkled turbinado sugar on top, just because I enjoy a crunchy top on a soft cookie. This one’s a keeper! Thanks, Blair!
Great! Thanks so much for that helpful feedback and detailed information, Patty!
I’m not sure if the cookies were sold at The Pottery in Williamsburg or not. It wouldn’t surprise me, but I’ve always picked them up from the little shop on Duke of Gloucester St. 🙂
If I’m not mistaken, one cup of flour weighs out to 4.5 oz. So 22 oz would actually be just under 5 cups of flour.
Every year we’ve been married (5 years now) my husband requests “gingerbread cookies” and every year he politely tells me that, though they are good, they aren’t what he meant. In my mind gingerbread cookies were thin and crisp, but he wants them “like cake but a cookie- soft and fluffy” My 2 year old and I made these today and turned out to be exactly what he’s been dreaming of. We did need to add extra flour and did skip the rolling and cutting, opting to roll them in balls and then press with the bottom of a glass. BUT THEY ARE DIVINE, light and fluffy ,with out that undercooked in the middle texture that some soft gingerbread cookies have had. This is my new go to recipe. I can’t wait to start my Christmas baking now that I’ve found the perfect gingerbread cookie.
I love that, Katie!!! Thank you so much for your kind note. It makes me so happy to hear that your husband approves of the cookies! 🙂
I made these last year and they were amazing! But as I’m preparing to make them again I can’t recall if salted butter or unsalted butter is best.
Also is Fancy molasses a good sub situation for your favourite brand that you mentioned in 1 of the comments above?
Hi, Sarah! I always use salted butter. I’m not familiar with fancy molasses. If it’s a regular brand like Grandma’s, then it should work fine. I wouldn’t use blackstrap molasses, but otherwise you should be good to go!
Why are my cookies dark brown and not light brown like yours? What molasses do you use?
Hi, Claude! I just use regular molasses (Grandma’s brand is what I have in my pantry right now). Did you use Blackstrap Molasses?
Can you substitute regular whole milk for condensed milk?
Hi, Connie! The whole milk is not an equal substitute for evaporated milk (also called unsweetened condensed milk), so the recipe would not work the same. The evaporated milk has about 60% less water than regular milk, so it yields a very different cookie texture.
I was feeling very homesick for Virginia today and this recipe of yours popped up on my feed. Our son went to William & Mary which gave us plenty of excuses to visit Williamsburg, even when he was busy! We lived in Virginia for over 45 years so it is hard to forget. When I realized I had all of the ingredients in my pantry, I took it as a sign to try your recipe. These cookies are perfect! Our family loves ginger cookies all year long, not just for Christmas. I think the whole neighborhood could smell them baking. My grandchildren came running in afterschool and devoured a dozen. Thank you so much for posting this delicious recipe.
That’s wonderful to hear, Lisa! They bring back so many fond memories for our family, too. 🙂
Man I honestly was just now like, “I wish I could make the cookies like in Williamsburg” I googled so much then thought well I’ll just give Williamsburg Gingerbread a google and laughed that someone had actually posted exactly that! THANKS SO MUCH!!!
I love that!!! So glad that I could help to satisfy your craving! 🙂
Wonderful flavor and chewy texture. Made it with half whole wheat which added a slight nutty flavor. Did not roll out. Formed balls and slight flattened with a glass dipped in sugar.
Great! I’m so glad to know that they work without rolling, too. I’m going to try that next time! 🙂
I can’t seem to get this to form a dough either. I’ve followed directions exactly and even after using 5 cups of flour it is too sticky to work with. Any ideas?
Hey, Kristen! I honestly don’t know — I haven’t had that problem. 🙁
I just wondered, out of curiosity, if anybody had tried making these using one of those embossing rolling pins to add that extra bit of pattern before cutting/baking. I’m curious if these bake up puffy enough that the pattern would be obliterated. I’m definitely going to try these for my holiday baking this year and can’t wait to taste them!
Hi, Krystal! I haven’t tried that, so I honestly don’t know. Curious if anyone else has tried the stamping method?
Update after making these: the pattern rolled on top worked really well! It’s best to roll them a bit thicker to allow for rolling them a bit flatter with the patterned rolling pin. I didn’t do this so mine were a bit thinner than 1/4” – I baked them a bit less and they turned out great. These were so delicious. I’ll definitely be adding them to my annual Christmas recipe lists.
Perfect! Thanks for the update, Krystal!
I have this issue a lot. I’m not sure why! I generally stop adding flour at 5 cups, split the dough into two equal parts, shape into disks and wrap in plastic wrap overnight. The next day they are fairly easy to roll out and I only roll out a section of the dough at a time to keep it from getting too soft. They come out perfectly every time. These cookies are SO good and I make them every year.
I would like to bake and ship these for Christmas. I’m not much of a baker, and I’d like to add the dusting of powdered sugar. When do I do that? Is it when they’re cooling? After they’ve cooled completely? Thank you!
Hi, Anna! I’m so glad that you’ll give these a try! What you see on my cookies here is just the flour from rolling. If you want to use powdered sugar, I would do both — dust with powdered sugar before baking, and then again once the cookies are cool. 🙂
Best Gingerbread cookie recipe I have ever tried.
Wonderful! Thanks, Ashley!
I just made these and they are so amazing!! Best cookie I have made! Thanks!
Awesome!! Thanks so much, Jessica! We love them, too. 🙂
Hi, there. I’ve made this recipe so many times, and only once did they ever turn out cakey and dense instead of crisp. What’s the secret to that dense cakeyness? Thanks so much!
Hey, Lisa! I’m not sure why the other times they weren’t cakey and dense. I’ve never had that issue, so I’m not sure what the difference was when you prepped them.
The same thing just happened to me when I made them for the first time. I followed the recipe and instructions exactly except I used shapes instead of circles but that shouldn’t affect the texture. They hardly rose at all and were crispy on the outside and only a little soft on the inside. I’m so disappointed!
This is the exact recipe that I’ve been using for 20 years, and they are wonderful – a family favorite, that is perpetually on the list of must-have Christmas cookies. A friend got the recipe out of a cookbook she picked up on a visit to Williamsburg. Although they don’t need it, they are luscious with a little vanilla frosting piped onto them, which we sometimes do at Christmastime. Thanks for posting the recipe so others can enjoy!
That’s awesome, Laura! Aren’t they so good? I love the idea of adding the frosting. They’re so cake-like in texture that it would be like having a mini cake to eat!
I made these last year and my whole family loved them! I’m making them again this Saturday! We made gingerbread men out of these cookies! My kids loved decorating them. Amazing! I’m going to make these every year! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, Jessica! That makes me so happy to hear! 🙂
Fresh ginger or powdered ginger?
Ground ginger (not fresh). 🙂