Last week I basically bought all of the dried fruit at my local Trader Joe’s. With a basket filled to the brim with multiple bags of dried fruit, the cashier asked what I was making – of course, it was fruitcake. I’ll be honest, fruitcake is not my favorite, nor is it the recipe I’m sharing with you today (so bear with me as I tell this story…). Growing up, my mom made fruitcake and fruitcake cookies every year, complete with the bright red and green dried fruit-like gummy things (are they actually dried fruit? I don’t know). This year, my family is traveling to DC to spend the holidays with us here, and it’s the first year E and I are spending Christmas together. As such, I decided to honor my mom and E, who also loves fruitcake, by making a super traditional fruitcake, complete with rum soaked [real] dried fruit, made weeks before Christmas and spritzed with brandy every few days. I must say, it smelled delicious when making, and if it actually turns out to be good, I’ll make a point to share it here. But for now, I have 2 loaves of questionable fruitcake that I am taking care of better than my plants (I can never remember to water plants. My poor succulents are dying on me as we speak.) and about 10 half-full bags of dried fruit.
That brings me to this recipe today. Nothing like Christmas to get me back in the kitchen and baking. One of my favorite Christmas cookie recipes is soft, chewy ginger cookies. Since I had a lot of leftover dried candied ginger with no idea what to do with it, I decided to incorporate it into a double ginger cookie, of course with some super dark chocolate to give it an extra oomph. If you’re looking for an easy, yet impressive and delish Christmas cookie that requires only a couple minutes of prep time, no need to chill the dough, and are ready in minutes, then these are the cookies for you. They’re perfect for a last minute gift for neighbors, a holiday dessert spread, or a gift for the host.
^ Rolling dough in sugar. Pretty sure I could just eat the dough raw… but I won’t because.. Salmonella.
Those warm, melty chips right out of the oven kill me!
- ¾ cup butter, softened
- ½ cup [white granulated] sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup molasses
- 2¼ cups all purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ cup dark or bittersweet chocolate chips, or more if desired
- ¼ cup chopped candied ginger, or more if desired
- extra granulated sugar
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and molasses.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, spices, baking soda, and salt. Mix well, and then gradually add to the creamed mixture until fully incorporated. Fold in the ginger and chocolate chips.
- Roll ~1½ tablespoons of dough into balls, or use a medium cookie scoop. Roll the balls in sugar until fully coated. Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes until puffy and just slightly browned. Do not overcook! If you are baking in multiple batches, refrigerate the cookie dough until scooping and baking.
If you would like to prepare the dough ahead of time, be sure to refrigerate until ready to scoop.
Home Plix says
July 22, 2019 at 4:11 amYour ginger chip cookies recipe is really amazing. I just love this recipe and want to try this. Thanks for sharing such an amazing post.
Lisa says
May 10, 2020 at 5:47 pmI’m not a fan of chocolate chips. Have you done this without, and if so, was it still really good and chewy?
Christine says
May 15, 2020 at 10:03 pmI haven’t tried these without chocolate chips, but it should be just as chewy!