I had been thinking about ginger cookies for a while. Seeing photos of them and thinking about Nanny's soft molasses cookies had me in extreme crave mode. While I love my Nanny's cookie, I decided that what I wanted was a crunchy cookie.
I thought about Martha Stewart's Chocolate Gingersnaps. They look so tempting in the photo in the book, but then opted for Cooking Light's Ginger Cookie since it had less fat and fewer calories! These cookies were really delicious after they had cooled just a bit. Not too sweet and slightly chewy.
The next day these cookies were a little crisper but they still had some "chew" to them. They were great with my hot cup of tea and probably would be just as yummy with some vanilla bean ice cream sandwiched in between.
Ginger Cookies
Cooking Light
6 tablespoons butter, softened
⅔ cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar, divided
¼ cup molasses
1 large egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground mace (I used allspice instead)
Cooking spray
Place butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until fluffy. Gradually add ⅔ cup sugar, beating at medium speed until light and well blended. Add molasses and egg; beat well.Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour and the next 4 ingredients (through mace), stirring with a whisk. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, stirring until well blended. Divide dough in half. Wrap each portion in plastic wrap, and freeze for 30 minutes.Preheat oven to 350°.Shape each portion of dough into 26 (1-inch) balls. Roll balls in remaining 3 tablespoons sugar, and place 2 inches apart on baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Flatten cookies with the bottom of a glass to ½-inch thickness. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.
Jason @ Jason's BBQ Adventures
Cookies look absolutely wonderful!
Katy ~
My favorite ginger cookie is similar to yours, so I know how delicious your cookies are. Big YUM for ginger cookies! YAY!
Megan
These look perfect! I would love to make a crust with your leftovers!
Mari at Once Upon a Plate
These look so good Shelby!! We love Ginger cookies, and a lightened up version is always welcome so thank you for sharing the recipe. xo~m
JyLnC
One of my all time favorite cookies. My grandmother used to make them and my cousin and I would get to roll them in sugar and press them with the glass. Memories are great and your pictures look scrumptious!
Cristine
Your pictures are gorgeous!
Now you have me craving a ginger cookie ice cream sandwich! YUM!!!
Rachel
I remember your nanny's cookies..still love it!
averagebetty
Love how you try all these light recipes! You rock, HoneyB!!
Pamela
That's funny, because I actually was thinking of making some gingersnaps recently. These cookies look wonderful and you've gotta love that they are lower in fat! But if you get a chance, do try Martha's Chocolate Gingerbread. INCREDIBLE!!
Linda
Nice cookies, Shelby! We love molasses and ginger cookies so I will be trying these.
Tracey
Those cookies look fantastic and I love your idea to sandwich some ice cream in between 🙂 Great photos!
Bunny
Shelby you've been posting some pretty darn good cookies girl!! They look so good, and again these look like they were bakery cookies!
Hugging the Coast
All I need to be happy is a plate of these and a cup of tea!
Meg
These look amazing! I love ginger cookies!
Jessie
After looking at all of the yummy photos, I'm craving for gingersnaps! I love gingersnap cookies, they are one of my many favorite cookies 🙂
Teanna
Those are STUNNING! Right out of a cookbook! And I LOVE ginger cookies - I'll definitely give this recipe a try!
Veronica
Of all the cookies out there gingersnaps are far and away my very favorite...I should try this Cooking Light version as the version I have is in no way light!! Pretty pictures.
Michele
I remember my Great Grandmother's attempts at baking. (she was NOT a good cook in any sense of the word!) She made molasses ginger cookies one time. I actually got very excited because a good ginger cookie is my idea of heaven. But she stayed true to form and baked the most inedible hockey pucks I've ever come across.
Your cookies are beautiful! Now I'm craving ginger cookies in a bad way...can you send some over please?
duodishes.com
Love an extra gingery cookies! It's the molasses that makes them actually so good. Yum.
Gera @ SweetsFoods
Yes I'm craving since now your crunchy ginger cookies...I might eat the entire batch… they're so appealing!!
Cheers!
Gera