Ginger cookies are one of my favorite cookies to make when the weather cools down. Try these soft pumpkin ginger snaps this Fall!
Ginger is one of my favorite spices to bake with in the Fall. Opinions are often split whether soft or hard ginger snaps are best, but I love mine soft! I decided to add a twist to my usual ginger cookies this year by adding pumpkin to them, and they are amazing. These cookies have a sugar crusted outside with a light and fluffy center. Enjoy these with a hot cup of coffee by the fire on a cold autumn day!
How to Make the Best Soft Pumpkin Ginger Snaps
While the full recipe details are available below, here are some tips to make the best pumpkin and ginger cookies this Fall!
Ginger: while I love my ginger snaps to be soft, I also love them with a strong dose of ground ginger. If you prefer yours with a more subtle ginger flavor, simply use less of the spice in the dough. If you want even more ginger flavor, you can add some pieces of candied ginger to the batter before baking!
Molasses: I used molasses in these cookies, which is what gives them their rich dark brown coloring. To achieve the optimal coloring and flavoring for these cookies, I recommend looking for cooking molasses or a type of molasses that has been formulated for baking.
Pumpkin: I cannot stress this enough, you need to use pure pumpkin, or pureed pumpkin. Do not use pumpkin pie filling. This is important because pumpkin pie filling has spices and other ingredients already added to it which will alter the flavor and texture of your cookies. Be careful when picking your can of pumpkin out at the grocery store. The two types of pumpkin look very similar. I have accidentally bought the wrong type of pumpkin more than once!
Chilling: I recommend chilling your dough in the refrigerator before baking for at least one hour. This is important because it helps to stiffen the dough, so it is easier to handle when rolling into balls and coating with sugar for baking. I also find my final cookies have a better texture when the dough has been chilled properly.
Using a stand or hand mixer, beat the brown sugar and butter together until smooth. Beat in the pumpkin puree, egg, molasses, and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, ground ginger, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, and salt.
Turn your mixer to low and add the dry ingredients to the egg and butter mixture., continuously stirring it in until well combined and forms a dough. Chill the dough for at least 1 hour, up to 2 days in the refrigerator.
Preheat oven to 375F. Spread the granulated sugar into a shallow bowl. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and roll through the bowl of sugar to coat them. Place cookies evenly onto the cookie sheet and bake for 8 to 12 minutes, until the tops start to crackle, and the edges are golden.
Cool the cookies for 3 minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring to a cooling rack. Enjoy!
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