Baked from start to finish in about 30 minutes, these buttery sugar & spice cookies will be your new holiday go-to!
Is there any better way to greet the holiday season than making recipes with spices? These sugar & spice cookies are made with cardamom, ginger, and cinnamon – a terrific warming blend for cold weather! We love these cookies because though simple to make, they’re buttery and chewy, with a great balance of sweet and spicy.
We’ve rolled each cookie in sanding sugar before baking, which we also used in this pecan shortbread cookies recipe. If you don’t have access to sanding sugar, you can use regular white sugar instead.
Use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top, or scroll to the bottom of the post to see the printable recipe card with full ingredient measurements and complete instructions.
Ingredients
Method
Preheat the oven and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until soft and creamy. Add the egg and molasses to the butter mixture and continue to beat until well combined.
Add in the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, cardamom, and ginger.
Mix everything together until all of the dry ingredients are incorporated.
Use your hands to scoop the dough into about 18 portions. Roll each dough portion into a ball with your hands.
Roll each cookie dough ball in sanding sugar if using, coating each one completely in sugar. Place the sugared dough balls on the prepared baking sheet, evenly spaced apart.
Bake the cookies in the preheated oven until they are puffy and the edges are slightly golden. Transfer the sheet to a wire rack and cool the cookies slightly before serving.
Tips & Notes
This recipe makes about 18 cookies, so either have two baking sheets ready, or bake them in two batches.
You can use a hand or stand mixer to make the dough. If you’re feeling ambitious they can also be made by hand.
Sugar & spice cookies are quite buttery and are best eaten the day they’re made. You can keep them in an airtight container on the counter for a few days, however, a better bet is to freeze them in a zip top bag to ensure maximum freshness.
You can change the size of the dough balls to suit your preference, either larger or smaller, however, the baking time will change.
Substitutions
You can use light spelt flour in place of all-purpose for a whole grain option.
Substitute any blend of warming spices you like – allspice, cloves, nutmeg, and even some black pepper are all terrific.
If you don’t have sanding sugar, you can roll the cookie dough balls in regular white sugar if you want.
More Holiday Cookies
Chocolate Shortbread Sandwich Cookies
Brown Butter Sesame Seed Cookies
Gluten-free Gingerbread Cookies
Stamped Brown Sugar Shortbread Cookies
Recipe
Sugar & Spice Cookies
Description
Equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons or a digital kitchen scale
- baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- Mixing bowl
- Hand mixer
- Wire rack
- Spatula
Ingredients
- ¾ cups butter, softened
- ¾ cups sugar
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup molasses
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- ½ cup sanding sugar, optional, for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180ºC) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until soft and creamy, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the egg and molasses to the butter mixture and continue to beat until well combined.
- Add in the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, cardamom, and ginger and mix everything together until well incorporated.
- Use your hands to scoop the dough into portions approximately 2 tablespoons in size.
- Roll each portion into a smooth ball, then roll each ball in sanding sugar to coat (if using).
- Place the sugared dough balls on the prepared baking sheet, evenly spaced apart.
- Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 12 to 14 minutes, or until they are puffy and the edges are slightly golden.
- Transfer the sheet to a wire rack and cool the cookies for 10 minutes before serving.
DEB says
These cookies are amazing! Flavors are lovely and smooth.
Kris Osborne says
So glad that you’re enjoying them, Deb!
Katharine says
The flavors are really yummy! But, my cookies more puffed up and kept a fluffy/cakey texture then spread out. Any thoughts?
Sophie Mackenzie says
No sure why that happened. Puffing usually happens with baking powder, not so much baking soda. Ours spread too, if you want less spreading, try chilling the dough :)