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Home » Cookies & Bars » Sugar & Spice Cookies

Sugar & Spice Cookies

Dec 3, 2020 · 4 Comments

Jump to Recipe

Baked from start to finish in about 30 minutes, these buttery sugar & spice cookies will be your new holiday go-to!

Sugar & spice cookies on a gold plate surrounded by evergreen branches and holly.

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.

Jump to:
  • Ingredients
  • Method
  • Tips & Notes
  • Substitutions
  • More Holiday Cookies
  • Recipe

Close up overhead image of sugar & spice cookies.

Use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top of the post, or scroll to the bottom of the post, to see the full recipe card with ingredient measurements and instructions.

Ingredients

Ingredients to make sugar & spice cookies.

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. 

  • A bowl of beaten butter and sugar with an egg cracked in.
  • Butter and sugar beaten together in a glass bowl with a hand mixer and other cookie ingredients nearby.

Add in the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, cardamom, and ginger.

A hand mixer with the beaters inside a bowl of unmixed cookie dough.

Mix everything together until all of the dry ingredients are incorporated.

A hand mixer with the beaters inside a glass bowl of mixed cookie dough.

Use your hands to scoop the dough into about 18 portions. Roll each dough portion into a ball with your hands.

Hands shaping cookie dough into a small ball.

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.

Cookie dough balls in a glass bowl of sanding sugar about to be rolled.

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.

A baking tray lined with parchment topped with freshly baked sugar & spice cookies.

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.

CoSugar & spice cookies on a round cooling rack with evergreen branches peeking in the corners.

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.

Close up overhead shot of a pile of cookies.

More Holiday Cookies

Chocolate Shortbread Sandwich Cookies

Brown Butter Sesame Seed Cookies

Gluten-free Gingerbread Cookies

Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies

Stamped Brown Sugar Shortbread Cookies

If you make this recipe, let us know by tagging @baked_theblog + #bakedtheblog on Instagram! We love to feel like we’re in the kitchen with you.

Continue to Content

Recipe

Yield: 18

Sugar & Spice Cookies

Sugar & spice cookies on a gold plate surrounded by evergreen branches and holly.

Baked from start to finish in about 30 minutes, these buttery sugar & spice cookies will be your new holiday go-to!

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Total Time 27 minutes

Ingredients

  • ¾ cups (170 g) butter, softened
  • ¾ cups (150 g) sugar
  • 1 egg
  • ¼ cup (63 ml) molasses
  • 2 cups (300 g) all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp ground cardamom
  • ½ tsp ginger
  • ½ cup (100 g) sanding sugar (optional, for rolling)

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180ºC) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until soft and creamy, about 2 to 3 minutes. 
  3. Add the egg and molasses to the butter mixture and continue to beat until well combined. 
  4. Add in the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, cardamom, and ginger and mix everything together until well incorporated.
  5. Use your hands to scoop the dough into portions approximately 2 tbsp 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.
  6. 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.

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.

These 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.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

18

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 56Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 10mgSodium: 139mgCarbohydrates: 11gFiber: 0gSugar: 4gProtein: 2g

This is an approximation of the nutrition offered in this recipe, and is created using a nutrition calculator.

© adapted from Ashley Colbourne
Cuisine: American, Canadian / Category: Cookies & Bars
Previous Post: « Chocolate Shortbread Sandwich Cookies
Next Post: Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. DEB says

    February 22, 2018 at 3:57 pm

    These cookies are amazing! Flavors are lovely and smooth.

    Reply
    • Kris Osborne says

      February 22, 2018 at 8:58 pm

      So glad that you’re enjoying them, Deb!

      Reply
  2. Katharine says

    December 08, 2020 at 1:49 pm

    The flavors are really yummy! But, my cookies more puffed up and kept a fluffy/cakey texture then spread out. Any thoughts?

    Reply
    • Sophie Mackenzie says

      December 11, 2020 at 11:36 am

      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 :)

      Reply

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