Calling all my sourdough bakers, it’s time to make some sourdough gingersnap cookies! It’s almost time to start thinking about your holiday baking. These sourdough gingersnaps are a great way to use up some of your extra sourdough discard, or your active sourdough starter! Either way, they’re going to be so great on your table for the holiday season.

So, if you like more of a spicy/crispy sweet treat, these are absolutely for you. I know a lot of people in my family prefer “crispier” sweets, one that has a nice crunch to them. They love soft and chewy cookies as well, but I know their heart lies with the crispy texture. Although my husband couldn’t care less about what I make, he’s just happy to have made-from-scratch food around all the time.

I’m so excited to get started making these ginger snaps. So, grab your favorite warm beverage, and let’s get into how you can make your classic cookies for the most wonderful time of year.

Why Make Sourdough Gingersnap Cookies?

Not only are they delicious but sourdough in itself is just good for you. When you make these gingersnap cookies, they even offer a bunch of nutritional benefits! According to LiveStrong.com, “They Offer Iron, Folate, Calcium and Vitamin E, One ounce of ginger snap cookies delivers 1.81 milligrams of iron, a nutrient that helps your body make red blood cells and produce energy, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center.”

Additionally, they’re such a good treat to have around. They really get me into the Christmas season with the spicy scent of cinnamon and ginger in our home. It makes our home cozy all around. Such a delicious holiday cookie.

These are such a wonderful balance of crunchy, crispy, and savory.

What You Will Need For This Recipe

So, there are not too many ingredients and tools needed for this perfect cookie recipe.

For the ingredients, you will need:

All-purpose flour

Celtic sea salt (or regular sea salt if you have that)

Ground ginger

Ground cinnamon

Sourdough starter discard

Regular molasses (not blackstrap molasses)

Unsalted butter

For the sugar mixture to roll the dough in:

Raw sugar or granulated sugar

Cinnamon (optional if you would like your cookies with a little more spice)

Tools and equipment you will need for this recipe:

Stand mixer (or hand mixer)

A large bowl (or medium bowl will work too)

Parchment paper

​Baking sheet

Cooling rack

See, not that many items are required for this recipe! Now that you have all of your things gathered together, let’s start making!

How To Make The Sourdough Gingersnap Cookies

To start, add your molasses, sugar, sourdough starter discard (or active starter), and butter to a bowl of a stand mixer. If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can use your hand mixer in a medium-large bowl. Once those four ingredients have been mixed, you can now add the rest of your ingredients. Combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients (your butter mixture). Flour, salt, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and baking soda.

Make sure you mix all of the ingredients well until they are thoroughly incorporated. Then, cover your bowl with plastic wrap and place your bowl of dough in the refrigerator for – 30 minutes to 1 hour. Additionally, you could leave this dough in the fridge overnight if you would like. I left mine in the fridge for 30 minutes and they turned out lovely!

While your dough is cooling (if you’re only doing 30-45 minutes in the fridge), preheat your oven to 325 and prepare your baking sheet with parchment paper.

Once your dough is cold, spoon out 1-2 teaspoons of the sourdough gingersnap cookie dough and roll it into a ball.

Roll the dough around in your sugar bowl and place on your prepared baking sheets. Flatten the cookies while they’re on the baking sheet. If you’d like thinner and crispier gingersnaps, flatten them even more with a cup or measuring up. (This step is optional, you can also leave your cookies in a ball and they’ll still turn out great like mine)

Place the sourdough cookies into the oven for 11-13 minutes. Also, if they are still too soft for your liking, return them to the oven for an additional 2 minutes. Bake until you’ve reached the crispness you’ve desired.

Optional Steps:

This step is optional, but, I like to add a little razzle-dazzle to my cookies sometimes. So, you can lightly dust them with powdered sugar to give them a “snowy” look. These make for some delicious cookies that are perfect for your Christmas family events. They’re so pretty and savory.

​Also, if I feel that I would like a warmer (more “spicy”) cookie, I will add in more warm spices. If you would like to do that, just add in a little extra teaspoon or so of each ingredient until you get the taste you desire.