I recently discovered that my husband’s favorite cookie is gingersnaps. Why I have not figured this out prior to our fourth year of marriage is beyond me, but with this discovery began the quest to develop a delicious healthy variety. This is a very adaptable recipe depending upon your desires – bake for a shorter time for a soft, moist gingerbread style of cookie, or bake longer for a crisp gingersnap…whatever suits your fancy. Whatever your preference, this cookie is rich in flavor and nutrition, especially with the high iron and calcium content of molasses to the powerful effectiveness in ginger for preventing cancer to migraines, not to mention the many health benefits of coconut oil. Enjoy!
- 3/4 cup coconut oil, solid state
- 3/4 – 1 cup sucanat/rapadura
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup blackstrap molasses
- 2 cups whole wheat flour, sprouted is preferred (or replace 1 cup with unbleached white flour for a higher rise)
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
2. In a large bowl, cream the coconut oil and sucanat/rapadura.
3. Add the egg, and whisk until incorporated and somewhat light and fluffy. Pour in the molasses.
4. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger and cinnamon. Add to the liquid mixture and stir until combined.
5. Scoop by tablespoon into small 1 inch balls. Dip each ball into additional sucanat/rapadura if desired.
6. Place on cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until cookies have spread and tops have cracked.
Makes approximately 3 dozen cookies.
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What could I replace the coconut oil with? I don’t currently have any and would love to try this recipe. Thanks!
Butter would be the next best thing.
I LOVE THESE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My mother in law (Sandy), who left a comment above, made these and they were great. I am not a huge ginger snap fan, but I could eat these over and over again.
I hadn’t made gingersnaps in so long because I had lost my favorite recipe and hadn’t found a suitable substitute. Well, this grandma made them this past week (with unsprouted whole wheat flour),but substituted 1/4 cup ground flaxseed and 1/4 cup wheat germ for 1/2 cup of the flour. So, so good…my “kids” and grandkids loved them. The next time I will work in some fresh ginger (I keep mine in the freezer) for even more “ginger kick” and try substituting a little applesauce for 1/4 cup of the succanat, and see if they keep their crispness.
To respond to Meloney about using fresh ginger: the usual rule of thumb for spices is to use twice as much fresh as dried, but ginger is so intense, I’ll substitute it in incremental steps
on susequent batches and chop it finely as Lindsey suggested.
Just made them! They are really good! This was my first time to try sprouted wheat flour. I have been wanted to venture into this whole new world and now I am planning on doing this with my bread and on my oats as well.
The only thing that was a little frustrating was that after the wheat berries were dried (dehydrator @ 120 for about 14 hours) they did not go through my nutrimill at all. The only thing that I could think of was that the “tails” were pretty long and maybe prevented them from going inside? I know that they were dry because I put a couple in my mouth to see if they were dry. They were very crunchy. Any thoughts???
I ended up putting them in my little coffee grinder and then putting the ground berries back into my nutrimill for a finer flour.
However, the end result was fantastic! I love gingersnaps and now I love them even more knowing that they are much better for you.
Thanks Lindsay!
Did you try the blender?
No I haven’t yet. I have a Vitamix but don’t have the dry canister. You think it will work with the one I have? I have 9 cups of wheat berries sprouting right now. I am using this for the flour in making my bread. I am so glad that I have finally taken the sprouting plunge. It is a little more work but WELL worth it!
By the way, I tasted the sprouted wheat berries and they are soooo good! Pretty sweet.
Blessings!
Joanna
I would definitely give it a try.
For an even higher kick of iron and b vitamins I sometimes will replace 1/2 of the ww flour with sorghum flour, or if I am making them for my daughter (she is gluten intolerant) I’ll go whole sorghum. You would have to cut back on the sugar slightly because it is naturally sweet, I love it though and it is in the “whole grain” family!
Lindsay,
Aaron’s grandma Edmonds favorite cookie was gingersnaps too. She made them all the time, always had them at her house and would always share them when company came over. I bet that is where he got his love for gingersnaps. P.S. She LOVED dunking them in coffee!
Aaron always tells me about that so I assume that is why he loves them so! Good memories…
Spot on, Rebecca. I had forgotten about the coffee but I will always remember the 7up. Such great memories…
I made these tonight and they were delicious. I don’t think that I will put the sucanat on the outside next time because they were a little too sweet but other than that the flavor was amazing. Thanks for the recipe! My son loves ginger snaps!
Thanks Lindsay for this excellent recipe. This is actually the same recipe I found on allrecipes.com called Grandma’s Gingersnaps and they were delicious, only that recipe uses white flour, white sugar and butter. I’m so glad you posted this with the healthier substitutions. I don’t have sucanat/rapadura, I have not ventured there yet but I did use brown sugar instead of white, I know that’s probably not much better but I’m hoping it’s just a smidgeon better. I’m currently thinking about ordering sucanat since reading your blog and thinking about soaking but it seems a little overwhelming right now. I have had a jar of Spectrum Organic Coconut Oil in my pantry for over 6 months! I bought it because of you but have yet to use it, I don’t really know why. But the plastic wrap seal got broken today!!! I made your cookies, the kids love them, I ate 1/2 of one and it was really good (I’m on a diet right now). And I’m bringing the rest to swim lessons tonight for a mom there who is 7 weeks pregnant and having the worst nausea, she can’t keep anything down and has no appetite. I’m hoping that at least she can eat these without regret. Thanks again Lindsay, I love your blog. April
It is funny you post this. Just the other day I found out my husband’s favorite cookie is molasses – i’ve known him for 7 years! This cookie may just do the trick since it has molasses in it, thanks!
Ginger is such a help with my “funky tummy” during my pregnancy….I know what cookies we will be trying next here! I use coconut oil all the time and have never used it in it’s solid state. Nice to not have to warm it in the dehydrator first. One less step is always appreciated!
Oh those look delish,. Ginger snaps are a favorite of mine.
If you do replace the sugar or sucanat how do you modify the rest of the recipe? Is there some sort of rule of thumb?
Thanks for posting this! I bet using fresh ginger would take them to a whole new level!
Oh, and coconut oil has such a wonderful buttery flavor in baked goods! We finally tried it in pancakes and now they don’t even need syrup! Our favorite use so far, though, is for popping popcorn! So delicious!
Emily – I’ve hears it recommended that you should have less than 25 grams of added sweetener a day and while natural sugars like sucanat and honey are better than white sugar they’re still sweeteners. Try using applesauce, dates or prunes to sweeten things like baked goods but I know I’ve found that the less sweetener I use the less I crave and need to make things taste sweet!
I was wondering about the fresh ginger… would you use an equal amount of fresh ginger as you would ground? I love love love fresh ginger,,, so we have it all the time. Just curious if you or anyone knows… thanks:)
I have not personally tried it with fresh ginger. You would have to make sure it was extremely well chopped to avoid the strong pieces of ginger and allowing it to incorporate well.
they sound so yummy! I’m on vacation right now but I can’t wait to make them when i get home!
Lindsay, I am trying to cut sugar and white flour out of my diet entirely. I’m wondering if you know – does that attempt mean that sucanat is ok, or is that just “sugar” under a different name?
I made your green smoothie recipe for breakfast yesterday. It was delicioius!
That looks good. I would imagine the coconut oil would provide some nice moisture to the cookies when using whole wheat flour. My Mom used to make the cookies when I was growing up but I haven’t made them since. I remember how nice the house smelled and how good they tasted. I love cooking and baking with coconut oil. I keep some in the bathroom and also use it as a make up remover and as an anti-wrinkle cream (it’s amazing for that!).
As for your husband, isn’t it fun to discover new things after so many years! I love that!
Thanks so much for the recipe. We, too, love gingersnaps. I have an addiction to ginger, really, and we’ve even made ginger ice cream. I use coconut oil for a few things, but I haven’t baked with it. I look forward to making that change. (Actually, I think my daughter baked with it after reading one of your posts recently, but I have yet to venture there.)
Blessings to you!