Gingerbread crinkle cookies are the kind of holiday cookies that instantly take you to a warm kitchen on a cold winter night. They're soft, chewy and nostalgic, made with familiar warm spices. Rolled in powdered sugar for a classic crinkle top, these cookies are easy to make and hard to pass up.
This gingerbread crinkle cookie recipe start with a box of spice cake mix. Why? Because that's how I first learned to make crinkle cookies. And honestly, the holidays can get really busy, so having a quick and easy recipe on hand means you can still bake something fresh that feels homemade without any extra work.
The only other dessert I make that starts with a box of cake mix is my chocolate bundt cake, and everyone loves that one. I know I could rewrite that recipe from scratch, but sometimes it's just nice to have a few go to recipes that do not require much thought or time. Just simple, delicious treats that are good enough to share.
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Ingredients
- Spice cake mix
- Molasses
- Neutral vegetable oil
- Large eggs
- Ground ginger
- Vanilla
- White sugar (optional, not pictured)
- Powdered sugar
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Step 1: Mix the cookie dough ingredients together until well blended, approximately 90 seconds. With a medium (two tablespoon) cookie scoop, drop dough balls into optional white sugar for a light coating and then in powdered sugar and roll around until well coated in powdered sugar.
Step 2: Place the cookie dough balls coated with powdered sugar on a baking sheet, two inches apart.
Step 3: Bake the cookies at 375 degrees for 7-9 minutes. Allow them to cool on the baking sheet for a minimum of 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire cooling rack.
Substitutions
- Spice cake mix - you can substitute a different flavor of cake mix. But, I love to use spice cake mix as it already contains cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice.
- Molasses and ground ginger - the molasses and ground ginger are the ingredients that really turn the spice cake into gingerbread flavor. If you don't love ginger, you can use less or omit it. The same for the molasses.
- Vegan - to make these cookies vegan, substitute an egg replacer such as Bob's Red Mill egg replacer or use flax eggs. To make 2 flax eggs, mix 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed with 6 tablespoons of water. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes before stirring and using it in place of the eggs.
Equipment
A stand or a hand mixer is helpful, but you can mix these cookies by hand as well.
Storage
Wait until the cookies have cooled completely, then store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 to 4 days.
Next Level Tips
- Crinkle cookies are very festive and are a perfect option for cookie plates and trays!
- Line your baking sheet with parchment paper or a baking mat. Don't use cooking spray with these cookies. The powdered sugar can soak up the cooking spray working against the desired crackle effect.
- The dough can be sticky. Use a cookie scoop to drop the dough balls into the sugar. Roll it quickly until there is a light coating of sugar. Once the dough balls have some sugar on them, they aren't sticky.
FAQ
No, but according to an America's Test Kitchen post called The Cookie Our Whole Staff Loves, rolling the dough balls first in white sugar and then in powdered sugar achieves the best results. They say that the white sugar draws out moisture from the cookie dough more efficiently and makes the cookies more prone to cracking. Until recently, I've usually only rolled crinkle cookies in powdered sugar. I will say that rolling crinkle cookies in white sugar before the powdered sugar creates a prettier cookie as less of the powdered sugar melts into the cookie. And the white sugar creates a delicious crunchy shell around the soft interior that crinkle cookies are famous for.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies
Equipment
- 1 Stand or hand mixer optional
Ingredients
- 1 box of spice cake mix
- ¼ cup molasses
- ⅓ cup neutral vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ cup white sugar optional for coating
- ½ cup powdered sugar for coating
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 ℉. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a baking mat. Don't use cooking spray.
- Add the boxed spice cake mix, molasses, vegetable oil, eggs, ground ginger and vanilla to a mixing bowl. Mix on medium low speed until well combined, about 90 seconds.
- Optional: If using white sugar, add it to a shallow bowl or small plate for rolling. Use a medium cookie scoop (about 2 tablespoons) to drop the dough balls into the white sugar. Roll around for a light coating.
- Add the powdered sugar to a separate shallow bowl or small plate for rolling. Roll the dough ball in powdered sugar until fully covered.
- Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes, until the bottoms are lightly browned.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes before moving them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- Makes 32-36 cookies.
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