Garam Masala Gingerbread Cookies
Hello friends! I recently made some gingerbread cookies flavored with garam masala in place of the usual spice blend. The resulting garam masala gingerbread cookies were so magical – warm and slightly spicy – that I had to share them with you! If you’re looking for a different spin on gingerbread, I can’t recommend these enough.
Like all of my favorite recipes, these cookies only require one bowl and minimal chill time. Rolling them in granulated sugar makes them perfectly sparkly and festive! If you’re looking to mix it up, you could also roll the cookie dough balls in sprinkles or colored sugar. To get a beautiful crackly top, don’t forget to bang your cookie sheets after baking. Really slam that sheet down on the counter – use this as an opportunity to release all your frustration from the week!
A note before getting started – there are lots of different types of garam masala and some are better suited to desserts than others. The one I used in this recipe is a blend my dad brought me from India. It’s made of the following spices: black pepper, cumin, clove, nutmeg, mace, cinnamon, bay leaf, star anise, long pepper, lichen, and dry ginger. It smells primarily of anise and nutmeg, and is noticeably less savory than the other garam masala blend I use on veggies and meat. I don’t recommend using a savory garam masala for this recipe! If you’re unable to find a sweet garam masala blend, try making your own! This recipe is similar to the blend I use.
The Quick Look
| Components | Source/Adapted From | |
| 1 | Garam Masala Gingerbread | Lanibakes |
Garam Masala Gingerbread
Ingredients
- 280 grams all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt omit if using blackstrap molasses
- 1 large egg
- 113 grams unsalted butter melted
- 67 grams granulated sugar + extra sugar for rolling
- 55 grams dark brown sugar
- 107 grams molasses I use blackstrap and it works well – just remember to omit the salt
- 1 teaspoon sweet garam masala
Instructions
- Whisk egg, butter, granulated sugar, molasses, brown sugar, and garam masala in a medium bowl.
- Whisk in the baking soda, baking powder and salt (if using).
- Mix in the flour and stir with a rubber spatula just until the flour disappears.
- Cover the dough and chill the dough for at least 30 min or up to 12 hrs.
- Preheat your oven to 375F and line two baking sheets with parchment.
- Scoop the dough into 12 balls, each about 2 tablespoons.
- Roll each dough ball in granulated sugar and place on the baking sheets. You should be able to fit 6 dough balls per sheet.
- Bake cookies for 5 minutes and then rotate the baking sheets. Bake another 5 minutes. The cookies will puffed, cracked, and just set around edges.
- Remove the pans from the oven and bang them down against the counter HARD to cause the cookies to fall – this will form nice cracking! (Warn your housemates before doing this if you want to avoid scaring the pants off of them, like I often do to my partner)
- Let cookies cool fully on baking sheets before moving them.
What is 280 gall purpose flour, 113 g unsalted butter, 67 g granulated sugar, 55 g dark brown sugar and 107 g molasses??? Thanks Alice
Hi, I don’t understand the question. Sorry!
I am wondering if perhaps @alice didn’t understand that the measurements are by weight? so.. 280 (g) is 280 grams of measured flour? I am wondering that because she didn’t put the space in her question? BTW I came to the site from the link from the taste article , I bet she did too… (which also shows in the “pingback at the top of her question). Anyways… I am venturing to guess that is what the question refers to. 🙂 . PS your baking is a delight, I have long admired your work when I see it on instagram.
Thank you so much!!
@AlicePye Lanibakes uses metric measurements, and even better for her international audience, she gives (for the most part) dry ingredient measurements in grams and liquid ingredient measures in millilitres. Her thoughtfulness means that this recipe is far more accessible to a larger audience, and scales easily as the metric / measurement system allows for this — @Lanibakes, it sounds as if Alice Pye is hoping for ‘cups, teaspoons etc.’ measurements. For example, 280grams All purpose flour=how many ‘cups’
You’re exactly right – thank you for explaining! I also have an answer to the question about baking by weight versus volume on my FAQ page!
This recipe is right up my alley. I’m just waiting for my fancy pants whole nutmeg to arrive in the mail. I’m really looking forward to these. Thank you for sharing it.
I’m so glad you’re make them! Enjoy your fancypants nutmeg 🙂
is treacle the same as molasses? I live in Germany I am not sure where to find molasses
I just did a quick google and it looks like they are the same!
If you love molasses ginger cookies, you’ll love these! The garam masala is a perfect companion to the warm spices. I am thankful the measurements are by weight which makes doubling this recipe very easy (trust me, double the recipe- everyone will want some!) The directions are thoughtful, the spices delicious, and the cookies divine! Another great recipe!
You are so sweet, thank you so much! Baking by weight is the best way to scale recipes up or down for sure 🙂
What is “sweet” garam masala?
I discuss it in the intro to the post! The blend I have is one that has lots of anise and nutmeg.
Good morning/afternoon Lani
I made these yesterday for a Xmas party. I have a scale which made this all so easy (I am in the USA which uses cups etc but a good scale means no guesswork or math). It was so easy to mix up (I even made the Garam Masala using my jarred individual spices) and they tasted great!
I have a question please.
I thought I was pretty careful with the dough measurements. It had about 3 hours in the fridge, and while I eyeballed the “two tablespoons”, I think I was pretty close – they were not massive dough balls, a pretty normal size.
However, the 5 minutes/turn/5 minutes was not enough and the cookies came out looking good externally but still a little gooey in the center. I set them aside to cool, and the second batch I gave an extra two minutes a side and the third batch and extra 2.5 minutes a side. They did not seem “too gooey” when I took those second two batches out.
I then put the first “a little too gooey” batch back in the oven for five minutes at 350 (slightly cooler), tested the bottom and wasn’t sure if that was enough, and then shut the oven off and put them back in for a few minutes in an over that was still hot but turned off.
The batch I tinkered with turned out the best, whereas the other two which had more time were a little too hard after cooling. I am not sure what I did wrong, and the tinkered-batch had just as much time in the oven because I popped them back in after they had cooled off.
Any ideas, please? I am going to try this again – I will make the dough balls a little smaller although I think I did a good job on sizing with the other ones.
I love molasses spice cookies! I just want to get the texture right.
Thank you!!
Hi Beth, thanks for the thoughtful feedback! Every oven is a little different, so having to adjust the bake time up or down a few minutes isn’t unusual. However, it is normal for cookies to seem too gooey when they come out of the oven, since they’ll keep baking as they cool! If your cookies are not gooey at all while hot, they will be much too hard when they cool, so it sounds like you may have overbaked batches 2-3. I recommend baking the cookies until they are just set around the edges but still seem very soft in the center. They will firm up as they cool! You might want to try this for the 1st batch and letting them cool completely before sampling to gauge the texture. If they still seem too soft for you when fully-cooled, you could try increasing the baking time by a few minutes.