Description
Gingerbread Snowballs are delicate, buttery cookies perfectly spiced with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. Rolled in powdered sugar, these soft, festive treats bring the warm flavors of the holidays to your cookie jar. Easy to make and perfect for gifting or holiday parties.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookie Dough
- 1 cup Challenge Unsalted Butter (226g), softened
- ½ cup (57g) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 tablespoon molasses
- 2 ¼ cups (279g) all purpose flour
For Rolling
- Powdered sugar for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat Oven and Prepare Sheets: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper to prevent sticking and ensure even baking.
- Mix Butter and Sugar: Using an electric mixer, beat the softened butter until fluffy, about 20 seconds. This lightens the butter and makes for a tender cookie.
- Add Flavors: Add powdered sugar, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, and molasses to the butter. Mix until the mixture is smooth and evenly combined.
- Add Flour and Form Dough: Gradually add the flour to the mixture. Continue mixing until the dough comes together. It may appear crumbly at first but keep mixing; this can take a few minutes until it forms a cohesive dough.
- Scoop Dough: Use a tablespoon to scoop portions of dough and place them spaced apart on the prepared cookie sheets.
- Bake Cookies: Bake the cookies for 12 minutes or until the bottoms are just slightly brown. This ensures a perfect soft texture inside with a gentle crisp on the outside.
- Cool and Roll in Sugar: Remove from oven and let cookies cool for about a minute until you can handle them without burning. Roll each warm cookie in powdered sugar until fully coated.
- Final Cooling: Place the rolled cookies on a cooling rack to cool completely. Once cooled, re-roll in powdered sugar if desired for extra coating.
Notes
- Using room temperature butter is important for easy mixing and fluffy texture.
- If molasses is unavailable, substitute with dark corn syrup or honey for similar flavor notes.
- Re-rolling cooled cookies in powdered sugar enhances the snowy appearance and sweetness.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.
- These cookies can be frozen before rolling in powdered sugar for longer storage; thaw and then roll in sugar before serving.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 60 kcal
- Sugar: 1 g
- Sodium: 444 mg
- Fat: 4 g
- Saturated Fat: 2 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 6 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 10 mg
