These chocolate gingerbread cookies are soft, chewy ginger-molasses cookies with a touch of cocoa. The cocoa enhances the warm spices for a comforting holiday flavor. Rolled in coarse sugar, they have a pleasant crunchy exterior and a tender center. 
Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies – a Unique Christmas Cookie
If you want a cookie that feels like Christmas but with a twist, these chocolate gingerbread cookies are a great choice. This recipe adapts a classic ginger-molasses cookie by slightly reducing the molasses and swapping some flour for cocoa powder. The chocolate note balances the brown sugar, molasses and warm spices for a richer, slightly more sophisticated gingerbread flavor.
The texture is what makes these cookies special: soft and chewy centers with a delicate crunch from rolling the dough in coarse sugar. I often fold in chocolate chips for extra depth, but the cookies are delicious either way.
My sister makes cutout chocolate gingerbread shapes every year, which are lovely but time-consuming. These chocolate ginger-molasses cookies offer the same festive flavor with much less effort—no rolling, cutting or decorating required.
Baking Tips & Tricks
- Adjust the spice levels to taste. This chocolate version needs slightly less spice than classic ginger-molasses cookies, but increase or decrease to suit your preference.
- Avoid blackstrap molasses; its bitter intensity can overwhelm baked goods. Use unsulphured, light or regular cooking molasses.
- Chill the dough for at least 1–2 hours (the original recipe recommends up to 48 hours) before shaping and rolling in sugar—this helps control spread and develops flavor.
- Use coarse or turbinado sugar for rolling so the crystals remain visible and provide a satisfying crunch.
- You can freeze shaped, sugared dough balls in a freezer bag for up to 2 months. Bake them from frozen, adding 1–2 minutes to the bake time.
- If your cookies don’t spread enough, gently press the tops down before baking to achieve a slightly flatter cookie.
These cookies stand out for their grown-up flavor: the warm gingerbread spices paired with dark chocolate notes create a complex, pleasing taste. The contrast between the crunchy sugared exterior and the chewy interior makes them hard to stop eating.
If you love gingerbread flavors, you might also enjoy other seasonal treats that explore similar flavors in different formats.
Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies
Equipment
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Cookie Sheets
Ingredients
- 2 1/3 cup all-purpose flour (292 grams)
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder (23 grams)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger (use 1 teaspoon if you prefer a milder ginger flavor)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter (170 grams), softened to room temperature
- 1 cup brown sugar (210 grams), packed
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup unsulphured molasses (60 ml) — avoid blackstrap molasses
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup chocolate chips (180 grams), optional
- 1/4 cup coarse sugar (50 grams) for rolling the dough balls
Instructions
- Whisk together the flour, cocoa, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and brown sugar until creamy.
- Mix in the egg, molasses and vanilla extract, then scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in two additions, mixing on low speed until just combined. If using, fold in chocolate chips.
- Cover the bowl and refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour, up to 48 hours.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) or 325°F (170°C) for convection ovens. Line cookie sheets with parchment or silicone mats.
- Pour the coarse sugar onto a small plate. Scoop dough into balls of about 1–1.5 tablespoons each (a cookie scoop helps) and roll each ball in the coarse sugar.
- Place the cookies 1.5–2 inches (3.5–5 cm) apart on the prepared sheets.
- Bake one sheet at a time in the center of the oven for 8–11 minutes, until the tops appear just set.
- Cool the cookies on the sheet for at least 10 minutes, then transfer carefully to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
Notes
- Molasses: Use unsulphured or light molasses; blackstrap is too bitter for this recipe.
- Coarse Sugar: Turbinado or raw sugar works well and stays visible on the baked cookies for extra crunch.
- Chocolate Chips: Dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips both complement these cookies nicely.
- Freezing: After shaping and sugaring, freeze dough balls in a bag for up to 2 months. Bake from frozen, adding 1–2 minutes to the bake time.
- Storage: Store baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Freeze cooled cookies for up to 2 months; thaw in the fridge.
- Nutrition: Nutrition info is an estimate per cookie, assuming 30 cookies from the recipe.
Nutrition
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