Sourdough Gingerbread Cookies (Discard Recipe) (2024)

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Welcome in the warmth of the holidays with these Sourdough Gingerbread Cookies, irresistibly soft, chewy, and bursting with festive spices, and of course, sourdough!

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During the holiday season, there’s nothing quite like the timeless charm of classic cookies, and these Sourdough Gingerbread Cookies are a delightful treat that captures the beauty of this special time of year.

What makes them even more remarkable is that they’re crafted using sourdough discard, ensuring no ingredient goes to waste.

These cookies are perfect for family members to gather around the kitchen and create cherished memories together. Roll out the dough and cut it into festive shapes like Christmas trees, gingerbread men, or even a gingerbread house, sparking creativity and joy in the holiday spirit.

One bite and you’ll experience the magic of these cookies – they’re soft and chewy, with just the right amount of crispiness around the edges.

The warm blend of holiday spices will instantly transport you to a cozy, festive atmosphere.

Whether you’re leaving them out for Santa or sharing them with loved ones, Sourdough Gingerbread Cookies are a heartwarming addition to any holiday celebration.

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Why You’ll Love This Recipe:

Soft & Chewy –

Unlike ginger snaps, these are softer sourdough gingerbread cookies. Each bite is chewy with the perfect balance of sweetness and spice.

Classic Cookies –

Sourdough Gingerbread cookies are the ultimate Christmas treats. Their soft, chewy texture and festive shapes make them a delightful centerpiece for any Christmas gathering, bringing joy and flavor to every bite.

Great way to use Sourdough Discard –

I’m always trying to find different ways to put mysourdough discardto good use – and the Christmas cookie tray is where it’s at! FromSourdough Thumbprint Cookies,Sourdough Snowball Cookies, or Sourdough Gingerbread Cookies, sourdough discard will never be wasted in my household.

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Ingredients

Flour –I used all-purpose flour for these sourdough ginger molasses cookies.

Baking Soda –Double check that your baking soda isn’t expired, otherwise they won’t have the proper rise.

Salt –Any unrefined salt will do, but my favorite isRedmond’s unrefined saltfor some extra minerals!

Spices– A blend of cinnamon, ground ginger, cloves, and all-spice brings the perfect flavor combination to these sourdough cookies.

Unsalted Butter –Be sure to use room temperature in order for all of the ingredients to mix properly.

Brown Sugar –Light or dark brown sugar captures the moisture in the cookies and keeps each bite soft and chewy.

Large Egg – Adds moisture to the dough.​

Molasses –I used medium molasses (double-boiled) for this cookie recipe for a richer flavor, but you can use light molasses for a more mild flavor.

Sourdough Discard –For sweet treats, I prefer to use sourdough discard that is no older than 1 week. I use a 100% hydration starter, which is equal parts water and flour.

Supplies

Stand Mixer or Electic Hand Mixer

Large Mixing Bowls

Plastic wrap

Rolling Pin

Cookie Cutters

Baking Sheets

Parchment Paper

Cooling Rack

How to Make Sourdough Gingerbread Cookies

Dry Ingredients

Whisk together flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Set to the side.

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Wet Ingredients

In a bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or in a bowl with a hand mixer, cream butter and brown sugar on medium speed for 3-4 minutes, or until light and fluffy.

Add the egg, molasses, and sourdough starter discard, and mix until combined. It may curdle, but that’s okay.

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Combine and Chill

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until combined. It will be a rather thick and slightly sticky dough. A dry gingerbread dough will often lead to a crumbly and dry cookie.

Divide the dough ball into two even pieces, roll until a smooth ball, and cover each with plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or overnight.

Once the long chill period time is complete, remove the dough from the fridge.

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Roll and Cut

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place parchment paper on a cookie tray.

Roll out one disc at a time on a floured work surface to 1/4 of an inch thick. Use cookie cutters of your choice, and place the unbaked cookie dough on the prepared pan.

Reroll the scraps and continue to cut out additional cookies.

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Bake

For cookies smaller than 4 inches, bake for 9 minutes. For cookies larger than 4 inches, bake for 11 minutes.

These sourdough ginger molasses cookies are soft and chewy. If you’d prefer crispier cookies, cook for additional time. Remember the cookies crisp up while they cool.

Remove the cookies from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack.

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How to Decorate

These Sourdough Gingerbread Cookies are absolutely tasty on their own, but why not add a little extra sweetness and creativity with some royal icing?

Royal Icing

To a medium bowl, add room temperature butter, milk, and 1 cup of powdered sugar to a bowl. Mix until smooth. Then, add the additional cup of powdered sugar and mix again. Add frosting to a piping bag if desired.

Other Ideas

Top the cookies with candies, sprinkles, or melted white chocolate!

How to Store

Leftover cookies can be stored in an airtight container for a couple of days at room temperature.

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Common Questions:

What kind of molasses should I use?

There are three popular types of molasses – regular molasses (light), medium molasses, and blackstrap molasses. Each is made with the same ingredients but the number of times each is boiled is what makes the difference. Blackstrap molasses is boiled 3 times, which creates a very dark and bitter molasses. I prefer using medium molasses for a deep, rich flavor, but one that isn’t so bitter.

What’s the difference between Sourdough Gingersnap Cookies and Gingerbread Cookies?

Just like the name says, Gingersnap Cookies tend to be crispier and should “snap” when bitten into. A gingerbread cookie tends to be a soft and chewy bite.

Gingersnap cookies are also often rolled into traditional rounds and covered in granulated sugar, whereas Gingerbread cookies are traditionally rolled and cut into different shapes and decorated with icing.

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Happy baking!

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More Sourdough Discard Recipes Like This:

Sourdough Thumbprint Cookies

Peppermint Sourdough Brownies

Sourdough Snowball Cookies

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Soft and Chewy Sourdough Gingerbread Cookies

Yield: 24 cookies

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 8 minutes

Chilling Time: 3 hours

Total Time: 3 hours 23 minutes

Welcome in the warmth of the holidays with these Sourdough Gingerbread Cookies, irresistibly soft, chewy, and bursting with festive spices, and of course, sourdough!

Ingredients

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour (420g)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda (5g)
  • 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon (7g)
  • 1 Tablespoon ground ginger (4g)
  • 1/2 teaspoon allspice (2g)
  • 1/2 teaspoon cloves (2g)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt (4g)
  • 1/2 cup butter, room temperature (1 stick)
  • 1 cup light brown sugar, packed (250g)
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup dark molasses (90g)
  • 1/2 unfed sourdough starter, discard (140g)

Royal Icing

  • 2 Tablespoon butter, room temperature
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons milk

Instructions

Dry Ingredients

1. Whisk together 3 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 Tablespoon ginger, 1 Tablespoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon allspice, 1/2 teaspoon cloves, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a large mixing bowl. Set to the side.

Wet Ingredients

2. In a bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or in a bowl with a hand mixer, cream 1 stick of butter and 1 cup brown sugar on medium speed for 3-4 minutes, or until light and fluffy.

3. Add one egg, 1/4 cup molasses, and 1/2 cup sourdough starter discard, and mix until combined. It may curdle, but that's okay.

Combine and Chill

4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until combined. It will be a rather thick and slightly sticky dough. A dry gingerbread dough will often lead to a crumbly and dry cookie.

5. Divide the dough ball into two even pieces, roll until a smooth ball, and cover each with plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or overnight.

6. Once the long chill period time is complete, remove the dough from the fridge.

Roll and Cut

7. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place parchment paper on a cookie tray.

8. Roll out one disc at a time on a floured work surface to 1/4 of an inch thick. Use cookie cutters of your choice, and place the unbaked cookie dough on the prepared pan.

9. Reroll the scraps and continue to cut out additional cookies.

Bake

10. For cookies smaller than 4 inches, bake for 9 minutes. For cookies larger than 4 inches, bake for 11 minutes.

11. Remove the cookies from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack.

For Frosting:

12. To a medium bowl, add room temperature butter, milk, and 1 cup of powdered sugar to a bowl. Mix until smooth. Then, add the additional cup of powdered sugar and mix again. Add frosting to a piping bag if desired.

Notes

These sourdough ginger molasses cookies are soft and chewy. If you'd prefer crispier cookies, cook for additional time. Remember the cookies crisp up while they cool.

Leftover cookies can be stored in an airtight container for a couple of days at room temperature.

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram

Sourdough Gingerbread Cookies (Discard Recipe) (2024)

FAQs

Why are my gingerbread cookies hard? ›

Keep in mind that the longer the cookies bake, the harder and crunchier they'll be. For soft gingerbread cookies, follow my suggested bake times. Allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet. Transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.

What is sourdough discard? ›

Both active sourdough starter and sourdough discard is a mixture of flour and water that has been fermented. Sourdough discard is any portion of the sourdough starter that is not used to make bread or to sustain your mother starter.

Is gingerbread cookie dough supposed to be crumbly? ›

Add molasses and vanilla and beat until completely incorporated. Reduce mixer speed to low and add flour mixture until thoroughly combined, about 1 minute. Dough should be soft (not dry or crumbly) but not sticky.

Why are my gingerbread men spreading? ›

If there isn't enough flour to hold that melted fat, the cookies will over-spread. Spoon and level that flour or, better yet, weigh your flour. If your cookies are still spreading, add an extra 2 Tablespoons of flour to the cookie dough.

Should gingerbread cookies be soft or crunchy? ›

Should gingerbread cookies be hard or soft? Soft gingerbread biscuits are ideal. They ought to be flexible. However, they should still be somewhat elastic, and if you hold them too firmly because you're so excited to eat them, you might even be able to leave your fingerprints on the cookie!

What happens if you add too much butter to gingerbread cookies? ›

An excessive amount of butter makes it where the flour is unable to absorb the combined fat, which causes the cookie to spread too widely and the sugar to carbonize more easily because it's surrounded by too buttery a dough.

When should you throw out a sourdough discard? ›

I recommend keeping sourdough discard for about one week, but I do know others who keep it for much longer. After one week, there is a higher risk of mold or bad bacteria growing on the discard.

Can you eat straight sourdough discard? ›

Yes you can use sourdough discard straight from the fridge, you don't need to let it come to room temperature if you don't want to. What is this?

How quickly do you need to use sourdough discard? ›

Remember, you can't use the discard from your homemade sourdough starter for the first 7 days. You can use sourdough discard in all kinds of sourdough discard recipes, including these no wait sourdough recipes, overnight sourdough discard recipes and sourdough discard recipes that use up a lot of discard.

Why are my gingerbread cookies puffy? ›

Q: Why are my cookies so puffy and cakey? Whipping too much air into the dough. That fluffy texture you want in a cake results from beating a lot of air into the room temperature butter and sugar, and it does the same for cookies. So don't overdo it when you're creaming together the butter and sugar.

How do you moisten gingerbread cookie dough? ›

Dry – “Dry” or “Crumbly” dough is a product of over-mixing or using too much of any ingredient during the mixing process. This can be reversed by adding one to two tablespoons of liquid (water, milk or softened butter) to your mix.

What is the difference between gingerbread cookies and molasses cookies? ›

Texturally, gingerbread cookies are usually a bit thinner and less soft (depending on the recipe). One of the more obvious differences here is that gingerbread cookies are typically rolled out and cut into shapes and iced while molasses cookies are rolled in sparkling sugar.

Should gingerbread dough be chilled before baking? ›

Mistake #2: Not resting your dough

After the gingerbread is cut out, Lomas recommends putting it into the fridge for at least 30 minutes and up to three days. Chilling the dough before it goes into a hot oven gives the butter a chance to firm up and reduces how much it spreads when baking.

How long will gingerbread cookies stay fresh? ›

If you like, decorate as desired with royal icing, and dry completely before storage (this can take 12-24 hours depending on thickness of design, ambient humidity, and air flow). With or without frosting, the gingerbread cookies will last up to 3 weeks at cool room temperature in an airtight container.

How do you keep gingerbread from getting hard? ›

“There are some gingerbread recipes that are hard right after baking and need to sit for a few days to soften. Molasses and honey hardens gingerbread, but as the sugar absorbs moisture, it will get softer.”

Why are my cookies hard instead of chewy? ›

Hard cookies: you are over mixing, baking too long, baking at too high a temperature, or some combination of these. Cakey cookies: not enough brown sugar, too much or too little egg, too much flour, maybe you used baking powder instead of baking soda?

What is the trick to soften hard cookies? ›

Another way to soften cookies is by placing the cookies in an airtight container with a damp paper towel. The paper towel will release moisture and help to soften the cookies without making them too soft or mushy. Another way is to place the cookies in a plastic bag with a slice of apple or a damp tea towel.

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