Triple Ginger Snaps (just like Trader Joe’s)

Triple Ginger Snaps (just like Trader Joe’s)

00:00 Intro
00:50 Ingredient Prep
02:56 Making the Dough
05:04 Shaping the Cookies
06:12 Baking the Cookies

Makes about 80 cookies (1.5 inches in diameter)

1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
320g unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda (10g)
2.8g salt (1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal Kosher or ½ tsp table salt)
1 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cardamom (optional)
1/2 tsp nutmeg (optional)
28g finely grated fresh ginger (from 2-3 inch piece)
80g finely chopped crystalized ginger
170g unsalted butter (1.5 sticks)
255g dark brown sugar
57g molasses
granulated sugar, for rolling

Ingredient Prep:
Put the egg and the yolk into a small bowl and bring to room temperature.
In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
Measure out all the spices, grate the fresh ginger, and chop candied ginger.

Making the Dough:
Melt the butter in a small pot set over medium heat. Cook until the butter is brown, whisking frequently. Transfer brown butter to the bowl of a mixer and whisk in the dry spices. Let cool for about 2 minutes. Add brown sugar, molasses, and fresh ginger. Mix with a paddle attachment on medium speed until all the sugar is broken up and the mixture is creamy. Add the egg and the yolk and mix on medium speed until absorbed. Add the flour mixture and mix on low until no dry flour remains. Mix in the crystallized ginger. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours, but longer is fine.

Shaping the cookies:
Divide the dough into 10g pieces and shape into balls as shown in the video. The balls can be frozen for future use or baked right away. To freeze: put in the freezer on a baking sheet for 2 hours, then collect into a freezer bag and store in the freezer until needed.

Baking the cookies:
Preheat the oven to 300F (150C) with the racks in the upper-middle and lower-middle positions. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Coat the dough balls in granulated sugar. Arrange balls on prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches of space between them. A half sheet (18x13 inches) will fit about 14 balls. Place 2 baking sheets in the oven. Bake for 10 min. Rotate top to bottom and front to back. Bake until the cookies just begin to darken around the edges, 10 more minutes (12 if starting from frozen). Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough. Store in an airtight container. Cookies will keep up to 2 weeks.

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[susansparke]

Helpful tip for measuring molasses or any other sticky ingredients such as honey, maple syrup, corn syrup, peanut butter, etcetera: thoroughly spray your measuring cup (or bowl if using a scale) with a vegetable oil cooking spray such as "Pam" (or if you don't use those types products, then just lightly oil the vessel with some sort of fat, such as a neutral tasting vegetable oil or butter, etc.) prior to adding the molasses or other sticky ingredient and then when it's time to transfer the sticky ingredient from the original vessel to the next vessel, it just glides right out without a ton of scraping and nothing gets left behind and is wasted. I don't remember where I learned this tip to give appropriate credit, but I've been using this now for a few years and it has been very helpful and speeds up the process. I hope that this helps someone out there and wish all of you happy baking and many thanks to Helen for sharing her knowledge, recipes and lovely personality with all of us! ❤️

[mikealvas]

As an asian who eats ginger literally in almost every dish, use a spoon to peel the skin to make it easier and save a lot more of it. Hope this helps! :)

[forabug]

I know it’s kind of a cop out so not as much ginger is needed, but I add a touch of black pepper and cayenne pepper to my ginger cookiedough to “stretch” the spiciness of ginger. I also like the complexity of flavor that comes from the fruity peppers.

[allthumbs]

Oh, my all time favorite ginger snaps. Even the crumbs are not wasted, sprinkle over vanilla yogurt!

[behbeh]

This is the recipe out of all other ginger cookie recipes that I’m so excited to try out!

[Jupiterne]

Just pulled the last batch out of the oven. They turned out AMAZING and the house smells wonderful. I didn't have any cardamom so instead I added about 1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves. I froze half of the recipe just like you said so I can have these wonderful cookies anytime in a "snap" 😉 Thank you so much!

[katiekenny]

Great video! Box graters have fallen out of popularity, but they make *much*!easier work of ginger than a micro plane. Also, to peel ginger, I use the Chinese technique of scraping it with the side of a spoon.

[extracheese]

Such a great recipe. I made these for my coworkers and they were a hit, also as Helen suggested, great to freeze the dough balls to do up a quick batch anytime. Next is using these cookies as the base for a lime cheesecake :)

[deborahpitrone]

years ago I bought a scoop to make Italian wedding soup. Size 100. Well I make better tiny meatballs with a measuring spoon. I used it with the chilled ginger snap dough the weight of the cookies were 10 thru 12 grams each!!! It now has a special space in the utensil drawer . This is the 2nd time I made these. thank you so much Helen

[rhondabarr]

I used almond flour instead of wheat. They are wonderfully crisp and absolutely delicious. Thank you !!!

[nicoled.]

The recipe I usually make is the same for everything, but the dry spices are a little different: 2 tablespoons ground ginger(yes this is correct), 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon clove, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper(you can also try white pepper instead) and pinch cayenne. We like a little more kick/hot to our cookie. I think we will be making two batches this year. Happy Holidays everyone.

[robbieprice]

BEST gingersnaps every! I thought I had the very best recipe, but it has been replace! These cookies are sublime; do not hesitate making them. I followed the recipe and wouldn't change a thing! Best wishes

[Xxaandrea]

OMG the way you showing of making the cookies so well, energetic. Thank you!

[Rik]

Ginger snaps are hugely popular in the UK so its great to see a good recipe.

[AlejandroMoralesAraya]

I made a batch of these last year and labeled them Snapfire cookies from Dota2. Gave them away at Berlin Major.
Everybody LOVED them. Will do them again 100% thanks for the recipe

[johnenrightjr]

Trader Joe's sells frozen mini cubes of grated ginger. Each cube is about 3.5 grams. So use 8-9 cubes for 28 g.

[idiomattic]

my goodness...I need to make these just for the smell of the browned butter with the spices.

[susansparke]

I am so excited to find this video and I absolutely LOVE the Trader Joe's Triple Gingersnaps Cookies and have long been wanting to find a recipe so that I can make them at home, especially since the nearest Trader Joe's is located 22 miles away in the neighboring county and city, which isn't all that far away, but those cookies are pretty much the reason why I go out of my way to shop there at all once in a blue moon. I had my mom try the Trader Joe's cookies and she enjoyed them as well, so I'm sure that she'd like these too. I wish that my grandma was still alive (she was born in 1919 and passed away in 2018 at age 98) so that I could share these with her. She had the biggest sweet-tooth!!! She loved it whenever I'd bring her something good to eat, whether it was a meal or a special treat. Sometimes those "special treats" like a pretty good sized container of a decadent white chocolate bread pudding (recipe from Southern Lady magazine) that I made and brought over for her never made it to the refrigerator. As we sat and visited, she said that she'd just have a little taste of the bread pudding, but she kept going back for more "little tastes" until she ate the whole darn thing in one sitting!!! I had thought that I had surely sent enough for 3-4 large servings, especially since it was such a rich, dessert, but evidently I was wrong!!! Grandma laughed at herself pretty heartily over that one. 🤣 Oh, how I miss her and our visits... Sometimes when I make her favorites, I find myself still wanting to put a container together to take next door to her house to put a smile on her face and spend time with her. ❤️ Grandma's are so special. ❤️

[Cholosmom]

OMG! My favorite cookie of all the cookies in the world. Thank you so much. I will make these in a few days when I have time. Happy Holiday season to you & your family.

[gaylenoshea]

I made these and they were just perfect! Thank you Helen for another great recipe!