Eleven ingredients and about half an hour of work, with a thirty-minute chill in the middle that is not optional.
These are finished the moment they leave the oven. No icing, no glaze, no chocolate — the coarse sugar is the whole of the outside.
Why This Recipe Works
- Chilling the dough for thirty minutes stops thick balls spreading into thin discs.
- Rolling in coarse sugar dries the surface, which is what makes it crack.
- 375 degrees sets the outside fast while the middle is still soft.
- Stopping at twelve minutes leaves the centres soft rather than crisp.
- Five minutes on the pan lets a soft-centred cookie firm enough to lift.
Ingredient Notes
- Unsulphured molasses
- A third of a cup, and the reason the cookies are as dark as they are. It also keeps them soft-centred.
- Coarse granulated sugar
- Half a cup for rolling, applied generously. This is the outside of the cookie and the reason the tops crack.
- Ground ginger, cinnamon and cloves
- Two teaspoons, one teaspoon and a quarter teaspoon. All dried and all in the dough — there is no crystallised ginger anywhere.
- Certified gluten-free flour blend
- Two cups with xanthan gum. The blend must be a certified one, which is the whole of the dietary claim.
How to Make It
Dry spices whisked together
Whisk flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, baking soda, and salt.
Cream, then egg and molasses
Cream butter and brown sugar. Beat in egg and molasses, then mix in the dry ingredients.
Chill thirty minutes
Chill dough 30 minutes. Heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and line baking sheets.
Thick balls, coated generously
Roll dough into thick balls, coat generously in coarse sugar, and space apart.
Ten to twelve minutes, cracked and soft
Bake 10 to 12 minutes until the tops crack deeply but the centers remain soft. Cool on the pan 5 minutes.
Nothing added afterwards
Do not add icing, glaze, chocolate, cream cheese, or crystallised ginger pieces.
Success Tips
- Do not skip the chill; warm dough spreads and the tops go smooth.
- Coat generously — a thin dusting of sugar will not crack.
- Take them out while the centres still look underdone; they set on the pan.
Serving Ideas
Eighteen thick dark cookies, stacked on a white plate, their tops heavily cracked under a coarse sugar coating and their centres still soft.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get the tops to crack?
Coarse sugar coated on generously, and a hot 375-degree oven. The sugar dries the surface so it sets before the middle finishes rising, and the top splits.
Should they be iced?
No. Step 6 leaves out icing, glaze, chocolate, cream cheese and crystallised ginger.
Mine came out crisp — what went wrong?
Most likely a minute or two too long. They come out at ten to twelve minutes with the centres still soft and firm up on the pan.
