These gingerbread latte cookies are incredibly soft and chewy with a crunchy sugar coating and a drizzle of icing. They are full of spiced gingerbread and espresso flavour to elevate these classic holiday cookies!
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Why you'll love this recipe
- Soft and chewy texture. These cookies have the most perfect chewy texture in the middle thanks to the molasses, brown sugar, and slightly underbaked centers.
- Strong gingerbread and coffee flavour. They have everything you love in classic gingerbread cookies and more.
- Sparkly sugar coating. The sugar adds a bit of crunch and looks amazing.
- Simple icing. A drizzle of icing dresses these cookies up but they taste and look just as good without it - it's up to you!
Tools
- Electric hand mixer - A hand mixer will make mixing cookie dough much easier and quicker than doing it by hand. It's a kitchen essential that I'd highly recommend picking up if you bake often.
- 3-tablespoon cookie scoop - These cookies spread quite a bit so you can use a smaller cookie scoop if you'd like. I would recommend using a 3-tablespoon or 4-tablespoon scoop for large cookies or a 2-tablespoon scoop for smaller cookies.
- Baking sheet - You'll need a baking sheet or baking tray to bake your cookies. You likely already have this in your kitchen.
Ingredients
As always, the fullย recipe cardย with ingredient amounts and instructions is at the bottom of this post! Keep reading for more details on each ingredient or skip ahead to theย recipe.
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Espresso powder - Espresso powder or instant coffee powder is what gives these gingerbread latte cookies the "latte" or coffee flavour. It's subtle but So good.
- Ground cinnamon - This blend of spices is a must for the classic spiced gingerbread cookie flavour.
- Ground ginger
- Ground cloves
- Ground nutmeg
- Salt
- Unsalted butter -ย Your butter should be softened to room temperature before you use it.
- Brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Molasses - Molasses is the thick, dark syrup used in gingerbread for its flavour, colour, and texture. Use cooking molasses (a blend of blackstrap and fancy molasses), light molasses, or dark molasses. Don't use blackstrap molasses as it's thicker and more bitter than the other kinds.
- Egg -ย This should also be at room temperature.
- Vanilla extract
- Powdered sugar - You'll just need a bit for the icing. If you're not adding the icing, you can omit this.
- Milk -ย You just need a tiny bit for the icing. Use any dairy or non-dairy milk.
How to make gingerbread latte cookies
Prep -ย Preheat the oven to 350ยฐF. Line a baking sheet with parchment and set aside.
Dry mixture -ย In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, espresso powder, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.
Cream butter and sugars -ย In a large mixing bowl, use an electric hand mixer to beat softened butter on medium speed until it becomes very creamy and pale in colour. Add the granulated sugar and brown sugar and cream together until fluffy.
Wet mixture -ย Add the molasses, egg, and vanilla extract and beat together until combined.
Add dry to wet mixture -ย Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until the cookie dough is just combined.
Scoop cookie dough -ย Use a 3-tablespoon cookie scooper to scoop the cookie dough and release it on a cutting board lined with a scrap sheet of parchment paper.
Chill - Chill the whole board of cookie dough in the fridge for about 15 minutes, just until the outside is dry to the touch so that they're easier to roll in your hands without sticking.
Roll in sugar: Roll each cookie dough ball in between your hands until they form a perfect ball. Roll each ball in granulated sugar until they're all coated. Place the balls on your lined baking sheet, leaving about 2" in between each ball to allow for spreading.
Bake -ย Bake cookies for 10-11 minutes or until they're puffy but still very soft. After taking them out of the oven, bang the baking sheet against a wire rack once to release the puffiness and create cracks on the cookies.
Cool -ย Let them cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Mix -ย In a small bowl, stir together powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract until it becomes a thick but pourable consistency.
Drizzle -ย Transfer the icing to a piping bag or use a spoon to drizzle it on top of the cookies.
Storage
These gingerbread latte cookies can be stored in an airtight container or covered in plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Freezing
These cookies can be frozen by placing them in an airtight container, freezer bag, or wrap them well in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 1 month.
Thaw at room temperature for several hours.
Tips for success
- Use room temperature ingredients. This is always important when the recipe calls for creaming butter and sugar together. Softened butter is much easier to work with and makes the best texture of cookies.
- Use a cookie scooper. Using a cookie scoop to portion out your cookie dough ensures all your cookies are the same size. I would recommend having at least two different sizes on hand: a 3 or 4-tablespoon scoop for large cookies and a 1 or 1.5-tablespoon scoop for small cookies like blossom cookies.
- Don't overbake the cookies. These cookies should still be very soft to the touch when you take them out of the oven. The outside of the cookies should be set and dry but they should be puffy and soft. The cookies will continue baking on the baking sheet and the soft middle will set as they cool into a super chewy and satisfying texture.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, the baked cookies can be made ahead of time by 1-2 days or frozen for up to 1 month. The cookie dough can be made ahead of time, rolled into balls, and frozen for up to 1 month. Thaw in the overnight or at room temperature for several hours. Bake from room temperature to ensure they spread properly.
More cookie recipes to try
- Earl Grey Sugar Cookies
- Easy Gingerbread Cookies
- Gingerbread Sandwich Cookies with Ginger Cream Filling
- Hazelnut Linzer Cookies
- Butter Cookie Box (10 cookies from 1 dough)
- Chocolate Blossom Cookies
Recipe
Gingerbread Latte Cookies
Equipment
Ingredientsย ย
Cookies
- 250 g all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon espresso powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ยผ teaspoon ground cloves
- ยผ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ยผ teaspoon salt
- 150 g unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 100 g brown sugar
- 50 g granulated sugar
- 100 g cooking molasses
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
For rolling
- 30 g granulated sugar
Icing (optional)
- 40 g powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon milk, dairy or non-dairy
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructionsย
Cookies
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350ยฐF. Line a baking sheet with parchment and set aside.
- Dry mixture: In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, espresso powder, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.
- Cream butter and sugars: In a large mixing bowl, use an electric hand mixer to beat softened butter on medium speed until it becomes very creamy and pale in colour. Add the granulated sugar and brown sugar and cream together until fluffy.
- Wet mixture: Add the molasses, egg, and vanilla extract and beat together until combined.
- Add dry to wet mixture: Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until the cookie dough is just combined.
- Scoop cookie dough -ย Use a 3-tablespoon cookie scooper to scoop the cookie dough and release it on a cutting board lined with a scrap sheet of parchment paper.
- Chill - Chill the whole board of cookie dough in the fridge for about 15 minutes, just until the outside is dry to the touch so that they're easier to roll in your hands without sticking.
- Roll in sugar: Roll each cookie dough ball in between your hands until they form a perfect ball. Roll each ball in granulated sugar until they're all coated. Place the balls on your lined baking sheet, leaving about 2" in between each ball to allow for spreading.
- Bake: Bake cookies for 10-11 minutes or until they're puffy but still very soft. After taking them out of the oven, bang the baking sheet against a wire rack once to release the puffiness and create cracks on the cookies.
- Cool: Let them cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Icing (optional)
- Mix: In a small bowl, stir together powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract until it becomes a thick but pourable consistency.
- Drizzle: Transfer the icing to a piping bag or use a spoon to drizzle it on top of the cookies.
Celine says
wow this recipe is 10000/10!! so easyyyy, plus the flavour of gingerbread and coffee (my favs) work so well with each other! super soft and chewy the perfect cookie
Ellie says
Iโve made these with both regular and gluten free 1:1 flour and both turned out absolutely perfect!! The gluten free cookies maybe didnโt puff up quite as much but the flavor and texture was still amazing, one of the best cookies Iโve ever made !!
Robin says
This is a wonderful recipe that turned out exactly as described. I ended up with 13 cookies and just the right amount of drizzle for each one. Iโll definitely be making these again!
KB says
The batter was far too thin. I followed the recipe very closely and used a food scale, but even after chilling the dough was sticky to the point of being unworkable. I added over twice the amount of flour called for and it was still very sticky.
sheerah says
Hey, i dont know what I'm doing incorrectly.. i used a kitchen scale and used every ingredient, no subs or adjustments, fluffed the flour and made sure it was correct grams, same with room temp butter, definitely not too warm, i took it out 30m before starting and still had to cube it for the beaters. used original grandmas molasses (says molasses not blackstrap) chilled the scooped balls in fridge, everything seemed fine except mine were a little lighter and smoother looking than photos and after baking the cookies look nothing like yours. they are way thin and they are too dark on outside and not done enough in the middle to be moved after 10 minutes. I used a 2 tbsp cookie scoop not 3. I used 10 minutes as the bake start point. this kinda happens to every cookie recipe I ever make and I cant figure out wth is going on. I've gotten rid of silicon mats to use parchment, gotten better baking trays, froze cookie dough and baked them right from the freezer, still same results over different ovens. different butter brands too. I've tried to microwave a glass of water, dumped it out and put the stick of butter in it for some minutes to expedite and not over room temperaturize it.. I have no one else to ask. x.x
Anonymous says
This sounds a lot like what happens when flour has gone bad. Maybe try again with a fresh new bag of flour?
Kirstin Buchheit says
I loved these! They turned out amazing! I added a little cinnamon to my glaze for extra spice โบ๏ธ
Christa says
Hi! I've never heard of cooking molasses, would blackstrap or unsulphured work?
Gail Ng says
Unsulphured just means it doesn't contain preservatives (i.e. there is unsulphured blackstrap molasses too). You can use any kind of unsulphured light, dark, or fancy molasses! I haven't tested these with blackstrap but I would think it would be too bitter.
monica says
Is the Espresso Powder needed? is there another substitute? I cannot find espresso powder ๐
Gail Ng says
You can also use instant coffee powder! Or you can omit it! They'll just be gingerbread cookies instead of gingerbread LATTE cookies but still taste good.
Destiny says
The cookies were delicious but even though I followed the recipe I don't know why it happened to me but the cookies kinda looked like how they went into the oven and didn't have the cracks and didn't spread also they were very dry
Joyce says
Delicious cookies! I usually only eat Disneyland gingerbread cookies and Iโve been looking for a similar recipe. This recipe is better than the $10 Mickey gingerbread cookie.
Petal Ortiz says
Tastes exactly like a gingerbread latte the glaze is so good!