Chewy Gingerbread Snowman Cookies
Yummy Gingerbread Cookies
There’s nothing quite like the smell of gingerbread cookies baking in the oven during the holiday season, warm, cozy, and instantly festive. These Chewy Gingerbread Snowmen Cookies take that classic favorite and add a little magic: soft, spiced cookies with tiny white chocolate snowmen nestled right in the center. They’re playful, adorable, and perfect for holiday baking with kids or gifting to friends and family. These cookies are an elevated version of my classic and simple Chewy Gingerbread Cookie recipe.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
You’ll love this recipe because it’s the perfect balance of soft and chewy gingerbread flavor with a fun, festive twist. The cookies are lightly spiced, melt-in-your-mouth soft, and the white chocolate snowmen make every bite extra special. Plus, they’re easy to make, no complicated techniques, just simple steps and a lot of holiday cheer!
Ingredients
For the Cookies
Unsalted butter
Dark brown sugar
Molasses
Honey
Egg
Vanilla extract
All-purpose flour
Baking soda
Cornstarch
Ground cinnamon
Ground ginger
Ground cloves
Ground nutmeg
Salt
For the White Chocolate Ganache
White chocolate chips or chopped white chocolate
Heavy cream
White food coloring
Tips & Tricks
Prevent runny ganache: Let it cool slightly before piping.
Cookie shaping: Don’t press too hard when making snowmen; the cookies are delicate.
Spice level: Adjust cinnamon, ginger, and cloves to your taste.
Storage: Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days, or freeze decorated cookies for longer.
How to Store Your Gingerbread Snowmen Cookies
To keep your cookies soft and fresh, store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. If you want to make them ahead of time, you can also freeze the baked cookies (without ganache) in a sealed freezer bag for up to 2 months.
For the decorated cookies with ganache, it’s best to store them in a single layer in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Before serving, let them sit at room temperature for a few minutes so the ganache is smooth and creamy again.
Baking is always better with a little fun, and these gingerbread snowmen cookies are the perfect way to bring joy (and sugar!) to your kitchen. If you make these cookies, leave a comment below to let me know how your cookies turned out!
Chewy Gingerbread Snowman Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup of unsalted butter (softened at room temperature)
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar
- ⅓ cup molasses
- 1 egg (room temperature)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 ⅓ cups of all purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 ¾ cup (roughly 300 grams) of white white chocolate chips or bar.
- ½ cup heavy cream.
- White food coloring.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line the cookie sheet with parchment paper. In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment mix the butter and brown sugar on medium-high until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes).
- Use a spatula to scrape down the sides and add the molasses and vanilla extract, mix until just combined.
- Add the egg and mix until just combined.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Then incorporate the dry ingredients into the stand mixer and mix until just combined and no streaks of flour remain.
- Using a medium cookie scoop or spoon (roughly 2 tbsp) scoop out rounded cookies. Place cookies 2 inches apart onto prepared cookie sheets.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes or until the cookies have puffed up and crinkled on the edges but still gooey in the middle. Now, the hard part: before the cookies cool make a snowman indent in the cookie. I use the back of a rounded ½ tbsp and tsp measuring spoon. Carefully indent the center of the cookie to make a snowman without pressing down too hard so they don’t break in half— if a couple do it's the perfect opportunity for a mini taste test.
- Allow the cookies to cool completely before making the white chocolate ganache.
- Making the ganache. In a bowl, put the white chocolate and heavy cream in. The easiest way to make the ganache is to warm the ganache in the microwave, in 30-second intervals warm the mixture, mixing each interval with a spatula. This can be a little tricky, but you should be working until a nice creamy texture (roughly 2 minutes of cooking). Finally, add the white food coloring — we need to put the white coloring because white chocolate melts with a yellow tint.
- Allow the ganache to cool slightly so it is not so runny (roughly 5-10 minutes). Add the ganache to a piping bag, and carefully pour into the snowman indent to fill. The ganache should be nice and creamy, so it fills into the indent smoothly and settles for a smooth look. If the ganache is too warm, it will be very messy and allow it to cool a little longer. If the ganache is thick and not settling into the indent, slightly re-warm the ganache and place into a fresh piping bag.
- Decorate your snowman! You can really be creative here. I use orange sprinkles for the nose and royal icing for the scarf, buttons, face, and arms.
- Finally, enjoy!
- Stand mixer
- Cookie sheet
- Parchment paper
- Cookies scoops
- Wire rack
- Spatula
- Piping bags
Notes
- Make sure to underbake the cookies so they’re nice and gooey.
- These cookies can easily become gooey gingerbread cookies! Just skip the ganache and roll the raw cookies in sugar before baking.