Gingerbread Coffee Cake Cookies
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These easy Gingerbread Coffee Cake Cookies are perfectly spiced, covered in a buttery cinnamon crumb topping and drizzled with vanilla icing!
These soft and easy Gingerbread Coffee Cake Cookies are one of my favorite gingerbread recipes I’ve made yet. These thick cookies are flavored with molasses, brown sugar, cinnamon and plenty of ginger. PLUS they’re covered with a buttery cinnamon crumb topping and drizzled with vanilla icing! They’re super easy to make and perfect for the holiday season.
Love gingerbread? Try my Gingerbread Snickerdoodles, Gingerbread Kiss Cookies or Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies!
Why You’ll Love These Gingerbread Coffee Cake Cookies
- They’re ready in under an hour.
- No chill time. Just scoop and bake the dough right away!
- They’re soft, thick and full of gingerbread flavor.
- They’re perfect for gift giving and will make a great addition to any holiday cookie box!
Ingredient Breakdown
All-purpose flour – this gives the cookies structure.
Baking soda – helps the cookies spread.
Ginger and cinnamon – provides flavor. Feel free to alter the spices to your taste.
Butter – provides flavor and structure. I always recommend using unsalted butter but salted butter works if that’s all you have on hand, just be sure to omit the 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Do not use cold or melted butter.
Brown sugar – sweetens and softens cookies. I used dark brown sugar for extra molasses flavor but light brown sugar will work too!
Unsulphured molasses – adds flavor, sweetness and makes the cookies soft. Do not use blackstrap molasses because it’s too bitter.
Eggs – helps bind the ingredients.
Vanilla extract and salt – enhances flavor. Always use pure vanilla extract instead of imitation for best flavor.
How To Make Gingerbread Coffee Cake Cookies
1. Make the Crumb Topping: in a medium bowl combine the all-purpose flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Add melted butter and mix until well combined. Use clean hands to break into crumbs. Set aside.
2. Make the Gingerbread Coffee Cake Cookies: In a small bowl whisk all-purpose flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
3. Use a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment to cream softened butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Add the molasses, eggs and vanilla extract until just combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl.
5. Add the dry ingredients all at once then mix on low speed until just combined. The dough will be soft but not sticky.
6. Using a 3 tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop dough onto lined baking sheets. Make a slight indent onto each dough ball with the back of the cookie scoop then press about 1 tbsp of the crumb topping into the center of each ball (be sure to adjust the baking time if your cookies are smaller/larger).
7. Bake cookies at 375°F for 10 minutes then cool on the baking sheet.
8. Make the Vanilla Icing: In a small bowl mix the confectioners’ sugar, water and vanilla extract. The icing is thick but you can add a little bit of water at a time until you reach your desired consistency. Drizzle over cooled cookies. Store Gingerbread Coffee Cake Cookies in an airtight container for up to a week at room temperature.
Pro Tips For Gingerbread Coffee Cake Cookies
- Weigh your ingredients using a kitchen scale! Measuring ingredients by volume is not accurate.
- Don’t over mix the dough! Only mix until the dry ingredients are just combined. Over mixing = more gluten development which means tough cookies. We don’t want any tough cookies here!
- Bake one tray at a time on the middle oven rack. This ensures that there is even heat circulation.
What Kind of Molasses Is Best For Gingerbread cookies?
The best kind of molasses to use for gingerbread cookies is unsulphured molasses. I usually use Grandma’s Molasses – either original or robust will work. Do not use blackstrap molasses because it’s too bitter.
More Christmas Cookies You’ll Love
- Hershey Kiss Sugar Cookies
- Shortbread Linzer Cookies
- Buttercream Sugar Cookies
- Christmas Sugar Cookie Bars
- Chocolate Peppermint Crinkle Cookies
- Matcha Christmas Tree Cookies
If you try this recipe then please leave a rating/comment below to let me know how you liked it and feel free to ask any recipe questions you may have! 🙂
Gingerbread Coffee Cake Cookies
Equipment
- Stand mixer or hand mixer
- Baking sheets
- Cookie scoop (I use a 3 tablespoon scoop)
Ingredients
Crumb Topping
- 120 g (1 cup) all-purpose flour
- 66 g (1/3 cup) brown sugar
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 70 g (5 tbsp) unsalted butter, melted
Gingerbread Coffee Cake Cookies
- 480 g (4 cups) all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp ginger
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 226 g (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 200 g (1 cup) brown sugar
- 120 g (1/2 cup) unsulphured molasses
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Vanilla Icing
- 60 g (1/2 cup) confectioners' sugar
- 2 tsp water
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Crumb Topping
- In a medium bowl combine the all-purpose flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Add melted butter and mix until well combined. Use clean hands to break into crumbs. Set aside.
Gingerbread Coffee Cake Cookies
- Preheat oven to 375°F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl whisk all-purpose flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- Use a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment to cream softened butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the molasses, eggs and vanilla extract until just combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl.
- Add the dry ingredients all at once then mix on low speed until just combined. The dough will be soft but not sticky.
- Using a 3 tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop dough onto lined baking sheets. Make a slight indent onto each dough ball with the back of the cookie scoop then press about 1 tbsp of the crumb topping into the center of each ball (be sure to adjust the baking time if your cookies are smaller/larger).
- Bake cookies for 10 minutes then cool on the baking sheet.
Vanilla Icing
- In a small bowl mix the confectioners’ sugar, water and vanilla extract. The icing is thick but you can add a little bit of water at a time until you reach your desired consistency. Drizzle over cooled cookies.
Notes
- Weigh your ingredients using a kitchen scale! Measuring ingredients by volume is not accurate.
- Butter: I recommend using unsalted butter. You can use salted butter, just be sure to omit the 1/2 tsp salt.
- Store Gingerbread Coffee Cake Cookies in an airtight container for up to a week at room temperature.
- Nutrition: the provided nutritional information is an estimate per serving. Please read my Nutrition Disclaimer for more information.
