These soft and chewy Spice Cookies are delicious with warm spices and a bold ginger kick, and the recipe is so easy to make. The cookies are perfect for fall and winter, and look beautiful on holiday cookie platters!
These soft and chewy Spice Cookies are just the most delightful thing! They’re perfect for fall and winter, offering some cozy warmth here in the Midwest. Think Thanksgiving dessert buffet, Christmas treats platter, or simply a spiced cookie wedge with a cup of hot tea while you snuggle with a blanket and a book. Pair these with Cream Wafer Cookies and Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies for a gorgeous little variety of cookies this holiday season!
Why This Spice Cookie Recipe is Absolutely Irresistible
Our friend Rachel brought these beautiful spiced cookie wedges to a Christmas potluck many years ago…and her platter was the one I couldn’t help returning to again and again! I was so happy when she shared the recipe with me, as it checks off all the spice cookie boxes for me. Here’s why I can’t resist making – and eating – these cookies:
- Classic holiday flavor — with extra ginger for good measure. Brown sugar, orange peel, and warm spices create a fragrant cookie with a noticeable kick of ginger in each bite. It’s a fabulous spicy surprise! (Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies are also a must-make for ginger fans.)
- Easy to make. Some holiday cookie recipes are a labor of love, with an emphasis on the labor. These spice cookies take a different approach: they’re baked in cake pans, then sliced into wedges. I think the presentation is striking!
- Made with pantry ingredients. Aside from the orange, I stock all of the ingredients for these spice cookies in my kitchen already, and I bet you have most (if not all!) of them on hand too.
Enjoy!
What You’ll Need
Here are the ingredients you’ll need for this cookie recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card to find the exact ingredient quantities and recipe instructions.
- Butter – I use unsalted butter.
- Brown sugar – Light brown sugar has notes of molasses and caramel, making it a perfect fit for this cozy holiday cookie recipe.
- Flour – All-purpose flour provides the base structure for this recipe. Be sure to lightly spoon this into the measuring cup rather than scooping it.
- Orange peel – Use a microplane zester or smallest grater you have for this, to create the finest freshly grated/zested orange peel. Smaller bits of orange peel will distribute more evenly evenly throughout the dough.
- Spices – Ground dried ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. You can dial back the ginger for a milder flavor, but I think it’s what makes these cookies shine!
- Baking soda – For rise.
- Morton kosher salt – To enhances their flavor.
How to Make Spice Cookies
- Prepare. Preheat your oven to 325°F. Coat two 8-inch or 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick spray.
- Cream the butter and sugar. Beat them until the mixture lightens in color and the texture is fluffy.
- Whisk the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, orange peel, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, baking soda, and salt.
- Finish the dough. Add the dry ingredients into the butter mixture and mix until combined.
- Bake. Divide the dough and press it into the pans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the center is set and the cookies are golden in color.
- Cool. Let the spice cookies cool completely on a wire rack, then slice them into wedges. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.
Brenda’s Tips & Variations
- Soften the butter. Softened butter mixes more easily and evenly into the cookie dough. When you press a finger into it, it should leave an indentation.
- Use fresh spices. While spices don’t spoil like other types of foods, they do lose their aroma and flavor with age. Make sure each of the spices in this recipe is fragrant when you open the jar.
- Adjust the baking time as needed. I use 9-inch pans for this recipe. If you have 8-inch pans, the dough will be thicker and need a slightly longer baking time.
- Give them a dip or drizzle. For a super easy upgrade, dip the tips of the wedges in melted white or dark chocolate, or drizzle melted chocolate over the tops with the tines of a fork. I recommend using a 50/50 combination of chocolate almond bark and good quality chocolate chips, for a chocolate mixture that tastes great and sets up nicely – just like I do with my Chocolate Peanut Butter Ritz Cookies.
How to Store Spice Cookies
- Room temperature: Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
- Freezer: Place spice cookies in an airtight freezer-safe container or bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Lay parchment paper between the layers if you need to stack them, to keep them from sticking to each other. Thaw at room temperature before serving. (If you’re making these cookies for the purpose of freezing them, I recommend dusting them with powdered sugar after thawing.)
More Holiday Cookie Recipes
Spice Cookies
Yield: 16 cookie-sized wedges
Full of warm spices, these simple cookie wedges are a great addition to any holiday cookie platter. They're soft and chewy, and absolutely delightful!
Print
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at softened room temperature
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon finely grated/zested fresh orange peel (use a microplane zester and take care to not include any white pith)
- 2 tablespoons ground dried ginger
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ⅛ teaspoon Morton kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Lightly spray two 8” or 9” light-colored, round cake pans with nonstick spray; set aside. (I use 9" pans. If you use 8" pans, you'll have slightly thicker cookies that will need to bake just a bit longer.)
- In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, orange peel, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, baking soda, and salt.
- Add dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture. Mix just until evenly incorporated.
- Divide dough in half and gently press one half into the bottom of each pan.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until beautifully golden and the center is set. Remove from oven and let cool completely on a wire rack. Then cut into wedges. Lightly dust with powdered sugar before serving.
Notes
From the recipe box of Rachel Symmank, originally from her friend Kerry Freier.
Nutrition Information:
Serving: 1 Calories: 136kcal Carbohydrates: 16g Protein: 1g Fat: 8g Saturated Fat: 5g Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g Cholesterol: 20mg Sodium: 68mg Fiber: 1g Sugar: 7g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by Spoonacular. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee accuracy. If your health depends on nutrition information, please calculate again with your own favorite calculator.
Did you make this recipe?Please leave a comment below. And share a photo on Instagram with the hashtag #afarmgirlsdabbles or tag @farmgirlsdabble!
This post was originally published in 2011, then updated in 2025.
Did you say ginger?! Can’t turn that down.
Yes, ginger! I think I’ve used more ginger in the past few months than I have in the past few years. LOVE!! Merry Christmas, Sylvie!! xo
Made them yesterday and loved them, gonna take them to work this week to reward my staff for a hard week or retailing!
What a great boss you are! :) I took some into the office today, too, and they were a big hit. Merry Christmas, Chris!! xoxo
This looks delicious!
Thank you, Lisa! :)
Great holiday treat! Love your photos! Merry Christmas!
Thanks much, Maria! And Merry Christmas to you, too!
These cookies are beautiful! I love the ingredients – so warm and spicy, the perfect blend of flavors for Christmas. I’d like to invite you to share your recipe on Sweet Indulgences Sunday.
http://www.wellseasonedlife.com/2011/12/sweet-indulgences-sunday-35.html
Thanks, Kim – so nice to hear from you again! I just linked up!!
Looks brilliant! I actually popped over to your blog to see if you had any Christmassy recipies that I could use for my family! This looks absolutley perfect! Thanks :D
Let me know what you think, Harriet!
oh wow! I love this!! sounds delicious!!
Thanks for linking up, I featured this post in my wrap up http://tidymom.net/2011/holiday-foods/
Have a Merry Christmas!
Thank you so much, Cheryl!! And Merry Christmas to you and your family!! xo
This is the first time I’ve seen chewy shortbread. With 2 tsps. of ginger I know exactly where the zing factor is coming from. It looks so pretty with the confectioners sugar sprinkled on top and it’s a perfect dessert for this time of year.
It’s moist and tender, with just a bit of outer crunch. Just lovely. Thanks, Paula!
Oh my gracious, these sound and look simply amazing! Thank you so much for sharing!
Thanks, Christy – it’s mighty good!!
Oh my, these look so good; and a bit soft and chewy–just the way I like my sweets.
I’m bringing some with us for Christmas, Mom! xo
Mmm. These sound so tastey, and I love holiday spices. If only there were an infinate amount of hours in the day, only then could I get all of the cookies I want to bake baked.
Thanks, Becca! And I definitely know what you mean about hours in the day vs. baking! ;)