Chocolate Dipped Gingerbread Cookies

Everything’s better with chocolate. Pretty much, right?
(Or with cheese.  Mmmm.  Melted chocolate or melted cheese.)
Yes.

Sorry to torture you on a Tuesday morning.

But last week I whipped up some Gingerbread Softies and decided to amp it up a bit.

I added dark chocolate nibs to the dough….so that all that chocolately goodness infused the cookie dough.

Then I rolled and sugar dusted and baked.
And when they were cooled, I continued the over-the-top baking and dunked them in more chocolate!




YUMM.

I know I say that a lot but seriously these were really hard to resist!….for everyone in my family and the youth girls at church who enjoyed a whole tray of them.

There’s something special about that slight chocolate coating crunch on the outside and the nibby bits inside.  Heavenly!

There may only be one left for Santa.
(already sampled).

Ready to bake?  Here’s the full recipe:

Chocolate Dipped Gingerbread Softies with Chocolate Nibs
These cookies flatten and crack as they cool. The secret in keeping
them soft is to remove them from the oven as soon as they are set but
before they start to brown.

2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cup shortening*
2 eggs
1/2 cup molasses

4 cups flour
4 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. ginger
l/2 tsp. cloves
l/2 tsp. salt

**2-3 cups chopped dark chocolate chips
8-16 oz of dipping chocolate, such as Almond bark or chocolate chips

• Cream together the sugar and shortening. Add eggs and beat until thick. Add the molasses and stir until combined.

• Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt. Add to creamed mixture and stir just until blended.

• Chop dark chocolate chips with a knife and cutting board till they’re broken into small bits (this can also be done with a food processor).  **chop approximately 2-3 cups, depending on preference.  Sometimes I only add chocolate chips to half of the recipe and bake the other half of the recipe as-is. Mix in the chips with the rest of the dough.

• Shape into 1” balls and roll in granulated sugar. If the dough is very soft (hot day? warm kitchen?), wrap it in plastic wrap and chill in the freezer for 30 minutes before rolling.  Place on greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350º for 7 – 10 minutes or just until set but before they start to brown.

• When cookies have cooled, prepare the chocolate for dipping.  I’ve found that dipping discs or the dipping bars of chocolate work best for this (sometimes called “bark” and found at most grocery and craft stores).  If you prefer using chocolate chips since they actually taste better, I recommend adding a tsp of shortening to the chips as it melts so you can get the chocolate real thin and smooth.

• Melt the dipping chocolate in a soup-size bowl in the microwave at 20 second intervals, stirring after each time.  When the chocolate is melted and thin, dunk the cookies one-by-one into the chocolate about 3/4 of the way.  Place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper till the chocolate has set.

Eat and enjoy!
(The cookies are also tasty from the fridge and freeze well for later use)

* This is a very old recipe and, like many cookie recipes from the 1950’s, and uses vegetable shortening instead of butter. You can substitute 1 1/2 cups melted and cooled butter for the shortening but you will have to increase the flour to 4 1/2 cups and definitely chill the dough before using.

  1. These look so good, I bet they are dangerously moreish. You’re right – everything is better with chocolate.

  2. I made these ginger cookies for my wedding as the favors (without the chocolate), but with the addition of chopped up dried apricots and I only sugar one side (otherwise they always seem to burn on me). They are a chewy masterpiece.

  3. OOooohhhh looks yummy. I’m glad computers don’t have scratch and sniff screens, then these would be impossible to resist. 😉 The white ones are so pretty though!

  4. 4) Melissa H

    Oh my heavens Dana!!! I have made your ginger softies, they are fabulous as they are…. adding all that chocolate……. ???? Holy Cannoli! Do I dare???? lol

  5. 5) Michelle

    Oh Dana, I loved that recipe already….but that’s…well…I might have to make those tonight…

  6. 6) Lauralee

    oooh, how delish. I definitely need to try these today! I just need to get some molasses…. and Crisco makes the best cookies – that’s what makes them all melty in the oven and able to soften up before crisping up… try it in your chocolate chip cookies, and you will never use butter in a cookie recipe again…. gooey-ness goodness!!

  7. Those look amazing! I am a sucker for anything in white chocolate.

  8. Sigh! You are soooo right. Melted chocolate or cheese goes with everything. 🙂 And straight to my middle. But that’s okay. I can’t give up either. These look divine. I never thought to mix chocolate with gingersnaps. Will definitely be trying these.

  9. 10) Korey

    What tastes yummier, the cookies dipped in white or milk chocolate?

  10. I love the pictures! They are so beautiful! So colorful!

  11. 13) Jenna

    Ugh like I need more amazing cookies to plaster to my hips! But since these look irresistible, how many would you say the recipe yields?

  12. They look divine! I totally agree – One type of chocolate is never enough 🙂

    Sophie xo

  13. 15) Leigh Anne

    I HEART your gingerbread softies! Not sure how they could get any better, but the pics are making me sooo hungry. Thx for the inspiration! I make some ASAP 🙂

  14. 16) jodie

    yummo, want to bake, but when the weather is a balmy 40 degrees, dont want to put the oven on! im hoping for some rain so i can do all my chrissy baking and these im going to try….

  15. 17) Lis

    I am so very glad that my plans to bake these last weekend fell through. Dark chocolate has been added to this weekend’s grocery list!

  16. 19) Lauralee

    I couldn’t wait to get to the store for molasses, so I subbed dark brown sugar and maple syrup… oh my! My family is SO happy with Mommy today!!! :0) Thanks for the great recipe!

  17. These seriously look SO GOOD. My mouth is watering.

  18. The title of this post? Truer words have never been spoken 🙂

  19. I made these for the first time last night. My husband asked me to make them every week. Thank you so much for this recipe!!

  20. This is totally my speed! I have been making my grandma’s molasses cookies–a very similar recipe–for Christmas every year and this may be the year to amp it up. Thanks!

  21. 24) Cortney

    These are so good! Thanks so much for posting!

  22. 25) Kirsten

    I made these tonight. They are so good! Thank you for the awesome recipe!

  23. 26) DLG in Mich

    I made these today. I haven’t dipped mine yet since I had to dash out the door to watch my kid play hockey, but Holy Cow – are they good! Thanks so much for the recipe. I’ll be making them again.

  24. 27) Kelly

    Ooo YUM!!! My son LOVES ginger biscuits so I’m definitely making these for his daycare christmas party tomorrow!! I might even just use white chocolate and add food colouring to make the chocolate red and green.

  25. 28) Maria B

    I just made these and they are wonderful! We’re packing them up pretty and sending them as teacher gifts! Thanks!

  26. I made these and split the dough, half with and half without chocolate. As much as I love chocolate, I must admit I preferred the original. Yum!

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