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Gingerbread Swig Sugar Cookies

Gingerbread Swig Sugar Cookies

These gingerbread swig sugar cookies are topped with a cinnamon spiced cream cheese frosting, stay super soft, and taste delicious!

We love swig-style sugar cookies around here. They’re easy to make, they stay super soft, and there are so many possible flavour options.

gingerbread swig sugar cookies

These gingerbread swig sugar cookies were met by rave reviews from my family. Everyone loved them.

These soft gingerbread flavoured sugar cookies topped with a cinnamon spiced cream cheese frosting are the perfect holiday cookies. They’re super easy to make, with no chilling the dough and then rolling and cutting out the cookies. And frosting them is just as quick. Plus they stay super soft and taste fantastic.

We will be adding these to our baking list every Christmas. They’re delicious!

gingerbread swig cookies

Are cream of tartar and baking soda the same thing?

Both cream of tartar and baking soda are used in this swig cookie recipe, because they are not the same thing.

They react with each other to produce carbon dioxide bubbles. This is what produces the leavening in this cookie recipe, so don’t leave one or the other out when making them.

gingerbread sugar cookies

What kind of molasses should you use in these gingerbread sugar cookies?

I usually use fancy molasses when making any type of ginger cookies, including these swig sugar cookies, or these Soft and Chewy Ginger Cookies. Fancy molasses is typically the kind of you use molasses in baking.

But, when I don’t have any fancy molasses, I’ve also used blackstrap molasses with good results, so use whatever you have. There’s only 1/4 cup of molasses so it’s not necessary to use a specific type, any molasses will work just fine here.

gingerbread swig sugar cookies

How to make Gingerbread Swig Sugar Cookies:

  • You need to roll the cookie dough into golf ball sized balls. A two tablespoon sized cookie scoop works well for this.
  • To get the signature rough edge on the cookies, use a glass dipped in granulated sugar to push the cookie dough flat, letting the edges spread past the glass. A 2.5″ sized glass, or a 250 mL mason jar works well for this.
  • These cookies should be stored in the fridge, due to the cream cheese frosting. You can also freeze them for up to 3 months. We find they taste best cold.

Here are some more great sugar cookie recipes for you:

soft gingerbread sugar cookies
Yield: 18 cookies

Gingerbread Swig Sugar Cookies

soft gingerbread sugar cookies

These gingerbread swig sugar cookies are topped with a cinnamon spiced cream cheese frosting, stay super soft, and taste delicious!

Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 8 minutes
Total Time 8 minutes

Ingredients

For the cookies:

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/3 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup molasses
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon allspice
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

For the frosting:

  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • 3 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1-1.5 tablespoons milk

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  
  2. Cream together the butter, oil, sugar, powdered sugar, molasses, egg, and vanilla until smooth and well combined.  
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, cream of tartar, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, and nutmeg.  
  4. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture 1 cup at a time, mixing after each addition, until all of the dry ingredients have been incorporated into the dough.
  5. Roll the dough into golf ball sized balls (about 2 tablespoons) and place them 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet.  
  6. Dip the bottom of a glass (about 2 1/2 inches wide) in some granulated sugar and then press down on one of the cookie dough balls until it is 1/2” thick.  This will leave a flat middle section with the signature rough edge.  
  7. Repeat with the rest of the cookie dough balls.
  8. Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes, or until the bottom is lightly browned.  They stay soft, so make sure not to over bake them.  
  9. Let them cool for 5-10 minutes on the cookie sheet then move them to a wire rack to cool completely.
  10. To make the frosting, cream together the butter, cream cheese, vanilla, and cinnamon until well combined.  
  11. Add the powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition.  
  12. Add 1-1.5 tablespoons of milk to thin the frosting to your desired consistency and whip the frosting for one minute.  
  13. Spread about 1 tablespoon of frosting on each cookie, allow it to set, and then store the cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator with wax paper between layers. You can also freeze the cookies for up to 3 months.

Notes

Source:  Adapted from my Swig Sugar Cookies.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

18

Serving Size:

1 cookie

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 280Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 30mgSodium: 92mgCarbohydrates: 42gFiber: 1gSugar: 25gProtein: 3g

Nutrition Information is estimated based on ingredients used and may not be exact.

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