The best gingerbread cookies should be peppery, spiced, slightly sweet, and wonderfully crunchy. Gingerbread cookies are a holiday treat because they pack bold, aromatic flavor. Nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, and ginger feel all warm and fuzzy when it’s cold outside, so we want our gingerbread cookies to recreate that experience. The best gingerbread cookies and the best ginger snaps are all about comfort, warmth, and spice. Make us feel something, damnit! These did just that.
I don’t think I’ve ever had two gingerbread cookies that tasted exactly the same. The main thing that makes these cookies stand apart from one another is that every brand uses a different level of spice. Some go light on the ginger, others use so much it’s like they want to set your chest on fire. Then there’s allspice, clove, cinnamon, brown sugar, and molasses—all of which are ingredients used interchangeably in gingerbread cookies. I personally found this taste test to be very comforting. Snapping into a crispy, crunchy cookie that’s packed with a delightful concoction of spices is the kind of experience I look forward to. The best gingerbread cookies are simple, but they speak loudly. Here are five that impressed the Sporked team.
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- Annas Ginger Swedish Thins
Annas Ginger Swedish Thins took our breath away with their straightforward yet wonderful flavor. They’re plain, yes, but as a result you just get that pure, spiced ginger and clove flavor that’s emblematic of the holidays. Annas cookies have less sugar than other cookies, but that’s a strength. With less sugar, you really get to taste the peppery, mellow notes of the ginger. The texture is also quite crispy, and the cookies themselves are indeed thin, so the crunch factor is even higher. Annas Thins are the best gingerbread cookies because they do all the little things so well.
Credit: Liv Averett/Amazon
- Nyakers Ginger Snaps
Nyakers Ginger Snaps are in a virtual first-place tie with Annas, but that doesn’t mean they’re identical. Though Nyakers ginger snaps have the same pronounced ginger flavor and thin, crunchy quality as Annas, Nyakers have a delightfully rich, almost buttery flavor that kept us all coming back here at Sporked. These cookies are so rich and luxurious, which is honestly breathtaking for ginger snaps. Bite into one, then let it dissolve in your mouth so you can savor all the wonderful flavors. This was a delightful experience and a flat-out surprise. I didn’t know gingerbread cookies could be so…buttery.
Credit: Liv Averett/Amazon
- Tate’s Bake Shop Gluten Free Ginger Zinger Cookies
I gravitate towards crispy and crunchy gluten-free snacks, so Tate’s Bake Shop is a huge winner for me. These gluten-free Ginger Zinger cookies have a big-time ginger flavor, and a rich, nutty, almost brown butter taste that feels wholly decadent. Crystals of sugar give them crunch and sweetness. I love the way these look, too—they’ve got a rustic, homemade vibe to them. They also contain eggs and are delightfully fatty. Tate’s Ginger Zingers are indulgent, peppery, and fully satisfying, and could easily be the best gingerbread cookies—they just fall slightly short of what we think the ideal gingerbread cookies should be, which is a little more thin and a bit less rich.
Credit: Liv Averett/Amazon
- Pepperidge Farm Gingerman Cookies
Pepperidge Farm makes great products, and their Gingerman cookies are light, crispy as heck, and filled with great flavor. The ginger flavor is light, but there’s a deep, well-rounded sweetness here from the brown sugar, molasses, cinnamon, and cane sugar listed in the ingredients. They come shaped like little men, too, so if you love dismembering human-shaped cookies you’re pretending are your enemies, go with Pepperidge Farm. They pack a nuanced flavor, and they’re oh so crispy.
Credit: Liv Averett/Amazon
- Sprouts Old Fashioned Ginger Flavored Snaps
After this taste test, I took these Sprouts old fashioned ginger flavored snaps home with me. Why? Because the spice here is aggressive. The clove flavor is off the charts, and its intensely aromatic nature works very well with the peppery notes of ginger. Truly, these cookies are loaded with spices. Sprouts’ ginger snaps pack a big, big flavor. They might be too much for your average cookie eater, but for me that boldness made them addictive and one of the best ginger snaps we tasted.
Credit: Liv Averett/Instacart
Best of the Best
Best Buttery
Best Surprise
Best Ginger Person
Best Spice
Other products we tried: Nabisco Ginger Snaps, Kroger Ginger Snaps, Lofthouse Soft & Chewy Ginger Cookies, Signature Select Ginger Snaps, Belvita Gingerbread Breakfast Biscuits, ShaSha Gingersnaps, Stauffer’s Ginger Snaps, Trader Joe’s Triple Ginger Snaps.
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