Description
Adapted from my friend Julie Majors recipe for Easiest Ever Gingerbread. I’ve made a few small changes: I used melted butter in place of softened, I used a mix of brown and granulated sugar, and I’ve upped the salt. I also use a slightly smaller pan.
Notes:
- Molasses: I’ve used Grandma’s and Crosby’s here. Do not use blackstrap molasses.
- Salt: If you are using Morton Kosher salt or fine sea salt, use half as much by volume: 1/2 teaspoon or the same amount by weight.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup (150 g) light brown sugar
- 1/3 cup (110 g) molasses, see notes
- 2 sticks (227 g) salted butter (unsalted is fine if it’s all you have), melted
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon (5 g) baking soda
- 2 teaspoons (5 g) cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons (4 g) ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon (o.25 g) freshly grated or pre-ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon (3 g) Diamond Crystal kosher salt, see notes
- 3 cups (384 g) all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
- Place the sugar, brown sugar, and molasses in a large bowl. Pour the melted butter over the top and whisk to combine. Add the egg, and whisk again.
- Add the baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt, and whisk to incorporate.
- Finally, add the flour and use a spatula to incorporate — the batter will feel more like a thick dough and it will require some elbow grease to incorporate. This is normal.
- Press the dough into an ungreased 9×13-inch glass or metal baking dish.
- Transfer to the oven and bake for 22-24 minutes. The mixture will puff in the oven, but will collapse upon cooling. I like to err on the side of underbaking, and I find these are consistently done at 22-23 minutes. (If you are using a metal pan, start checking even earlier — Julie bakes them for 17-20 minutes, but she is using a larger pan, so her bars are slightly thinner.) Remove the pan from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack. Let cool for roughly 1 hour before cutting.
- Cut into 24 or 48 pieces. I like to make a 6×4 grid of bars; then cut each of those bars in half to make 48 pieces.
- Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days (maybe longer, but chances are these bars will never make it that long.)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Amerian