Stem ginger cookies with white chocolate chips are soft-baked, chewy delights. Full of warming, sweet flavour these cookies are quick & easy to make.
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Why I love this recipe
- Easy to make: no rolling out or cutting out required.
- Chewy texture: soft-baked and with a little bite from the stem ginger and white chocolate. A very pleasing mouthful.
- Wonderful flavour: sweet, spicy and warming. Just what a ginger cookie should taste like.
- Secret ingredient: browned butter elevates the flavour of these white chocolate ginger cookies. It's very easy to do and it's a trick I've used previously when making coconut blondies.
Stem ginger cookies with white chocolate chips are a quick & easy bake to knock together. They are ideal served with a cup of tea or slightly more indulgent drinks such as cinnamon hot chocolate or gingerbread latte.
Cookie lovers should take a look at my chocolate chip coffee cookies and Mini Egg cookies too.
What is stem ginger
Stem ginger is made from the young roots of the ginger plant. The roots are peeled, cooked and then preserved in sugar syrup. The taste is sweet and fiery, adding a great twist to bakes and savoury dishes alike.
You can make your own stem ginger or pick up a jar from the supermarket.
Ingredients notes
Butter: Use proper butter for these white chocolate ginger cookies. It is browned before it is used to make the cookie dough to add extra depth of flavour. I cannot guarantee the success of browning margarine or dairy-free butter.
Stem ginger: You'll need several bulbs and a little of the preserving syrup in this recipe.
Ground ginger: This boosts the warm and cosy spice profile in the cookies and can be varied, up or down, to increase or decrease the ginger flavour.
Chocolate chips: I used white chocolate chips in my stem ginger cookies but you can replace them with dark chocolate or milk chocolate instead.
Step by step instructions
Full instructions and measurements are given in the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
The first step when making these chewy white chocolate ginger cookies is to brown the butter. Don't be alarmed. I know browned butter sounds fancy but it is very easy to make and needs no specialist equipment.
Step 1. Begin by browning the butter: cube the butter and put it into small saucepan. Place the pan over a medium heat and let the butter melt, swirling the pan occasionally to ensure it melts evenly. Continue to cook the butter until it begins to foam and lightly browned specks begin to form at the bottom of the pan. Remove the pan from the heat.
Step 2. Put the sugars into a medium-sized mixing bowl and pour the browned butter in (including the browned specks from the bottom of the pan). Use a handheld balloon whisk to mix the sugar and butter together.
Step 3. Next, mix in the egg, salt and the syrup.
Step 4. In a separate bowl stir the flour, baking soda and ground ginger together. Sieve half of it into the cookie dough and stir it in using a large metal spoon.
Step 5. Chop the stem ginger finely and stir it into the cookie dough along with the chocolate chips.
Step 6. Sieve the rest of the flour mixture into the bowl and stir until fully combined. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest in the fridge for 1 hour.
Step 7: Divide the dough into 12 equal balls (each approximately 60-65g in weight). Put the balls on baking sheets, placing them far apart as the cookies spread as they bake (I put 4 balls on each sheet). Cook (in batches if necessary) in a preheated oven for 12 minutes, rotating halfway through until the cookies are golden. Remove from the oven and leave them to cool on the baking sheet.
Expert Tips
Top Tip: For perfectly round white chocolate ginger cookies, use a cookie cutter slightly larger than the cookies. Immediately after baking, place the cutter over each cookie and swirl gently to shape. Work quickly before they firm up.
- Use digital scales - this is an essential investment for any baking recipe, enabling accurate weighing of ingredients that cups do not allow.
- Chill the dough as this helps the butter solidify before baking and stops the cookies from spreading too much. If you can chill the dough for 24 hours this helps improve the flavour and texture of your cookies.
- Leave plenty of space on the baking sheet (at least 6 cm between each ball of dough) to minimise the risk of the cookies running into each other as they spread.
- Cook for a couple of extra minutes for a firmer cookie or bake for 1-2 minutes less for extra gooey cookies.
Frequently asked questions
Gingerbread cookies contain ginger but also other spices, such as cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. They may also contain treacle or molasses. They generally have a deep and full spice profile and a relatively dark colour.
These stem ginger cookies, however, contain ginger but no other spices. They have a fresh yet warming pure ginger spice profile and a light golden colour.
These white chocolate ginger cookies are best stored at room temperature in a Kilner jar with a clip-top lid. Failing that an airtight container. They will stay fresh for around 3 days.
Yes, you can make vegan stem ginger cookies. You will need to replace the butter with vegan block butter and the white chocolate chips with either vegan white chocolate or vegan dark chocolate.
Yes, you can freeze this white chocolate ginger cookie dough. It's best to shape the dough into balls ready for baking. Open-freeze them on a sheet of baking parchment and then slide the frozen dough into a freezer-proof bag. Store them for up to 2 months and then bake the ginger stem cookies from frozen. They will need a couple of extra minutes in the oven to bake fully.
Serving suggestions
These white chocolate ginger cookies go well with the following drinks:
More cookies and biscuits to try
Have you made this recipe for stem ginger cookies? Please give the recipe a rating or leave a comment - I love to hear how you get along with my creations.
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Stem Ginger Cookies
Ingredients
- 120 g Butter
- 90 g Granulated sugar
- 90 g Soft light brown sugar
- 1 Egg large, free-range
- 1 tablespoon Syrup from a jar of stem ginger in syrup
- 225 g Plain flour all-purpose
- ¾ teaspoon Bicarbonate of soda Baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 1½ teaspoons Ground ginger
- 100 g White chocolate chips
- 75 g Stem ginger drained from the syrup it in stored in
Instructions
- Brown the butter: cube the butter and put it into small saucepan. Place the pan over a medium heat and let the butter melt, swirling the pan occasionally to ensure it melts evenly. Continue to cook the butter until it begins to foam and lightly browned specks begin to form at the bottom of the pan. Remove the pan from the heat.120 g Butter
- Put the sugars into a medium-sized mixing bowl and pour the browned butter in (including the browned specks from the bottom of the pan - don't strain the butter). Use a handheld balloon whisk to mix the sugar and butter together.90 g Granulated sugar, 90 g Soft light brown sugar
- Next, mix in the egg, salt and 1 tablespoon of the syrup from the jar of stem ginger.1 Egg, ¼ teaspoon Salt, 1 tablespoon Syrup
- In a separate bowl stir the flour, baking soda and ground ginger together. Sieve half of it into the cookie dough and stir it in using a large metal spoon.225 g Plain flour, ¾ teaspoon Bicarbonate of soda, 1½ teaspoons Ground ginger
- Finely chop the stem ginger and stir it into the cookie dough along with the chocolate chips.100 g White chocolate chips, 75 g Stem ginger
- Sieve the rest of the flour mixture into the bowl and stir until fully combined. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour (but if you can leave the dough for 24 hours the flavour will improve).
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180℃/ 350℉ and line 3 baking sheets with baking parchment. (if you don't have enough baking sheets bake the cookies in several batches).
- Divide the dough into 12 equal balls (each approximately 60-65g in weight). Put the balls on baking sheets, placing them far apart as the cookies spread as they bake (I put 4 balls on each sheet). Cook (in batches if necessary) in a preheated oven for 12 minutes, rotating halfway through until the cookies are golden.
- Take the cookies out of the oven. Take a cookie cutter that is slightly larger than the cookies themselves, place it around a cookie and use a circular motion around the cookie to push it into shape. Move on to the next cookie and do the same. You will need to work quickly and do this as soon as the cookies come out of the oven before they begin to firm up.
- Leave the cookies to cool on the baking sheet.
Notes
- Use digital scales - this is an essential investment for any baking recipe, enabling accurate weighing of ingredients that cups do not allow.
- Chill the dough as this helps the butter solidify before baking and stops the cookies from spreading too much. If you can chill the dough for 24 hours this helps improve the flavour and texture of your cookies.
- Leave plenty of space on the baking sheet (at least 6 cm between each ball of dough) to minimise the risk of the cookies running into each other as they spread.
- Cook for a couple of extra minutes for a firmer cookie or bake for 1-2 minutes less for extra gooey cookies.
Karen says
I made these today with dark chocolate chips and a bit more stem ginger (around 90g). The first bite is chocolatey heaven, followed by a ginger hit on the palate. Delicious!
Jane Coupland says
Hi Karen, thank you for your lovely review. I'm so pleased you enjoyed them and customised as well.
Maggie C says
Made these a bit smaller (50-55 grams) to suit smaller appetites, and took them for refreshments at church. Everyone said they were delicious and wanted to know when I would be bringing them again.
Jane Coupland says
Thankyou Maggie! I'm pleased to hear that they were a hi - a great idea to make them a little smaller too.
Annie says
Fantastic flavour and surprisingly not too sweet.
Jane Coupland says
Ah Annie, thankyou for your review - so chuffed by your comment.
Jane Coupland says
These cookies were a joy to create and I hope that you enjoy them too.