How to Make Holiday Spice Cookies Covered with Powdered Sugar
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Holiday Spice Cookies are little bites of cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and cloves rolled in powdered sugar and are a must make for the season!
Since the holidays are all about creating warm memories with our family and friends, these cookies that are full of spice are perfect to share and give as a delicious homemade gift.
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Holiday Spice Cookies
The full ingredients list and instructions are found in the printable recipe card at the end of this post. I highly recommend reading the blog post all the way through so that you don’t miss any tips or substitution suggestions and to ensure that you have all the ingredients and equipment required as well as understand the steps and timings involved.
This spice cookie recipe is really simple to make and the cookies are full of warming spices like cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and ginger. The addition of molasses (black treacle in the UK) gives a real depth of flavor.
They’re quite similar to German Pfeffernusse, which have been a popular Christmas cookie for generations.
Once cooked and cooled, the holiday spice cookies are rolled in powdered sugar to give an extra sweetness to them – and make them look like they’re covered in snow!
I love to give cookies as gifts for the holidays, and these would work perfectly for that purpose. Make a batch and divide into little cookie boxes or bags and tie up with festive ribbon and a bow.
Ingredients & Equipment Used In This Recipe
You may have some of the ingredients for this recipe in your kitchen already – the full list with measurements is found in the recipe card.
For your convenience, any specialized or notable ingredients and equipment needed for this recipe have been listed below and linked to Amazon, Amazon Fresh, or other stores if available online.
- Light Brown Sugar
- Molasses – in the UK you can use Black Treacle
- Baking Soda – known as Bicarbonate of Soda in the UK
- Ground Cinnamon
- Ground Cloves
- Ground Allspice – not ALL the spices but the dried unripe berry of Pimenta dioica tree. Often used in Jamaican and West Indian cuisine.
- Ground Ginger
- Powdered Sugar – known as Icing Sugar in the UK
This recipe uses American cups. They’re a handy piece of kitchen equipment to have along with a kitchen food scale. Having both in your kitchen means you’ll be able to make all of the different recipes on my blog as I use both cups and weighted measures.
More Recipes Using Ground Spices
The hero ingredients in this recipe is the ground spices, so here are some more recipes using the same:
More Cookie Recipes
Looking for more cookies to make? Check these recipes out next:
- Walnut Chocolate Chunk Cookies Recipe
- How To Make Gingersnap Cookies
- Awesome Chunky Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe with Extra Peanuts!
How Do I Make Holiday Spice Cookies?
Just check out the recipe card below with full ingredients, instructions, and demonstration photos. You can print the card out too (don’t worry, the pics don’t print to save your ink!).
Holiday Spice Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 large egg
- ⅛ cup molasses black treacle
- 2 cup all-purpose flour plain flour
- 2 tsp baking soda bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground cloves
- ½ tsp ground allspice
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- 1 cup powdered sugar icing sugar
SUGGESTED PRODUCTS
Instructions
- Cream the butter and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs and molasses and mix to combine.
- In a separate large bowl, sift or whisk to blend the flour, baking soda, and spices.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until thoroughly combined.
- Transfer dough to the refrigerator and chill for one hour.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5 and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Remove dough from the fridge and form balls with a 1-inch scoop. Roll the dough in your hands to form a ball and set it on the prepared cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until cookies are nicely browned and cooked through. Remove from the oven and let cookies cool to the touch.
- Pour powdered sugar onto a plate and roll the cookies to cover. Alternatively, working in batches, transfer cooled cookies to a Ziploc bag filled with powdered sugar. Seal tightly and gently turn until cookies are thoroughly coated.
- Serve immediately or store in an airtight container until ready to serve. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutritional information is always approximate and will depend on the quality of ingredients used and serving sizes. If you need exact calories and macros, please do your own calculations.
Make It A Meal!
You’ve made the dessert, but what about the rest of the courses?
Here are additional recipes to make a full meal!
- Appetizer: Oven-Roasted Fall Harvest Soup with Butternut Squash & Apples
- Main Dish: Sheet Pan Roasted Rosemary Lemon Chicken Recipe
- Side Dish: Rustic Roasted Potatoes with Garlic, Rosemary & Lemon
- Beverage: Naughty Elf Cocktail
There are 500+ Recipes on The Purple Pumpkin Blog for you to enjoy – please feel free to check them out too!
The Create the Holidays series on The Purple Pumpkin Blog features free printables, crafts, recipes, and more for Christmas and the Winter Holidays. Check out Create the Holidays (formerly Create Christmas) from 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, and 2012.