Gingerbread Chocolate Chip Cookies – Diary of a Mad Housewife

Ahmed Riaz

6 days ago

214

Gingerbread Chocolate Chip Cookies stroll into your kitchen like they own the place. And honestly, they kind of do. Because now your classic American cookie gets a glamorous German Christmas makeover. Furthermore, these Lebkuchen Chocolate Chip Cookies work hard, smell fantastic, and disappear faster than you can say, “Who ate the cooling rack?”

Gingerbread chocolate chip cookies

So what’s the secret? It’s gingerbread spice. This cozy blend comes from Germany, where holiday markets smell like sugar, snow, and someone bakes 10,000 cookies at once. Lebkuchen spice typically includes cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, cardamom, and allspice. Basically, it tastes like Christmas marries aromatherapy. And yes, a separate recipe card in the post teaches you how to make your own gingerbread spice. Because you deserve that power.

The missing step:

Now, here’s the fun part. These Lebkuchen Chocolate Chip Cookies are basically the classic Toll House chocolate chip cookie recipe—simple, iconic, universally beloved—but with an added scoop of holiday charm. And even better, a dusty food-world legend claims that the original Toll House recipe accidentally left out one tiny but crucial step: refrigerating the dough overnight. Allegedly, this myth appears in decades of whispered cookie lore, plus approximately eight million internet comments from self-proclaimed “dough truthers.” Several bakers, cookie scholars, and your Aunt Carol swear that an overnight dough rest deepens the flavor and improves texture.

Consequently, giving your dough a long winter’s nap turns these Lebkuchen Chocolate Chip Cookies into soft, chewy, spice-kissed perfection. And yes, it feels extremely smug to know your cookies have studied abroad in Germany.

Plus, if you’re short on holiday time—and let’s be honest, you are—adding gingerbread spice to an easy, familiar recipe saves the day. You whisk. You scoop. You chill. You bake. You triumph. These Lebkuchen Chocolate Chip Cookies make you look festive, prepared, and shockingly put-together. No one needs to know you made them in pajama pants while panic-wrapping gifts.

If you spot glittery chocolate chips in these photos, you are not seeing things. I had a few bags of Nestlé’s Disco Chocolate Chips hanging out in my freezer. So I threw them in the batter for a festive touch.

In conclusion, these cookies deliver comfort, nostalgia, and international holiday flair in every bite. So you get the best of both worlds: American tradition with a German Christmas upgrade. Bon appetit, you brilliant seasonal cookie wizard.

Gingerbread chocolate chip cookies

Author Lora Wiley-Lennartz

Ingredients

For the Lebkuchen Spice:
2
teaspoons
ground cinnamon
2
teaspoons
ground cloves
1/2
teaspoon
ground allspice
1/4
teaspoon
ground nutmeg
1/2
teaspoon
ground coriander
1/2
teaspoon
ground cardamom
1/2
teaspoon
ground ginger
1/2
teaspoon
teaspoon ground anise
1/2
teaspoon
ground star anise
For the cookie dough:
2 1/4
cups
all-purpose flour
1
teaspoon
baking soda
1
teaspoon
salt
1
cup
2 sticks butter, softened
3/4
cup
granulated sugar
3/4
cup
packed brown sugar
1
teaspoon
vanilla extract
2
large eggs
2
cups
chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Whisk together the lebkucken spices
Combine the gingerbread spice, flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Beat the butter and sugars together until creamy.
Beat in the vanilla extract.
Add the eggs one at a time. Make sure the first one is fully incorporated into the batter before adding the second one.
Gradually beat in the flour mixture.
Fold in the chocolate chips.
Roll into 1″ in diameter balls and place on the prepared cookie sheets
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the edges start to turn golden.
Transfer to wire racks to cool.
Plate when slightly warm and serve.