Gingersnap Sandwich Cookies with Lemon Filling. Small crisp ginger-molasses cookies sandwiched around a tangy lemon cream-cheese filling. The formula and timing below are working estimates for a future kitchen trial, not a claim that a batch has been made.
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Ginger spice with a lemon center
Two small ginger-molasses cookies hold a thin cream-cheese filling scented with lemon zest. A crisp edge against tangy cream is the intended contrast, unlike the plain snap of speculoos or soft honey Lebkuchen in adjacent calendar slots.
The recipe is an untested working formula. In particular, filled-cookie texture after refrigeration and the thirty-six-cookie yield need a kitchen trial.
Build the cookie dough
Dark brown sugar and unsulphured molasses contribute a deep color; blackstrap molasses would be much more bitter. Ground ginger leads with cinnamon behind it. Cream the butter and sugar, then combine wet and dry ingredients without overmixing.
Chill the dough an hour before scooping. Warm dough may spread too thinly, leaving cookies that cannot hold filling. Keep portions similar so paired halves are close in size.
Ingredients for 18 sandwich cookies
| Ingredient | Amount | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Unsalted butter, softened, for cookies | 1/2 cup | Cookie dough. |
| Packed dark brown sugar | 2/3 cup | Cookie dough. |
| Unsulphured molasses | 1/4 cup | Not blackstrap. |
| Large egg | 1 egg | Cookie dough. |
| All-purpose flour | 1.75 cups | Spoon and level. |
| Ground ginger | 2 teaspoons | Cookie dough. |
| Ground cinnamon | 1 teaspoon | Cookie dough. |
| Baking soda | 1 teaspoon | Cookie dough. |
| Fine salt | 1/2 teaspoon | Cookie dough. |
| Cream cheese, softened | 4 ounces | Filling. |
| Unsalted butter, softened, for filling | 2 tablespoons | Filling. |
| Confectioners' sugar | 3/4 cup | Filling. |
| Fresh lemon zest | 2 teaspoons | Filling. |
| Fresh lemon juice | 1 teaspoon | Filling. |
Step-by-step method
- Beat 1/2 cup softened butter and 2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in 1/4 cup unsulphured molasses and one egg. Whisk 1 3/4 cups flour, 2 tsp ginger, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt; mix into the wet ingredients. Cover and chill 60 minutes.
- Heat oven to 350°F. Scoop thirty-six similar small mounds onto two parchment-lined sheets, leaving room to spread. Bake one sheet at a time approximately 9–10 minutes until edges are set and deep brown. Cool on the sheets briefly, then transfer to a rack and cool completely, approximately 30 minutes total.
- Beat 4 oz softened cream cheese, 2 tbsp softened butter, 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar, 2 tsp lemon zest and 1 tsp juice into a smooth filling. Pair cooled cookies by size and spread or pipe a measured share on the flat side of eighteen.
- Top with the other eighteen cookies and press gently. Record whether the cookies retain a crisp edge after filling, actual spread and finished yield in a kitchen trial. Keep cream-cheese-filled sandwiches refrigerated rather than treating them as shelf-stable gift cookies.
Bake and cool completely
Two sequential trays at 350°F take roughly ten minutes each, but oven and scoop size matter. Edges should set and centers should no longer look wet. The full crispness can only be assessed after cooling.
Do not spread cream cheese onto warm cookies: it can melt and slide. Log diameter, cooling time and any breakage when pairing eighteen sandwiches.
Mix a bright filling
Soften cream cheese and butter, then beat with measured confectioners' sugar, zest and a teaspoon of lemon juice. More juice can thin the filling until it escapes the sandwich; taste the measured batch before changing it.
Sally's Baking has a lemon-ginger cookie reference, but the method here is a distinct molasses sandwich with a separate cream-cheese center. The cited flavor pairing is not proof of this texture.
Serve and keep chilled
Because the filling contains cream cheese, keep finished cookies refrigerated rather than marketing them for room-temperature mailing. Test how the cookie edges change during chilled holding.
One sandwich is the proposed serving. For the image, the pale center should be visible between dark cookies without a thick frosting dome.
Sandwich cookie questions
Can I fill warm cookies?
No. Cool completely before adding the cream-cheese filling.
Are these the same as speculoos?
No. This is a molasses-ginger sandwich with lemon cream, not a plain brown-sugar spice rectangle.
Can I mail them unrefrigerated?
No such storage or shipping claim has been established for a cream-cheese-filled cookie.
Further reading and related Chefly recipes: Sally's Baking lemon ginger cookies. These are relevant references and other dishes, not evidence that this proposed formula was tested.
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Gingersnap Sandwich Cookies with Lemon Filling. Category: Cookies. 18 sandwich cookies. Prep approximately 30 minutes; cooking approximately 20 minutes; additional cooling/chilling approximately 90 minutes; total approximately 140 minutes excluding preheat. Not kitchen-tested; nutrition not calculated.
Ingredients: 1/2 cup Unsalted butter, softened, for cookies; 2/3 cup Packed dark brown sugar; 1/4 cup Unsulphured molasses; 1 egg Large egg; 1.75 cups All-purpose flour; 2 teaspoons Ground ginger; 1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon; 1 teaspoon Baking soda; 1/2 teaspoon Fine salt; 4 ounces Cream cheese, softened; 2 tablespoons Unsalted butter, softened, for filling; 3/4 cup Confectioners' sugar; 2 teaspoons Fresh lemon zest; 1 teaspoon Fresh lemon juice.
Instructions: Beat 1/2 cup softened butter and 2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in 1/4 cup unsulphured molasses and one egg. Whisk 1 3/4 cups flour, 2 tsp ginger, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt; mix into the wet ingredients. Cover and chill 60 minutes. Heat oven to 350°F. Scoop thirty-six similar small mounds onto two parchment-lined sheets, leaving room to spread. Bake one sheet at a time approximately 9–10 minutes until edges are set and deep brown. Cool on the sheets briefly, then transfer to a rack and cool completely, approximately 30 minutes total. Beat 4 oz softened cream cheese, 2 tbsp softened butter, 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar, 2 tsp lemon zest and 1 tsp juice into a smooth filling. Pair cooled cookies by size and spread or pipe a measured share on the flat side of eighteen. Top with the other eighteen cookies and press gently. Record whether the cookies retain a crisp edge after filling, actual spread and finished yield in a kitchen trial. Keep cream-cheese-filled sandwiches refrigerated rather than treating them as shelf-stable gift cookies.
Allergens: Wheat; Egg; Milk; Check packaged molasses and sugar labels. Review packaged ingredients and cross-contact before serving.
Print
Gingersnap Sandwich Cookies with Lemon Filling
- Total Time: 140 minutes
- Yield: 18 servings 1x
Description
Eighteen small ginger-molasses sandwich cookies with lemon cream-cheese filling.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Unsalted butter, softened, for cookies
- 2/3 cup Packed dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup Unsulphured molasses
- 1 egg Large egg
- 1 3/4 cups All-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons Ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon Baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon Fine salt
- 4 ounces Cream cheese, softened
- 2 tablespoons Unsalted butter, softened, for filling
- 3/4 cup Confectioners' sugar
- 2 teaspoons Fresh lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon Fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Beat 1/2 cup softened butter and 2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in 1/4 cup unsulphured molasses and one egg. Whisk 1 3/4 cups flour, 2 tsp ginger, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt; mix into the wet ingredients. Cover and chill 60 minutes.
- Heat oven to 350°F. Scoop thirty-six similar small mounds onto two parchment-lined sheets, leaving room to spread. Bake one sheet at a time approximately 9–10 minutes until edges are set and deep brown. Cool on the sheets briefly, then transfer to a rack and cool completely, approximately 30 minutes total.
- Beat 4 oz softened cream cheese, 2 tbsp softened butter, 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar, 2 tsp lemon zest and 1 tsp juice into a smooth filling. Pair cooled cookies by size and spread or pipe a measured share on the flat side of eighteen.
- Top with the other eighteen cookies and press gently. Record whether the cookies retain a crisp edge after filling, actual spread and finished yield in a kitchen trial. Keep cream-cheese-filled sandwiches refrigerated rather than treating them as shelf-stable gift cookies.
Notes
Recipe-development draft; not kitchen-tested. Timing and yield are estimates. Nutrition has not been calculated.
Additional chilling, resting or cooling time: 90 minutes, included in the total.
Untested estimate: one-hour dough chill, two sequential ten-minute trays and about thirty-minute cool; preheat excluded.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Chilling, resting or cooling: 90 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Cookies
Nutrition
- Serving Size: One two-cookie sandwich