Sweetened mostly with brown sugar and spiced with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cardamom, these stamped cookies are just as flavorful as they are beautiful. If you’ve never stamped cookies before, see all of my cookie stamping success tips below. You’ll need a set of cookie stamps for this, and I use these cookie stamps for the pictured cookies.
Here’s a gorgeous cookie that requires zero decorating skills. I’m always up for that!
This recipe is part of my annual holiday cookie countdown called Sally’s Cookie Palooza. Every year since 2013, I work on a handful of new cookie recipes and publish the 10 best ones for readers to enjoy. It’s the biggest, tastiest event of the year on my website!
Tell Me About These Cinnamon Brown Sugar Stamped Cookies:
- Texture: The centers are a little soft, but the edges have a crunchy crumbly texture that you don’t always get with soft-baked cookies. They remind me of these crisp molasses cookies, but aren’t quite as crunchy. If you’re looking for a chewy cookie instead, these brown sugar cookies are for you.
- Flavor: There’s a glaring absence of chocolate, sprinkles, and candies, but I wouldn’t necessarily call these stamped cookies plain. They’re sweetened mostly with brown sugar and are generously spiced with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cardamom. A bit of molasses, honey, or maple syrup (your choice) adds a touch of flavor too. They remind me of Biscoff (Belgian Speculoos) cookies. Sometimes a simple cookie without all the excess fluff is what really hits the spot. They’re fantastic dipped in hot cocoa or coffee!
- Ease: This is a pretty standard cookie recipe—no crazy ingredients or mixing methods. The only thing we’re doing differently is stamping the dough balls before baking. You’ll appreciate that there’s no extra decoration required. The stamp does it all.
- Time: Set aside enough time to chill the cookie dough. I know it’s a drag, but 2 hours in the refrigerator firms up the dough. If you skip it, the cookies will over-spread and the beautiful stamped design will be ruined—wasting all your efforts and ingredients. If you’re doing a bunch of holiday baking at once, you can use the chilling time to make a quick cookie recipe like my shortbread wedges that bake in a cake pan! No chilling required for those.
One reader, Laura, commented: “New favorite cinnamon cookie!! They turned out crisp and crunchy, just as I was hoping, like snap cookies. A wonderful spice flavor. ★★★★★”
Can You Make These Without a Cookie Stamp?
Yes. Follow the recipe exactly as written but skip the stamping step. Simply bake as round cookie dough balls, like you would any other drop cookie. You can even roll in cinnamon sugar or chai sugar before baking, just like we do with snickerdoodles and white chocolate chai snickerdoodles. (In fact! I actually did that with a few of these pictured stamped cookies, but the stamp just pressed the cinnamon sugar down into the cookie and you can’t really see it after baking.
I don’t recommend these as cut-out cookies. If you want to use your rolling pin, stick with sugar cookies, chocolate sugar cookies, maple cinnamon cut-out cookies, gingerbread cookies, or pecan sugar cookies.
Overview: How to Make Stamped Cookies
The full printable recipe is below, but this overview should help you understand the process before you get started.
- Make the cookie dough. This is a pretty straightforward recipe. Whisk your dry ingredients together including the spices. Cream the butter and sugars together, then add 1 Tablespoon of molasses/honey/maple syrup, an egg, and vanilla extract. Liquid sweetener slightly thins out the dough. I used molasses in the pictured cookies, but honey or pure maple syrup work too. Bring the dough together by combining the wet and dry ingredients.
- Chill the cookie dough. I’m a broken record here. Don’t skip the chilling step!
- Roll dough into balls. Measure 1 Tablespoon of chilled cookie dough per cookie and roll into balls. Feel free to roll the cookies in cinnamon sugar, just like we do with snickerdoodles, but know that the sugar coating gets stamped right down into the cookie. I did that for some of the pictured cookies and you can’t even see it!
- Stamp the dough balls. Grab your cookie stamps. I used Nordic Ware’s “starry night” cookie stamps for the pictured cookies. Place the cookie stamp directly on top of each cookie dough ball, centering the ball as best as you can, then firmly press down until the dough extends nearly to the edges of the cookie stamp. Lift straight up. Most cookie doughs, including this one, are a little sticky. That’s expected. If your cookie dough is sticking to the cookie stamp (mine does!), lightly dip the cookie stamp in a bowl of flour before stamping the cookie dough ball. If dipped lightly, the flour bakes right off the cookie.
- Bake. Remember one of my cookie baking success tips? Use your eyes as the timer, not the clock. Cookies are done when the edges are set.
Glaze always adds a lovely finishing touch, but I skipped it for these. If desired, feel free to lightly dip each cooled cookie in vanilla icing or even this eggnog icing.
One Thing to Note: Cookies naturally puff up and spread out in the oven, so the design will never be quite as defined on a baked cookie. You can see how defined they are above (before baking) compared to below (after baking).
Success Tips for Stamped Cookies
I include most of these above, but let me summarize each. It’s important to remember that the amount of definition your stamped design holds depends on the recipe, how firm the cookie dough is, and the stamp you use. Like I mention above, cookies naturally puff up and spread out in the oven, so the design will never be quite as defined on a baked cookie.
- Recipe: Not all cookie doughs are ideal for cookie stamps. Avoid using cookie stamps on thick and fluffy cookies, which will likely puff up in the oven instead of holding onto the stamped design. Follow the recipe as written below because it yields a relatively flat cookie. Additionally, darker cookies show the stamped design better than lighter cookies.
- Place the Stamp Centered Over the Dough: Center the stamp as best you can on top of the cookie dough ball before pressing down.
- Flour Your Cookie Stamp: Cookie dough can stick to the stamp. Dip your cookie stamp in flour before stamping. If dipped lightly, the flour bakes right off the stamped cookies.
- Firm Cookie Dough: Don’t skip chilling this cookie dough. You could even chill the stamped cookies before baking. It wouldn’t hurt to stamp the dough balls, preheat the oven, then chill the stamped cookies in the refrigerator as your oven preheats.
- Stamp: There’s really no way of knowing how well your cookie stamp works until you test it out. This isn’t sponsored, but I’m a genuine fan of Nordic Ware cookie stamps. They’re good quality, heavy duty, and work wonderfully. I used the Starry Night ones in these photos. (You can find them online and some stores including Williams-Sonoma and Target.) And once you have the cookie stamps, try these stamped chocolate espresso cookies next!
Stamped Cinnamon Brown Sugar Cookies
- Prep Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes (includes chilling)
- Cook Time: 13 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours (includes cooling)
- Yield: 32 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Sweetened mostly with brown sugar and spiced with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cardamom, these stamped cookies are just as flavorful as they are beautiful. Chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Feel free to skip the cookie stamp and bake them as round cookie dough balls.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled), plus extra as needed for stamping
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/3 cup (65g) granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon (15ml) unsulphured or dark molasses (do not use blackstrap; I prefer Grandma’s brand), maple syrup, or honey
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cardamom together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat the softened butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together on medium-high speed until creamy, about 3 minutes. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the molasses, egg, and vanilla extract and mix on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl again as needed.
- Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, then mix on low speed until combined. Cover and chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours (and up to 4 days). If chilling for longer than a few hours, allow to sit at room temperature for at least 15 minutes before rolling because the dough will be quite hard.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Roll and stamp: Measure 1 Tablespoon (20g) of chilled cookie dough per cookie and roll into balls. The dough may seem crumbly, but will come together as you roll. Arrange dough balls 3 inches apart on the baking sheets. Place the cookie stamp directly on top of each cookie dough ball, centering the ball as best as you can, then firmly press down until the dough extends nearly to the edges of the cookie stamp. Lift straight up. If your cookie dough is sticking to the cookie stamp (mine does!), lightly dip the cookie stamp in a bowl of flour before stamping the cookie dough ball. If dipped lightly, the flour bakes right off the cookie.
- Bake cookies until the edges are set, about 13 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Cover leftover cookies tightly and store at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 4 days (step 3). Baked cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw completely at room temperature, then stamp and bake as directed in the recipe. Read my tips and tricks on how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Cookie Stamps (here are some options: Starry Nights (pictured), Snowflakes, Geo Shapes, and Greetings) | Cooling Rack
- Spices: Feel free to make spice substitutions as needed, keeping in mind some spices have a stronger flavor than others. For best results, I recommend following the spices and measurements listed.
Reader Comments and Reviews
I’ve tried a couple different recipes before with my embossed rolling pins, but always failed to get good results. These came out perfect, I’m so glad I found this recipe!! I made my cookies with two different embossed rolling pins and it came out amazing. The only thing I changed was how long I baked the cookies for. Because the rolling pin makes the dough a little more flat, I only baked for 10 minutes. I also put the cookies in the freezer for 10+ minutes before baking. 5 stars!!
Love these cookies. I don’t have stamps, but I do have a meat mallet. I used the nubby side to create a waffle pattern, then sprinkled little pearl balls into the holes. Great way to fancy ‘em up if you don’t have a stamp. Thanks for the recipe.
These cookies were delightful and taste like xmas! All the spices bring a different note than the more power punch of a ginger molasses cookie (which of course I love from your site!). I think the cardamom brings the delightful difference. Definitely worth a smidge from our local spice shop to make this lovely cookie. This cookie is perfectly spiced. I made it as a drop cookie and rolled it in cinnamon sugar before baking. Now I have a load of dough balls in the freezer just waiting to be enjoyed. Thank you Sally. Hope you have a wonderful holiday. I appreciate how cookie palooza lives on!
Really goooood cookies! I overload the cinnamon amount because we just love cinnamon and the cookies were amazing!
Did not use stamps and they turned out so cute and round!
These cookies looked so pretty I decided to order some cookie stamps and make them! They are so pretty and so delicious. This is a keeper!
Wonderful! I’m so glad you decided to try these, Lisa.
LOVED THEM!! Of course we added a small flair by baking only 8 minutes for a softer cookie and then dipping in a glaze (think oatmeal cookie)!!
CANNOT wait to make them again 🙂 🙂
I just finished making these and they are delicious. Love the spice and that they aren’t too sweet. Will be making these again!
Hi!
I was wondering since I can’t use anything else besides cinnamon can you tell me how much of it can I add to have a good flavour?
Thank you!
Hi Cristina, stick with the amount of cinnamon listed in the recipe. I fear if you add any more, it could be too much. Simply leave out the other spices. The cookies will have plenty of flavor.
Hi Sally!
I absolutely love all your recipes! I made this one over the weekend and we had a few issues in that came up while we were making them. One of the questions we had after making it is, how do you get the flour to stick to the stamp? And we honestly only had luck with one of the stamps not sticking too much. We got the flour to stick on the stamp after a few stamps, but is there anyway to get it to stick on the stamp right off the bat? Also our cookies spread out a lot, we chilled before stamping and we even chilled for a little bit before baking them. I think my dough balls were a little bigger than a Tbsp and we pressed them out till they were the size of the stamp, could that have caused it to spread?
Thanks!
Hi Kelsea, I’m sure all brands of stamps are different, but you should be able to just press the bottom into a small bowl or pile of flour to help it not stick. The cookies will puff up and spread out when baked. If you chilled for at least 2 hours and they still spread too much I wonder if the cookies were pressed too flat with the stamp? If you try the recipe again, see if you can add a couple more Tbsp of flour, which will help soak up more butter and prevent them from spreading more than they should.
If you don’t have a cookie stamp, look around your kitchen for gadgets that may work. For example, I have one of those plastic tools from Pampered Chef that you use to break up ground meat while cooking. It has sort of a swirl design on the bottom — you could stamp your cookies with that! I’m also thinking the discs from my cookie press could be pressed into the cookies for a design as well.
Hi Sally!!!!! I love your recipes!!!!!! So far I’ve made different scones recipes. They are amazing. I love baking cookies. My question about cookies stamp, can I use the lace doilies to stamp my cookies? Thanks in advance.
Hi Barbara, thank you so much for the excitement and support! I’m thinking of regular lace doilies– is that what you’re asking? I’m unsure how to best use them as a stamp for cookies.
As soon as I read “The centers are a little soft, but the edges have a crunchy crumbly texture” I knew I had to make these. I’m that rare bird that prefers crispy cookies. I immediately went to HomeGoods and bought a set of cookie stamps for $4.99! Sally’s description is spot on. These cookies were perfectly spiced and a lot of fun to make. These cookies would be a lot of fun to make with kiddos.
Happy Baking!
Hi Sally! I love your recipes. Each one that I’ve made has been fantastic. I especially love your all butter pie crust recipe. My question is this: my daughter sent me a beautiful embossed Polish rolling pin for Christmas…how thin should each cookie be rolled to? 6mm? I can’t wait to try making these! Thanks in advance!
Hi Julie! There’s really no way to know if that rolling pin would work without testing it out first. I found the dough a little difficult to roll out with a regular rolling pin. Let me know if you try it!
Thank you, Sally! Actually, I found the dough easy to work with. It’s a fun recipe! What I did was roll my dough out to 6 mm and used the embossing pin for the design. Then I took a small drinking glass and cut each one into a circle. Still baked them for 13 minutes. They are beautiful! I made a double batch, so now I have enough to share (if I can keep my husband away from them). Thanks again for a fabulous recipe!
I have a set of glassware that have cut glass bottoms. I use these for cookie presses . Check your glass ware. I have been doing this for years! Worked great on these cookies. I do use a small bowl of cinnamon sugar to dip the bottom of the glass in between presses.
That’s wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing, Candy. Glad these cookies were a hit!
Would you suggest this recipe also for a cookie gun? Where you squeeze out the dough or do you have a better recipe for that?
Hi Connie, Do you mean a cookie press? If so we love using this recipe for Spritz Cookies with a cookie press.
I have had great success with using a piece of stretch-tite plastic wrap over a ball of dough…it is strong enough to be used for the whole batch, and pliable enough to get a perfect image of the stamp. Stamp stays clean, no flour mess, and NO sticking! Love those stamps too!
I have a pan with 6 “gingerbread man” mold shapes. Could I press this dough into them? My recipe is for soft cookies and doesn’t work well- won’t come out easily and the face features disappear. Looking for a good gingerbread recipe that will mold well.
I’m sure you could!
Disappointed in how the cookies turned out. I followed the recipe precisely as written. Chilled the dough for four hours. I used a cookie press and had a very nice design on the cookies Before placing cookies in the oven. During baking, the cookie spread and I totally lost the design. I don’t understand what went wrong? Sally can you help me?
Hi Suzanne, I’m sorry you had trouble with how the stamp designs came through on the baked cookies. I wonder if the cookies were pressed too flat with the stamp? If you try the recipe again, see if you can add a couple more Tbsp of flour, which will help soak up more butter and prevent them from spreading more than they should.
Thank you Sally. I am going to try again based on your suggestions. I also will try the molasses instead honey to see if that makes a difference. I love all your recipes!
I absolutely LOVEd these cookies. The spice was perfect. My husband (not a sweet s eater) ate 5 while they were cooking. I will make them again and again.
I made these this morning, and they were perfection!! Try rolling the balls of dough in a cinnamon sugar mixture before stamping- the stamp didn’t stick, and the mixture makes them even tastier!!
Hi Sally! I am going to make these without the cookie stamps. Should I use something to flatten the cookies into circles (perhaps the bottom of a bowl or jar)? Super excited to try these out 🙂
Hi Megan! You can, but you could also just bake them as regular drop cookies without flattening them out.
If we don’t have a stamp, can we just push them flat?
Hi Jenna! You can, but you could also just bake them as regular drop cookies without flattening them out.
Hi Sally! These are so lovely! I was wondering if I can replace the flour in these cookies, or any of your cookies for that matter, with gluten free flour? Thank you.
Hi Paula, I’m sure you could but I haven’t tested it. I don’t have very much experience with gluten free flours. Let me know if you try it!
Thank you, as always, for your reply, Sally. <3 I'll let you know if I try GF flour with any of your amazing cookies! Love your recipes!!
Can I just use cinnamon if I don’t have the other spices?
Absolutely!
Definitely coating the top with sugar where the side will be stamp. I have these stamps and use for my gingerbread. Flouring makes them too sticky and gum up the stamp.
Hello! I bought one of those laser-cut rolling pins (mine is a honeybee/honeycomb pattern). After rolling out the dough, you give it a roll over the dough and then cut out. I see that you said this isn’t the best dough for rolling pins, but your cookies held the pattern so well, I thought I’d ask. Thank you!
Hi Malissa, there’s really no way to know if that rolling pin would work without testing it out first. I found the dough a little difficult to roll out with a regular rolling pin. Let me know if you try it!
Hi, I’m so glad I read your recipe for stamped cookies. I’ve had stamps for sometime but have always been very disappointed in the outcome — now I know why I’ve been doing it all wrong, rolling the dough and then stamping. Can’t wait to dig out the stamps and give it a try. Thank you
These are so pretty! Do you think this recipe would work with spingerle mold stamps? Thank you for sharing.
Hi Sheena! I haven’t tested it, so I can’t be sure. I can’t see why it wouldn’t work though. Make sure the dough chills.
Are there other cookie recipes that you can use the stamp?
Hi Joan! I bet you could chill this chocolate sugar cookie dough after making it (skip rolling it out), then roll into dough balls and stamp as instructed here.
I have almost every set of cookie stamps that Nordic Ware makes, and I love them all. They are truly heirloom quality AND made in the USA! I will pass them down to my grandchildren.
I’ve found that rather than dipping the stamps in flour, a very light brushing with canola oil on a silicone brush works better to prevent sticking. My grandchildren are only three, but they can stamp the oil-brushed cookie stamps on the dough balls and lift them successfully by themselves! Also, each set of three stamps comes with a printed recipe on the box. All are excellent!
Merry Christmas, everyone! Let’s BAKE!
Could I just engrave something on top if I have no stamp?
Hi Emily! You certainly could, but I’m unsure how well the design will hold as the cookies bake. Let me know what you try.