Have your latte and eat it, too! These gingerbread latte cookies are every bit as chewy, soft, and nostalgic as my classic iced oatmeal cookies, but with a festive flavor twist. Dunk in espresso-speckled white chocolate and top with a sprinkle of spice for a creamy gingerbread latte experience… in a cookie! Pair with peppermint mocha cookies and spiced eggnog oatmeal cream pies for a trio of cookies inspired by holiday-favorite coffeehouse beverages.
One reader, Kristina, commented: “WOW!! These cookies are amazing! The texture is perfect, the flavors are layered, warm, comforting and balanced, plus, they are pretty with the dipped chocolate. I brought some to work and some to family, and my coworkers said it was their favorite cookie I’ve made! Everyone wanted the recipe. ★★★★★“
If you’ve ever tried my iced gingerbread oatmeal cookies, the flavor and texture of today’s cookie recipe will seem familiar. My gingerbread oatmeal cookie recipe pairs the soft and chewy texture of regular iced oatmeal cookies with the cozy, comforting flavors of gingerbread cookies, and it is a beautiful thing! For today’s gingerbread latte cookies, we are taking this a step further, by introducing espresso flavor and sweet, creamy white chocolate.
Recipe Snapshot
- Texture: Soft and remarkably chewy
- Flavor: Gingerbread, holiday spices, coffee, oatmeal (think: Starbucks gingerbread oatmilk latte)
- Ease: They seem fancy, but this is definitely a beginner recipe
- Time: Around 1 hour, 30 minutes—only 30 minutes of chill time for this dough!
Ingredients You Need & Why
- Oats: Taking an extra few seconds to pulse the oats in a food processor will completely transform the texture of your finished cookies. No matter if you use whole oats or quick oats, pulse them a few times in your food processor to obtain the correct consistency. (See below for a visual.)
- Flour: All-purpose flour gives these cookies structure.
- Espresso Powder: I find espresso powder in the coffee aisle at my regular grocery store, but you can also find it online. If you can’t find it, you can substitute instant coffee in a pinch; do not use regular ground coffee.
- Baking Soda: So the cookies will puff up a bit in the oven, then deflate a bit when cooling; someting we love about regular molasses cookies.
- Spices: It took a few rounds of testing to get the perfect ratio of spices, so they don’t overwhelm the subtle espresso flavor in these cookies. You need ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. These are the same spices you use when making gingerbread whoopie pies and chocolate ginger cookies.
- Salt: Flavor enhancer + sweetness balancer.
- Butter: You’ll need softened room-temperature butter.
- Sugars: Not only does it sweeten the cookies, brown sugar adds extra molasses flavor, softness, and a little moisture too. White granulated sugar is also needed to help the cookies spread.
- Egg: For binding the dough ingredients together.
- Molasses: Molasses adds deep, rich flavor. Use dark molasses that’s labeled unsulphured. Avoid blackstrap molasses in this cookie recipe because it will overpower everything else.
And white chocolate for that delicious dunk at the end!
Let’s Make Gingerbread Latte Cookies
Just like these classic iced oatmeal cookies, today’s gingerbread latte cookies are mega chewy, with buttery soft centers and slightly crisp edges. The key to their texture is pulsing the oats in a food processor or blender to gently break them down. The result is an uneven mixture of broken oats and coarse crumbs, a texture medley that gives us a compact and chewy oatmeal cookie.
Here’s what the oats look like after pulsing:
Now you can mix the oats together with the remaining dry ingredients, and work on the wet ingredients. After combining it all, the dough will be very thick and a bit sticky. It needs to chill in the refrigerator for at least 30–45 minutes before you can scoop the dough and bake it.
Success Tip: Use a Cookie Scoop
This is a textured and sticky dough. A cookie scoop not only keeps your fingers (relatively) clean, it helps ensure all cookies are the same size and shape. I recommend a medium cookie scoop, which holds 1.5 Tablespoons of cookie dough (about 35g). The cookies spread nicely, so keep each baking sheet/batch to about 8 or 9 cookies.
Finish With a Dip in White Chocolate
Chop up a couple of white chocolate bars, and melt them together with a splash of oil and a dash of espresso powder. Oil helps keep the white chocolate on the softer side, so it doesn’t get crumbly and hard.
You can melt the chocolate in the microwave, in a small bowl or a glass liquid measuring cup. Microwave in 20-second intervals, stirring after each, until the white chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Look at all those pretty little speckles of espresso! Is it that sweet? I guess so.
Success Tip: Best White Chocolate to Use
While white chocolate morsels are fabulous IN cookies, they are not ideal for melting into a smooth topping in which to dunk your cookies. Chocolate chips/morsels contain stabilizers, preventing them from melting into a silky smooth consistency. That’s why chocolate chips keep their shape in your chocolate chip cookies.
And while candy melts are great for cake pops, in a recipe like this, you’ll really taste the difference between actual chocolate and candy melts.
I recommend Ghirardelli, Guittard, or Baker’s brand bars, found in the baking aisle near the chocolate chips. This is exactly what I recommend for making peppermint bark, as well.
Dunk each cooled cookie about halfway into the espresso-flavored white chocolate, then place on a piece of parchment paper or silicone baking mat, or on a cooling rack set over a baking sheet/piece of parchment to catch the drips. Sprinkle the dipped part of the cookies with a tiny pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg, to give them that coffee shop gingerbread latte finish on top. The white chocolate eventually sets, but I recommend putting the cookies in the refrigerator to speed up the process.
Now, kick off your shoes and curl up someplace cozy, because you can enjoy this gingerbread latte-flavored treat in the comfort of your own home—no trip to the coffee shop required!
This recipe is part of my annual cookie countdown called Sally’s Cookie Palooza. It’s the biggest, most delicious event of the year! Browse dozens of cookie recipes over on the Sally’s Cookie Palooza page.
Gingerbread Latte Cookies
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 13 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
- Yield: 30 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These gingerbread latte cookies are every bit as chewy, soft, and nostalgic as my classic iced oatmeal cookies, but with a festive flavor twist. Dunk in espresso-speckled white chocolate and top with a sprinkle of spice for a creamy gingerbread latte experience… in a cookie!
Ingredients
Cookies
- 2 cups (170g) old-fashioned whole rolled oats
- 1 and 2/3 cups (210g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 2 teaspoons espresso powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup (60ml/75g) unsulphured or dark molasses (do not use blackstrap; I prefer Grandma’s brand)
Topping
- 8 ounces (226g) white chocolate, chopped
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil or coconut oil (optional; helps to thin the chocolate)
- 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder
- pinch each of cinnamon and nutmeg, for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Make the cookies: Pulse the oats in a food processor 10–12 times until you have a variety of texture—chopped oats with some oat flour. See photo above for a visual.
- Whisk the pulsed oats, flour, espresso powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together on medium-high speed until creamed, about 3 minutes. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) Add the egg and molasses and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until combined. Dough will be very thick and sticky. Cover and chill the dough for 30–45 minutes (and up to 3 days) in the refrigerator. If chilling for longer than a few hours, allow to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before scooping because the dough will be quite hard.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Scoop cookie dough, about 1.5 Tablespoons (35g) of dough per cookie, and place 3 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake for 12–13 minutes or until lightly browned on the sides. The centers will look very soft.
- Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before dipping.
- Make the topping: Melt the chopped white chocolate, oil, and espresso powder in a double boiler or use the microwave. For the microwave, place it all in a medium heat-proof bowl or liquid measuring cup. Melt in 20-second increments, stirring after each increment until completely melted and smooth. Dip each completely cooled cookie halfway into the white chocolate and place onto a parchment- or silicone baking mat-lined baking sheet or cooling rack. In a small bowl, mix together cinnamon and nutmeg. Using your fingers, lightly sprinkle a tiny pinch of the spice mix on top of the white chocolate-covered part of the cookie. Repeat with the remaining cookies. Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator to set the white chocolate, about 30 minutes.
- Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for 3 days, or in the refrigerator 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 3 days. Allow to come to room temperature then continue with step 5. Baked cookies with or without topping freeze well for up to 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well for up to 3 months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw. Read my tips and tricks on how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Food Processor | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Medium Cookie Scoop | Cooling Rack
- Oats: Pulsing the oats in step 1 is the trick to this recipe. If you don’t have a food processor, use a blender. If you don’t have either, give the oats a rough chop on a cutting board. Even if you’re using quick oats, pulsing the oats is necessary—you just won’t have to pulse them as many times as whole oats. Do not use oat flour in place of the pulsed oats.
- Espresso Powder: I buy espresso powder from my regular grocery store—in the coffee aisle. If you can’t find espresso powder in stores or online, you can use instant coffee instead. You’d need a little more instant coffee since it isn’t as strong or rich as espresso powder. I don’t recommend using ground coffee because it’s not as flavorful as espresso powder or instant coffee, both of which have super concentrated flavor.
- Can I Skip The Coffee Flavor? Yes, you can. But I recommend making these iced gingerbread oatmeal cookies instead because they have the full medley of spices. The recipes are similar, only I reduced the spices (and the salt) in today’s version so you can really taste the espresso powder. When making those, simply skip the icing and use the white chocolate dip from today’s cookies, if desired.
- White Chocolate: White chocolate morsels are fabulous in cookies, but are not ideal for melting. And while candy melts are great for coating cake pops, in a recipe like this, you’ll really taste the difference between actual chocolate and candy melts. I recommend Ghirardelli, Guittard, or Baker’s brand bars of white chocolate, found in the baking aisle near the chocolate chips.
- What Can I Use Instead of White Chocolate? You can drizzle the cookies with or dip the cookies in the icing used on these iced gingerbread oatmeal cookies or these mocha blondies.
Reader Comments and Reviews
I made these last week to share with friends and they were a big hit! I have been really into gingerbread flavors this season so it was fun to have something new to try. Love the combo of gingerbread flavor with espresso and the icing.
These are so good! Turned out perfectly.
A friend made these and gave me one and oh my…best. cookie. ever. I’ve favourited the recipe for me to make in the future.
Hi Sally! Have you tried these without molasses, or with a substitute for them? Thanks!
Hi Saanya, molasses is a key ingredient in these gingerbread latte cookies. We haven’t tested it but some readers have used pure maple syrup as a replacement in similar cookie recipes. Of course the flavor will be different and the texture may be thinner also. Let us know what you try!
They did not turn out anything like photo. Mine were very plump and not chewy. I followed recipe.
Hi Carol, If the cookies didn’t spread enough and were dry, there may have been too much flour in the dough. How did you measure the flour? Make sure to spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much flour into your measuring cups – or use a kitchen scale. You can read more in this post about properly measuring baking ingredients.
Are these good to send in the mail?
Hi Chelesa, You should be able to mail these. Here is the best way to ship cookies.
I made these for my family and they were a big hit! I used gluten free flour and the cookies were delicious.
This recipe was so fun to make and it turned out really well.
Festive and delicious! The white chocolate coating sets up nicely when chilled. These are pretty chewy, not soft.
These taste so delicious! And the prefect chew ! I do feel you need to weigh your ingredients with a scale or they don’t turn out . I weighed the ingredients this time and they turned out great ! Also used a large cup to round them out as soon as they came out of the oven to make a perfect round cookie .
This recipe came out amazing. Loved by my co-workers and friends. In adding this to my Christmas cookie list.
My new favorite! I was afraid the white chocolate would make it too sweet but I was wrong. It’s perfection
I love these cookies! So many compliments on them.
I made these and they were a huge hit. So delicious and festive.
Delicious cookie. The white chocolate dip gave them extra pizzazz! I did not get any coffee flavor coming through so I would likely double the espresso next time.
These were really great!
Can’t wait to try these! Would they work with 1:1 gluten-free flour?
Hi Patience, We haven’t tested these with gluten free flour but let us know if you give it a try!
These were great and I look forward to making them again – however I think I may have made an error. Mine spread a lot. I weighed all the ingredients. Do you think maybe I over blitzed the oats? Thanks!
Hi Katie! Cookies spreading are often the result of starting with butter that’s too warm. Here’s more tips on preventing cookies from spreading!
Glad I tried this recipe, they were deliciously different the flavor more complex than a plain ginger or oatmeal cookie. Only change I made was to use only 4 oz white chocolate and dipped one side, it was just enough extra sweetness, think the white chocolate is a needed finishing touch, do not skip it even though more work.
The flavors in this recipe are so complex and I loved them so much. Everything about these cookies are excellent
Nailed it… this is so good! Perfectly chewy and balance of flavors… love it! Can’t wait to share this one with friends for the holidays! I made the mistake of not actually reading the recipe… the part about pulsing the oats… oops. They still look and taste and baked great! They just would be better if I took a second to do that step. Next time! Thanks Sally!
I finally made a batch today. OMG! They are so good!! Two of my favorite things combined in this delicious treat – coffee and gingerbread. I pulsed the oats in my food processor a few more times because I felt they didn’t have the right texture, but every food processor is different and they turned out amazing. I will definitely make them again for my holiday bake sale. Thank you so much for this recipe, Sally!
Would it throw off the flavor drastically to omit the nutmeg? I can’t use nutmeg at all.
Hi Fatima, you can leave it out!
Hello Sally
Love your receipes – but I do n=have one question – for your chewy biscuits – i.e. the gingerbread latte above, how can I make that a crunchy version? I much prefer crunchy over soft , but don’t how to best convert your receipes to do so….. otherwise love all the recipes.. thank you
Hi Anndrea! It would require some testing, but when I’m looking for a crunchy cookie, usually you’ll have to reduce the flour and increase the fat, to help encourage more spread (and more crisp!). You may enjoy these crisp molasses cookies.
These cookies are excellent! Chewy. I really like the combination of different flavors. I doubled the spice. I used instant coffee. I put a dollop of the white chocolate/coffee mixture on top rather than dunking them in it. I didn’t add any oil to the topping. I will definitely be making these again.
Because of a medical condition, I can only eat dark chocolate. Can I substitute dark chocolate for the white chocolate for the dipping?
Absolutely, they will still taste delicious.
I made these for a Christmas party & there were no leftovers! I did make a few changes to accommodate some allergies. I made them GF/DF by using gluten free flour, country crock plant based butter, and DF chocolate chips for dipping. As others have stated, watch the baking time. Mine only needed 10 minutes. I’ll definitely be making them again!!
They were just ok. I did not do the chocolate dip but cookies had no coffee flavor and had a bitter aftertaste from the espresso. Disappointed in the lack of coffee flavor in the cookie and not enough gingerbread
Hi D, you will lose some coffee flavor and sweetness without the espresso white chocolate dip. Thank you for the feedback!
These are fantastic. Just the right combination of sweet and spicy. A huge hit at a dinner party last night. They were dubbed “the grown-up gingerbread cookies “
These turned out great!