Sticky Cranberry Gingerbread Recipe (2024)

By Melissa Clark

Sticky Cranberry Gingerbread Recipe (1)

Total Time
1½ hours plus cooling
Rating
5(3,399)
Notes
Read community notes

Sticky, spicy and full of cranberries, this gingerbread is perfect for the holidays. The recipe has been designed to make ahead, and will taste as good 2 days after baking as it does on the same day. (It will keep for 4 to 5 days.) To store it, wrap it well, stick it in the fridge and then bring to room temperature before serving. Whipped cream or crème fraîche, spiked with a little bourbon if you like, is nice on the side.

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Ingredients

Yield:8 to 10 servings

  • 2cups/8 ounces/266 grams fresh or frozen cranberries
  • 1cup/200 grams granulated sugar
  • 1stick/4 ounces/113 grams unsalted butter
  • cup/133 grams dark brown sugar
  • ½cup/120 milliliters whole milk
  • ½cup/120 milliliters maple syrup
  • ¼cup/60 milliliters molasses
  • cups/185 grams all-purpose flour
  • 1tablespoon/5 grams ground ginger
  • ½teaspoon/1 gram ground cinnamon
  • ½teaspoon/3 grams baking powder
  • ½teaspoon/3 grams kosher salt
  • ¼teaspoon/1 gram baking soda
  • ¼teaspoon black pepper
  • 2large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1tablespoon/14 grams grated fresh ginger (from 1-inch piece)

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)

379 calories; 11 grams fat; 6 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 69 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 51 grams sugars; 4 grams protein; 198 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Sticky Cranberry Gingerbread Recipe (2)

Preparation

  1. Step

    1

    Heat oven to 350 degrees and line a 9-inch square or round baking pan with parchment.

  2. Step

    2

    In a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan, stir together cranberries, granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon water. Stir the cranberries over medium heat until the sugar is completely dissolved and cranberries form a sauce that is syrupy and bubbling thickly, about 10 minutes. Aim to have about half the cranberries broken down, with the remainder more or less whole.

  3. In a separate saucepan, stir together the butter, brown sugar, milk, maple syrup and molasses over medium heat. Bring it to just barely a simmer and then remove it from the heat. Do not let it come to a boil, or the mixture may curdle.

  4. Step

    4

    In a large bowl, sift together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, baking soda and black pepper. Beat in the butter-maple syrup mixture and then beat in the eggs. Stir in the ginger.

  5. Step

    5

    Scrape the batter into the pan. Drop fat dollops of cranberry sauce onto the surface of the cake batter. Drag a long, slender knife through the batter in a swirly design, as if you are marbling a cake. Transfer the cake to the oven and bake it until the top is firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire baking rack and let the cake cool completely before eating it.

Ratings

5

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3,399

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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

Amanda

Made it for a New Year's Day party. If I could ingest nothing but this and Prosecco--and/or maybe some strong coffee--for the rest of my days, I'd be happy. Dead, but happy.

s leinweber

made this last night. did not have whole cranberries, used dried. cut the sugar (all the sugary bits) way down, at least by half--have found that works in ALL desserts. did not cut the butter, butter is key here. delicious, a winner!!

Cia

Since my husband likes desserts likes less-sweet, I brought the granulated sugar down to 3/4c, the brown sugar down to 1/3c, and the maple syrup down to 1/4c. I also upped the fresh grated ginger to 1-1/2 T. DELICIOUS! More moist than sticky. Next time I'll put in the full 12 oz bag of fresh cranberries.

CN

I made an account just to review this. It was absolutely perfect. As noted by others, even better the next day. Especially when warmed up.

I agree the cranberry was a little too sweet. The cake is already sweet enough, and I'd like more tartness to contrast, but that's just my opinion. I also used the entire bag of cranberries (12 oz) for convenience, and it came out more moist (better for it, in my opinion).

This will be in my recipe book for years to come!

Mamie

I added chopped crystallized ginger to the cranberry mixture. Perfection.

Jamie

This is our favorite gingerbread by far, one we've made many times. But the original excellent recipe is now a bit too sweet for our tastes, so we used half the recommended amount of sugar to make the cranberry sauce, and it made a perfectly balanced mix of sweet and tart. We also used 1/2 cup brown sugar instead of 2/3 cup, and about 2 tablespoons of grated fresh ginger instead of 1. It ended up a true gingerbread instead of a cake, and was roundly acclaimed by all to be the best one yet...

cb

Made it for Thanksgiving and it was a big hit, but I wanted it to be more moist & sticky. Remade it last night and using the full 12 oz of cranberries deffo helps the moisture quotient. Also made it in a springform pan with parchment circle on bottom and light oil spray, flouring on sides. Easier to deal with than cake pan.

Rebecca

Loved this. To make it denser, use less of the leavening agents (baking soda/baking powder) and use 1 egg and two egg yolks instead of two eggs. I also used oil instead of butter (because I was out and too lazy to go to the store). Finally, I made a lemon juice/confectioner's sugar sauce and poured it over the whole cake, which kept it moist and added the acidic kick I thought I needed.

Liz

I made this last night and it is fantastic! It's easily going to become a winter staple in my house.

Reading through the notes other people wrote, I took their suggestion for cutting the sugar in the cranberry sauce and it was an excellent choice. I ended up cutting it in half (1/2 C), since I like things on the tarter side. I also didn't have fresh ginger, so I added another tsp of ground ginger.

BT

I made this exactly as directed. It was very good, but would be even better with the others' suggestions: (1) increase the amount of ginger by .5 T or add crystallized ginger, and (2) use the whole bag (12 oz) of cranberry. Looking forward to the next batch!

Grace

So delicious! An easy weeknight cake--no mixer needed. I mistakenly added the ginger to the cranberry sauce; next time I'm going to do that and add even more to the batter! I like the taste of cloves, so I added an 1/8 tsp to the flour mix. All in all a great cake!

Shelley

Swap honey for maple syrup, and this might be an interesting stand-in for honeycake on Rosh Hashana.

Melisa

For all those of you asking about how to make it gluten free, just use (or make) a standard all purpose flour blend. There are zillions of recipes on the Internet, or you can start with Gluten Free Girl's basic formulas. The typical substitution numbers are 5 ounces/140g gf flour for every cup of wheat flour. Recipes like this are perfect for converting to gf with no problem.

Daughter's recipes

Thanks for the Notes... I took everyone's advice and cooked cranberries for an additional 10-15 minutes. Mine were so large and juicy that 10 minutes did not make a nice thick syrup. Followed all the directions as written and made sure to swirl to the edges of the pan. Cranberries were well distributed throughout and made for a nice spicy gingerbread with a gooey sweet/tart cranberry swirl!

Sissy

A lot of the sugar goes into making the cranberry sauce and if you like a tarter flavor, this is where to cut back on the white sugar. The molasses adds wonderful depth. Don't overcook the cake or it won't be as sticky-gooey as it ought. I only make this if I have to take a cake somewhere to share since it is too tempting to have in the house. Freezes well.

Trisha

I made this yesterday, and it was delicious. I took other poster's suggestions to cut the white sugar in half to make the cranberries more tart, and feel it was a great suggestion. Used half the maple syrup because I ran out. I will make this again.

kd

I liked, good breakfast kind of bread, was not a huge hit with the family

Adele

I prepared this exactly to the recipe, except for substituting cup-for-cup gluten free flour, and it was scrumptious!

Anne K

I made this in a Bundt pan. Came out great. The outside had a nice chewy texture. Time was about the same. Looked great under my cake dome!

Susain

Superb. Didn't change a thing. Made for Thanksgiving. Everyone loved it. I had to give the few leftover pieces to my daughter because I knew I would devour them all as soon as my guests left. I was very sorry the next day thinking about what a good accompaniment to coffee they would have been.

kesleigh

Truly a delicious and warm cake that ticks all the boxes! Wish I heeded others comments about the cranberries being too sweet, will use half the sugar next time. I accidentally forgot to add the fresh ginger into the batter so I mixed it into the cranberries. It worked beautifully. Looking forward to making this again!

LJW

Found this recipe two weeks ago. It was a huge hit for a holiday party and a definite keeper. Appreciate a comment to use a springform pan. I had a 9 1/2 not a 9 but that did not seem to impact the recipe. I also did not have whole milk and used 2%.

A. Burton

I was excited to try this recipe when I first saw it. I found, however, that the combined flavors of the molasses and spices overpowered the sweet/tart of the cranberries and that the end result was a lot like fruitcake. If I make it again I would adjust to allow the taste cranberries to play a little louder.

Michelle

I made this for 2 occasions this holiday season and it was a hit at both. Easy to follow recipe that works exactly as written.

Ditte

This is a very delicious cake. Best the first day, but lasts well for a couple..I added dried cherries and unsweetened dried cranberries to the cranberry mixture and continued cooking it as directed. Just an added richness.I also make a simple cream cheese frosting with a touch of vanilla and powdered cardamom and frosted the cake when it was cooled. Not necessary, but it dresses it up a bit and if you love cream cheese frosting as much as I do, a great addition.

Pfluby

Tasty gingerbread with tart cranberries. Not sure where the sticky comes in. I made it Christmas weekend thinking it would be similar to sticky toffee pudding, not the case.

Mary O

I made this for my book group, and followed the recipe, except that I was out of milk, so used cream. Also I used the entire 12oz bag of cranberries for the sauce. Delicious! I love the bite of fresh ginger against the sweet swirls of cranberry. I’ll be making this again tomorrow, my family complained that there wasn’t enough left over from book group!

Josh

Gawd. This is just perfectly great Christmas gift cooking. The cranberries floated to the bottom, so I just flipped the cake - like an upside down cranberry gingerbread.

Diane

This was fabulous just as written.

Mark

This was just ok. Nice gingery taste but I think I’ll stick with regular old gingerbread.

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Sticky Cranberry Gingerbread Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How long do you refrigerate gingerbread dough? ›

Divide the dough into two thick disks and wrap each disk in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until chilled, about 3 hours. (The dough can be prepared up to 2 days ahead.) To roll out the cookies, work with one disk at a time, keeping the other disk refrigerated.

How to keep gingerbread from sticking? ›

If the dough isn't too sticky, you can roll it out between sheets of parchment paper. Keep cookie cutters from sticking to the dough by misting them very lightly with cooking spray or dipping the edges into flour.

Should you chill gingerbread dough? ›

Chilling it for at least two hours or overnight gives the ingredients a chance to absorb one another, making it a whole lot easier to roll out the dough without it cracking. Follow this tip: Let the dough chill in the refrigerator, well-wrapped, for at least two hours or overnight before rolling it out.

Why is my gingerbread dense? ›

Under-baking can cause a sunken cake and over-baking can cause a dry one, so making sure your gingerbread is properly baked is critical! Gingerbread is inherently slightly dense and heavy in texture, but each bite is perfectly flavored and moist and just melts in your mouth.

Why is my gingerbread dough sticky? ›

Molasses is a thick, goopy ingredient, so it wasn't a surprise that my dough came out on the stickier end of the texture spectrum when I used too much molasses.

How do you get gingerbread to stick? ›

Fit Everything Together with Melted Sugar or Royal Icing

The second way is to use burnt sugar as your glue. Just melt C&H® Pure Granulated Cane Sugar in a pan on the stove, dip the gingerbread parts in and hold them together for a few seconds. Then, presto! You've created a solid house.

What happens if you bake sticky cookie dough? ›

For instance, if you add a bit too much moisture to your cookie dough, you may find yourself with overly sticky cookie dough on your hands (literally). When cookie dough is too sticky, your cookies are likely to come out either too greasy, too flat, too crispy, or a combination of these.

Why is my gingerbread not sticking together? ›

Just melt the sugar in a pan over low heat. You want to allow it to turn brown, but make sure not to burn it (otherwise it won't taste so great). Then take your gingerbread house pieces, dip the edges in melted sugar and hold them together for a few seconds. That's it!

Why is gingerbread too hard? ›

“There are some gingerbread recipes that are hard right after baking and need to sit for a few days to soften. Molasses and honey hardens gingerbread, but as the sugar absorbs moisture, it will get softer.”

Can I use golden syrup instead of molasses? ›

Golden Syrup

With its golden, amber color, it is lighter than molasses, though the two are similar in their thickness. Golden syrup also a liquid sweetener, so 1 cup of golden syrup can replace 1 cup of molasses. Golden syrup has a unique flavor, so it may alter the flavor of your recipe slightly.

What are the three types of gingerbread? ›

The three distinct types of gingerbread are brown gingerbread, wafer-based gingerbread and honey gingerbread.
  • BROWN GINGERBREAD.
  • WAFER GINGERBREAD.
  • HONEY GINGERBREAD.

What is the best gingerbread in the world? ›

Grasmere Gingerbread Shop | The World's Best Gingerbread. Victorian cook Sarah Nelson invented Grasmere Gingerbread® in 1854 in the English Lake District village from where it gets its name.

Can you overwork gingerbread? ›

Gingerbread is supposed to have crisp edges and a soft centre, overworking the dough will make them tough – and nobody wants that! Chill your dough in the fridge before you roll it out, this relaxes the gluten in the dough and makes it easier to handle.

Why molasses in gingerbread? ›

The deep, caramel-like sweetness of molasses pairs perfectly with the warm spices of ginger, cinnamon, and cloves, creating the iconic flavor profile of these classic treats. The choice of molasses over other sweeteners adds a depth and complexity that elevates gingerbread to a cherished holiday tradition.

What if gingerbread dough is too hard after fridge? ›

Take it out of the fridge and let it soften at room temperature for while, perhaps 30 minutes to an hour. If you are in a particular hurry, divide the dough into smaller parts; a small amount of dough will warm more quickly than a large lump. Do not put it in the microwave oven.

Can I chill gingerbread dough in the freezer? ›

Including classic sugar cookies and spicy gingerbread cookies, these are some of my favorite cookies to freeze for the holidays. Freeze the dough in disk-shaped flattened rounds, and then thaw them until they are easy enough to roll out and cut. Then go cookie-cutter crazy and bake.

Can you chill dough faster in the freezer? ›

As you can imagine, utilizing the freezer is an alternative way to chill your cookie dough if you are in a hurry. As a rule of thumb, aim to chill the dough in the freezer for about a quarter of the time you would typically refrigerate it. So, if you can't do an hour in the refrigerator, do 15 minutes in the freezer.

How long can gingerbread last in the fridge? ›

How long does gingerbread last? Baked gingerbread will keep for 5 days in an airtight container. If it's humid or moisture is present, the gingerbread will soften. You can freeze gingerbread either raw or cooked.

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