Have you ever noticed how certain aromas enter your nose—then waft down to the deepest nooks and crannies of your soul? They can unlock memories you didn’t even realize were buried there. Simply put: specific smells and tastes take us to our “happy place.” And that’s exactly where I ended up when we stepped into the kitchen at the Williamsburg Lodge for a private baking lesson.
Like many of you, I can remember walking into the Raleigh Tavern Bakery as a little girl and waiting impatiently as my parents ordered a round of hot ciders and gingerbread cookies for my sisters and me. Fast forward to 2014. As I stood watching the chefs add a cup of “this” and a pinch of “that” and the combination of cinnamon, ginger, and molasses started to fill the kitchen—it hit me. The smell of gingerbread is synonymous with Colonial Williamsburg. You can’t have the true experience without indulging in one of our signature treats. Whether you’re a CW veteran or a rookie, you’re in luck. I’m going to show you exactly how to create this magic in your very own kitchen.
Head Pastry Chef Rodney Diehl actually started his Colonial Williamsburg career as a teenager in the Raleigh Tavern Bakery. He and Chef Karl Saunders, the man we affectionately refer to as “Karl the Cookie Guy” could probably make this recipe in their sleep. In the last year alone, Karl made 587,000 of these. Can you imagine? That’s more than half a million cookies!
Karl uses scales to precisely measure each ingredient–making sure it isn’t an ounce above or below what’s expected. And each industrial-sized batch he whips up yields 2,296 cookies. The sheer weight of the ingredients alone will blow your mind: 150 lbs of flour, 40 lbs of sugar, 18 lbs of butter, and the list doesn’t end there.
While I’m sure you’d love to eat 2,000 cookies—I’m guessing a couple dozen will be enough. And there’s a good chance you already have what you need right there in your pantry. Take a minute to check out the recipe, then scroll down for step-by-step baking directions from our experts.
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tsp ginger
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup margarine
- 1/2 cup evaporated milk
- 1 cup unsulphured molasses
- 4 cups stone-ground or unbleached flour, sifted
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- Combine the sugar, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. Mix well.
- Add softened margarine, evaporated milk, and molasses. Mix well.
- Add the flour one cup at a time, stirring constantly.
- The dough should be stiff enough to handle without sticking to your fingers.
- Knead the dough for a smoother texture.
- Add up to 1/2 cup additional flour if needed to prevent sticking.
- When the dough is smooth, roll it out 1/4 inch thick on a floured surface and cut desired shapes.
- Bake on floured or greased cookie sheets (or parchment lined pans) for 10-12 minutes.
Chef Rodney says to mix your butter and sugar first. You want to do this until they get nice and creamy. Then, in a separate bowl, combine all of your dry ingredients, including your flour and spices. Set those aside. Next, add your milk and molasses to the butter mixture until they’re well blended. Then, slowly, one cup at a time, add your flour to the mix.
Once your dough is ready, spread it out and cut into whichever shapes you desire. If you don’t have a round cookie cutter on hand, you can always use the bottom of a glass. That’s a trick my grandmother taught me—one that also works for homemade biscuits! You’ll know your cookies are done if they spring back when you touch them.
UPDATE: This isn’t the only trick we have up our sleeve. Chef Rodney revealed these five behind-the-scenes secrets (including some simple substitutions) to make this recipe taste exactly like the recipe so many of us have come to love.
If you’re not much of a chef, no worries. We bake gingerbread cookies in our brick ovens now at the Raleigh Tavern Bakery. Details here. And if you can’t visit, you can order them online!
This recipe was amazing! Using the tips and tricks from the second article makes a huge difference! Who would have known that pastry flour vs all purpose flour would make that much of a difference in a recipe? I made the recipe both ways and the all purpose flour made a crispier cookie, more like ginger snaps. The pastry flour made for a fluffy, cake like cookie. I think I will try adding a little more ginger next time to make the cookies a little spicier. Great recipe!
Rodney is wonderful, I have been to many of his events. I stopped buying the ginger cookies made at the inn because they had a different taste than years ago. Now that they are made at the tavern again I will buy some. I am also going to try this recipe, today
This is hilarious. I was wandering on Pinterest and found this post on Colonial Williamsburg recipes. I immediately remembered the time as a 7th grader at St. Mary Star of the Sea School (Hampton) we went on a field trip and I visited the Raleigh Tavern and got a couple of gingerbread cookies. That was probably back in 1972, and it was the beginning of a lifetime love of all things baked, and spicy and of a gingerbread persuasion. I’ve thought of those cookies over the years, and NOW I have the recipe. YAY!!! Thanks!
What is the date for this recipe? Pretty sure they weren’t using baking soda or margarine in the 1700’s.
This article names two people, that I noticed. I did wonder at the different treatment of these two people. For one, his full name and title are given, and his face is shown in the photoraph. For the other, only his first name is given, no title is given but a nickname is, and his face is not shown. If this is done at his request, that is one thing. If not, I wonder at the reasons for such different treatment. I would suggest that the author(s) consider whether this was a conscious or unconscious choice, and in either case, why.
Thank you, Blouise! His name is Karl Saunders and there was no conscious intention to leave out his last name which I noticed is not included. I will add it now. I appreciate your feedback and thank you for reading.
I won’t say “the health department spoils everything,” because they really do serve a useful purpose. Sometimes. They also get a bit too over-zealous on occasion, and imho, this is one of them! But I won’t say they spoil EVERYthing, that wouldn’t be fair… *wry smile*
My brother has a tradition of making these for Christmas, and he calls them “Joe Froggers” – a name I assume he must have gotten from CW at some point! But I notice that this term is not used in either this or the more recent blog entry. Can you tell me anything about that name for these delicious cookies…? Many thanks!
My mistake! I am informed by the brother in question that his Joe Froggers are from the Publick House in Sturbridge, MA, not from Colonial Williamsburg at all. The mystery is solved! 😉
My understanding is Joe frogers is the name of a ginger cookie made by a slave who ran a tavern catering to seamen. Unfortunately I don’t remember where-CW? New England? New Orleans? Sorry fortune incomplete info.
I was just about to do a little research for you, Tom, when I noticed the follow-up response you posted. I’m glad you got to the bottom of the mystery! But now you have to tell us exactly what “Joe Froggers” are. Are they gingerbread as well?
THANK YOU, THANK YOU!! Am I right in remembering these actually being baked in the Raleigh Tavern Bakery late 1960’s, early 1970’s? I sooo remember the smell and fell in love with them then. Years later I was dating a young man who was running in a Williamsburg marathon. I dutifully stayed and waved to him as the race began, but then began a race of my own . . . to Raleigh Tavern for Gingerbread Cookies! I didn’t want him to know I had ditched the race for cookies but I made it to the bakery - purchased and ate all the cookies I could hold - and then arrived at the finish line before the race was over! He did, however, wonder why I wasn’t hungry at lunch. My well kept secret. Until now!
Thank you so much for the recipe. They will be a Christmas staple in my home from now on!
AS a former resident of Williamsburg I have very fond memories of picking up a ginger cake every now and again. About 20 years ago I purchased a small paperback cookbook from CW and it included the recipe above. I have been making them every Christmas since then. Thanks for the recipe and the memory.
That’s great, Jeffrey! Did you check out today’s post featuring 5 behind-the-scenes secrets from our chefs? They aren’t listed in the printed recipe and the tiny tweaks make a big difference in replicating the old Raleigh Tavern recipe that’s changed a bit over the years.
Like everyone else, we absolutely love the ‘ginger cakes’ from the Raleigh Tavern Bakery. We visit each year, and a stop at the bakery is on our itinerary daily; we wouldn’t have it any other way. I sure do hope that this recipe comes close to the real thing. It can’t be authentic, though, without walking the streets of CW as it is eaten.
Bella, I recommend that you check tomorrow’s blog post for just a couple tweaks to the recipe and then give it a whirl. I agree that it’s not the same as actually being here but maybe it will help to bring a little of CW… to you!
I visited CW for the first time in May and loved every minute of it! A friend of mine told me I must go to the bakery and have a gingerbread cookie, so I did. Yum!! So glad to see the recipe here. I was wondering if unsalted butter could be substituted for the margarine? Not sure if it would mess with the recipe. Thanks!
Heidi, I would definitely use butter. That’s actually one of our big “reveals” for tomorrow so you’re getting it a day early 🙂 Please let me know how your batch turns out!!
When my family would visit CW when I was a kid, my dad and I always looked forward to hitting the Raleigh Tavern Bake Shop (we vacation with our stomachs, while my mom and brother vacation with their eyes ;)). Dad always got gingerbread and a root beer, and I always got a Shrewsbury cake and a ginger ale, unless it was cold, in which case we got cider as our drinks. Going to William and Mary got me spoiled, being in walking distance of the bake shop for four years, and I of course bought the cookbook so I could make my favorites at home after graduation. But, the last time I was there (5 years ago, sadly), everything had changed! The root beer and ginger ale were more sugary and less flavorful, the cookies were all sealed in plastic and less flavorful than they used to be, and in particular the Shrewsbury cakes tasted like just regular sugar cookies, with none of the touch of lemon they always had before. Is it still that way? It was a huge disappointment to find that the recipes had changed. Glad to see you sharing the gingerbread recipe, so that everybody can make their own.
Thank you for sharing, Carrie! Unfortunately, Colonial Williamsburg had to start wrapping the cookies per regulations from the health department. I too remember walking right into the bakery (or up to the cider stand) and getting them right out of the baskets. It’s my understanding from the chefs that the recipe has been tweaked over the years but this one is very much like the “old school” version.
By the way, I love that you wrote “vacation with our stomachs.” That’s so true for me too!
Can these be made gluten free? I can no longer process flour
Unfortunately, I don’t have a gluten-free recipe. A couple of people who have read the blog are determined to create one so if I hear back, I will definitely pass it along. And if you decide to try it with substitutions and it works out, we’d love to share!
We stayed in the Orlando Jones House during the week of Christmas several years back. The best Christmas ever! Feel in love with the Gingerbread Cookies during our stay. Now, anytime we visit Williamsburg we eat lots of Gingerbread cookies and bring home a bag full to pop in the freezer and enjoy for a while. Thanks for sharing the recipe, but I bet they just want be the same.
I agree Robert & Sharon! It doesn’t re-create the entire Williamsburg experience. Nothing compares to an actual visit but hopefully this will bring a little piece of CW to you.
Thanks Jessica, I am looking forward to making the cookies for friends, family and myself. We love everything about Colonial Williamsburg, even have Williamsburg tags on our car. Hope to get back for a Christmas experience again some day.
These are my all time favorites! Weren’t these called “Shrewsbury Cakes” some years back?
I’m not sure. I’ll have to look into that one! I know some people do call them ginger cakes. Our chefs call them gingerbread cookies. I personally call them delicious awesomeness.
Shrewsbury cakes were like a sugar cookie but with a touch of lemon and a particular texture. The recipe is also in the Raleigh Tavern Bake Shop Cookbook.
I love these cakes. I have made them before and always my dough is very sticker even after adding additional flour. Any suggestions.