Christmas is coming. Are you ready for the holidays? Many people think of cookies around this time of year. Are you ready to taste the best cookies ever? Have you ever heard of ganjang cookies (soy sauce cookies) before? “Ganjang” is the Korean word for “soy sauce.” My husband had a crazy idea about making cookies using soy sauce. I thought his idea was funny at first. I thought he was joking, but he was serious! lol Right away, he started tasting Sempio’s soy sauce and had a very positive imagination for making delicious cookies with it. So we worked together and made this fabulous Christmas cookie recipe for you. Using soy sauce instead of salt was a great idea for adding extra flavor to the cookies. They are a sweet cookie with extra flavor from cinnamon and ginger. They have a chewy and soft texture. Try these soy sauce cookies this holiday.
Yield: 3½ Dozens
Short Korean Lesson
- GanJang (간장) = Soy Sauce
- SeongTanJeol (성탄절) = Christmas
Video Instructions
Main Ingredients
- 2¼ Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 Egg
- 1 Cup Brown Sugar
- ¾ Cup Unsalted Butter
- ¼ Cup Corn Syrup
- 2 tsp Soy Sauce
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- ½ tsp Cinnamon Powder
- ½ tsp Ginger Powder
- ¼ Cup Powdered Sugar (Garnish)
Directions
Mix 1 cup of brown sugar and 1 egg well in a large mixing bowl. When you measure the brown sugar, make sure that you pack the cup firmly. Preheat your oven to 350 F degrees.
Mix 1 tsp of baking soda, ½ tsp of cinnamon powder, and ½ tsp of ginger powder thoroughly in a small bowl. Make sure that the baking soda doesn’t have any lumps. Then add 2 tsp of soy sauce and ¼ cup of corn syrup. The soy sauce will give a slightly salty, but nice flavor to the cookies and the corn syrup will help make them chewy.
Mix everything well.
Pour the soy sauce mixture into the sugar and egg mixture.
Pour ¾ cup of softened unsalted butter into the sugar mixture and mix it well.
Put about a third of the 2¼ cups of flour into the mixture and stir it together. Do this step 2 more times, using up the remaining flour.
When all the flour is mixed together evenly, the cookie dough is ready to be baked.
Scoop the cookie dough with a medium cookie scoop or spoon. If you don’t have a cookie scoop, roll the dough into balls the size of a quarter.
Place the dough balls on an ungreased baking sheet. The cookies will flatten when baked, so the balls should be at least 2 inches apart.
Bake the cookies in your 350 degree oven for about 9 to 11 minutes. When the cookies start to brown, they are done.
Take the cookies out of the oven.
Cool them on wire racks.
When the cookies are still warm, sprinkle powdered sugar on them.
I baked the cookies with my 4 years old son today. He enjoyed making cookies with mommy a lot. He loved the cookies too. Like many of my other recipes, this recipe is very easy to make. Have a great time making these cookies as I did. Enjoy!
This is so interesting, I never would have thought of soy sauce in cookies! Can’t wait to try these, thanks for sharing!! I stumbled upon your site a few days ago looking for tteokbokki recipes and am really enjoying your posts! 😀
hi Denise,
Nice to meet you. Welcome to my blog. 🙂 Yes, soy sauce in cookies sounds weird but the taste is much better than what you can imagine. hehe try it someday. 🙂
Aeri! I just made a batch of these Ganjang cookies, they’re cooling down (didn’t try them yet). But mine look really puffy! I checked to make sure I really use baking SODA, and the same amount, I followed everything… Any idea why mine are more puffy and round and giant? I’m sure they’ll be really good still, but I was looking forward to tasting the chewy soft texture Bryson described!
Oh so sorry, as they cooled down they flattened and hardened a little. I love these, this year my parents and aunts decided I was responsible for the christmas menu, I’ll add these to the treats! Thank you!
yes.. in short time.. they flattened… as I mention in other reply.. if you try this again next time.. when the cookies start to flatten in the oven..and start to brown..then that is the time.. the cookies are done.. ^^ thanks
Hi Sunny,
With your comment, I can immagine… that you took the cookies out a little (just little bit) earlier than it suppose to be..
When the cookies start to flatten.. I took them out.. and it took 11 minutes for my cookies.. Hope yours were cooked okay.. I noticed..in short time difference.. it can change the texture .. from over cooked to under cooked..
Aeri! These cookies are amazing! I love how all the ingredients compliment each other and the texture is so soft and chewy. I had to increase the flour a bit because of my elevation. I think next time I will increase the spices as well to balance the extra flour. Thanks for this and all your other wonderful recipes!!
hi Laura Coleman,
Love to hear your feedback.. thanks. 🙂 Yes, so far I heard many positive review about this recipe from people..hehe happy.. 🙂 Thanks
Hi Aeri !
Thank you for this recipe. I love soy sauce, so I was very happy when I found it.
The one issue here is that I don’t eat sugar and I try to not eat too much butter/oil…
So can I lower the amount of sugar and butter, keeping the amount of flour and soy sauce?
Have a nice day!
hi Cass,
You can adjust the amount of sugar and butter.. but you know that taste will not be the same. However, I guess you try to eat less sugar and oil for health..and health is more important than the flavor.. so Yes, please try it. Thanks