Name: Molasses Cookies
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 120 min
Yield: 2 dozen cookies
Ingredients: ¾ cup unsalted butter (softened to room temperature (170g)); 1/2 cup granulated sugar ((100g)); 1/2 cup dark brown sugar packed, (can substitute light brown sugar (100g)); 1 large egg; 1/4 cup unsulphured molasses (it should say unsulphered on the label, I used "Grandma's" brand) (60ml)); 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour ((280g)); 1 teaspoon cornstarch; 1 teaspoon baking powder; 1/2 teaspoon baking soda; ¾ teaspoon ground ginger; 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon; 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar (for rolling)

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Perfectly spiced molasses cookies are flavored with ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and (of course) plenty of rich sticky molasses! They have slightly crisped, sparkling sugar coated exteriors and soft, chewy interiors.

This Molasses Cookie Recipe is the softer, chewier cousin of the Gingerbread Cookies that I shared the other day. They’re a great and easy-to-make cookie option for your holiday cookie tray.

Cookie Season is in full swing! Which cookies will have the honor of being on your cookie tray this year?

For me, these Molasses Cookies definitely make the cut. They have a place reserved right beside my Sugar Cookies, Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Peanut Butter Blossoms, to name just a few.

With their crackly sugared surfaces, slightly crisped edges, and soft, so soft, chewy interiors, Molasses Cookies are the treat to leave out for Santa if you have something particularly pricy on your wishlist this year. They’re brilliantly flavored with real butter (no shortening!), molasses and dark brown sugar, and spiced with ginger, cinnamon, and cloves.

These are eat-by-the-fireplace-on-a-snowy-Christmas-Eve cookies, and they taste like the holidays. Cozy, molasses-y holidays.

How to Make Molasses Cookies

The dough for these cookies will need to be prepared a little bit in advance, as it will need to chill for at least 3 hours (you can chill it longer, sometimes I like to make the molasses cookie dough the day before I plan to bake, and chill it overnight).

Because of the molasses, the dough is a little bit sticky, and chilling is required to make the dough manageable and easy to roll the dough into balls. The chilling period also allow the flavors to really develop, giving you the best, most deeply flavored molasses cookies.

You’ll roll the dough in granulated sugar for their sparkly surfaces. I like to use a coarse or turbinado sugar, but regular granulated sugar will work, too.

Are Molasses Cookies the Same as Gingersnaps?

No, Molasses Cookies are not the same as Gingersnaps. While the flavor is quite similar, Gingersnaps have a spicier, more pronounced ginger flavor while molasses cookies have a deeper rich molasses flavor. Another key difference: Gingersnaps are typically thin and crisp and snappy, while my Molasses Cookies are thick, soft, and chewy.

I happened to have some leftover whipped cream in the refrigerator and topped some of the warm cookies off with it after they finished baking. Indulgent? Totally. But also totally delicious and reminded me of a whipped cream-topped gingerbread that my mom likes to make… just something you might want to try out for yourself 😉

Enjoy!

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