These soft and chewy Molasses Cookies are hands down my all time favorite Christmas Cookie! Every year they are the crowd favorite from my Christmas Cookie Roundup.
Table of Contents
Why I Love This Recipe
These Molasses Cookies come from my mom - who I think got the recipe from my her mom and she probably got it from her mom. Who knows. Either way - these Molasses Cookies are perfection. The dough comes together quickly, chills in the fridge to harden it up, and then rolled into balls and coated in sugar before baking. The result is a perfectly soft and chewy molasses cookie that you'll totally love!
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Unsalted Butter – I like to use unsalted butter when baking to control the amount of salt I add to the recipe. Make sure your butter is at room temperature before creaming it together with the sugars to yield the best results.
- White Sugar– White sugar helps aerate the cookies when creamed with the butter to create tiny air pockets for a crispier cookie.
- Egg – Use large eggs at room temperature. If they're straight from the fridge, they will make the butter seize and won't combine evenly.
- Dark Molasses – Some people might tell you that you can substitute other ingredients like Maple Syrup, Cane Syrup or Sorghum Syrup, but there really isn't anything else that compares to the flavor of molasses. It's carried at almost every grocery store so it's easy to come by, and it keeps for years in the pantry!
- All-Purpose Flour – Measured by scoop and leveling.
- Baking Soda – For leavening, texture, flavor, and browning.
- Spices – I like using a combination of cinnamon, ground cloves, and ground ginger.
*For full list of ingredients and instructions please see recipe card at the bottom of the post.
How to Make Molasses Cookies
Step 1: In a large stand mixer combine the butter, sugar, egg and molasses. Mix for a minute or two until well combined.
Step 2: Slowly add the flour mixture and mix until evenly combined. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Step 3: Once chilled, scoop 2 tablespoons of dough at a time and roll into balls.
Step 4: Roll them around in a small cup of sugar and set onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
Step 5: After baking remove from the oven and transfer the cookies onto a cooling rack to cool.
Step 6: Store any leftover Molasses Cookies in the freezer. This way they stay fresh even longer!
The in's and outs of Molasses Cookies!
- What does molasses do for cookies?
- Molasses makes baked goods extra soft so these cookies stay chewy even longer!
- What's a good substitute for molasses?
- Some people might tell you that you can substitute other ingredients like Maple Syrup, Cane Syrup or Sorghum Syrup, but there really isn't anything else that compares to the flavor of molasses. It's carried at almost every grocery store so it's easy to come by, and it keeps for years in the pantry!
- How do you store molasses cookies?
- My family has been storing them in the freezer since I was a kid. I'll take out as many as I need an hour or so before I plan on eating them and let them come to room temp. This way they stay fresh even longer! You can also nuke them in the microwave for 10 seconds when they come out of the freezer to speed the process up
- Should I use light or dark molasses?
- For baking - always use dark molasses!
So whip up a double batch of these and store them in the freezer for the next few weeks while you’re prepping for the holidays! Grab a few when you’re sweet tooth strikes and warm them up a bit in the microwave just so you can pretend you’re eating a cooking fresh outta the oven. They are pure perfection - I promise!
If you tried this recipe, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting today!
Molasses Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter melted
- 1 cup white sugar, plus extra for rolling
- 1 egg
- ⅓ cup dark molasses
- 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour (measured by scoop and leveling)
- 2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon powdered ginger
Instructions
- In a large stand mixer combine the butter, sugar, egg and molasses. Mix for a minute or two until well combined.
- Combine the flour, cloves, ginger cinnamon and baking soda and sift together.
- Slowly add the flour mixture to the molasses mixture and mix until evenly combined. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Once chilled, scoop 2 tablespoons of dough at a time and roll into balls. Roll them around in a small cup of sugar and set onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and transfer the cookies onto a cooling rack to cool.
Notes
- What does molasses do for cookies?
- Molasses makes baked goods extra soft so these cookies stay chewy even longer!
- What’s a good substitute for molasses?
- Some people might tell you that you can substitute other ingredients like Maple Syrup, Cane Syrup or Sorghum Syrup, but there really isn’t anything else that compares to the flavor of molasses. It’s carried at almost every grocery store so it’s easy to come by, and it keeps for years in the pantry!
- How do you store molasses cookies?
- My family has been storing them in the freezer since I was a kid. I’ll take out as many as I need an hour or so before I plan on eating them and let them come to room temp. This way they stay fresh even longer! You can also nuke them in the microwave for 10 seconds when they come out of the freezer to speed the process up
- Should I use light or dark molasses?
- For baking – always use dark molasses!
Do you use salted or unsalted butter?
unsalted for baking!
I only have blackstrap molasses? R they not as sweet?
that will work
molasses cookies are the very best!!
Oh molasses is my favorite. I'll take a dozen of these please and thank you!
Such a cookie classic!
Can never go wrong with a classic...especially when it comes from Mom!
PERFECT cookie!!!
My favorite!!! These just scream Christmas to me.
Great cookies..but I like to put raspberry jam ( no seeds ) in the middle then bake them ...after cooled put some powdered sugar on them ... delicious
As the weather cools in Minnesota, I start getting hungry for great treats like these.. I'm so glad I came across your recipe for molasses cookies. The texture and spices in these were perfect and taste so good with a cup of coffee. Thanks for sharing.
Gaby have you ever used cinnamon and sugar to roll it in ?
no but that's genius!!
I think this is a really great recipe, I just added a little bit more Ginger, cinnamon, molasses ( dark robust) and added cardamom and it was perfect. Also, I would like to mention if there's anyone out there frustrated with puffy cookies as I was- I found that flattening the dough ball until it cracked slightly on the edges was a must as is making sure the oven temp was 375 to 400 and bake no longer than 8 minutes. The higher temp helps them develop the crackes on top we love! And for the love of cookies I quit sifting the flour as some recipes suggest. Hope this helps someone out there! Merry Christmas! ⭐
We can't use cloves in our house. Is there a substitution you'd recommend? Maybe mace or allspice?
Allspice, cinnamon or nutmeg!
Thank you!!!
I know this recipe is from last year...but I just tried them and they are amazzzzzing! But...mine were much darker in color and also poof-ier than yours. Am I doing something wrong? I mean, they taste incredible so I guess it really doesn't matter, but I'm curious! I tried 1 tbs and 2 tbs sizes and they were both poofy.
the color will depend on the type of molasses - but all molasses varieties are great! And you probably have newer baking soda than me - that's what yours were poofy!! Poofy is better 🙂 At least thats my preference
Mine turned out exactly like yours Bunny! They were still very good, but much darker and not as flat.
the dark color comes from the type of molasses!!! And the chewier / fluffier the better in my opinion
I have been making these cookies all my life. We usually use cooking oil instead of butter which you won’t even taste the difference and you get a more consistent color. The poofy-ness of this cookie definitely has to do with altitude and humidity. Too poofy? Use less soda or flour or a combination of both. Just takes some tweaking but they’ll turn out. Favorite cookies ever! Really good recipe here!
Hi Gaby!
Can't wait to make these this weekend. Have you tested these out with blackstrap molasses at all? What type of molasses did you use? Are you particular about unsulphured vs. regular?
Molasses newbie over here...
Thanks!!
noe
I usually use Grandma's Original Unsulphured Molasses!