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!
I’ve tried many molasses ginger cookie recipes & THIS is my all time favorite! Definitely a keeper! Thank you Gaby
I made these last year and they turned out great! This year mine are flat as pancakes ☹️ They still taste good, but I was planning to give some to neighbors and they don’t look great. It’s warm and humid here in TX this week - any tips to make them spread out less? I chilled the dough overnight with the second half of the dough the second half of the dough but they’re still spreading too much. Any suggestions?
how did you measure the flour? scoop and level?
Hmmm, I think I spooned it into the measuring cup and leveled. That was my mistake, huh?’
ya - that would result in not enough flour
These are fantastic! Amazing if you follow the recipe and delicious dipping them in dark chocolate and letting them cool to create a hard chocolate shell on half the cookie. Pretty sure these will forever be in my Christmas cookie repertoire. Thanks Gaby!
I found your molasses cookie recipe on YouTube. I need to bake 10 dozen cookies. When I print the recipe, how many people should I put into the conversion generator to yield 120 cookies?
the recipe makes about 2 dozen, so I'd x5
With all the great reviews, I knew immediately I needed to double this recipe when making. I have yet to give any to my friends, however it is already a huge hit with me and my husband who formerly only liked super simple chocolate chip cookies. After chilling for a little over an hour, I made the first two trays putting 8-9 cookies on each large baking sheet. They spread way more than I expected, and ran all into each other, but still tasted great. So I kept the rest in fridge to chill overnight, and baked the rest off this afternoon. I only put 6 cookies on each tray at a time, several inches apart. They baked to literally the perfect size and shape, each batch. Perfection. Will make this again and again. Thanks so much, Gaby!
The perfect holiday cookie! Tastes like fresh gingerbread, but in cookie form!
These are the BEST molasses cookies! Very easy too!
Hand down the best molasses cookie recipe ❤️ Perfect recipe , I undertake one minute
Great cookie recipe! I used Steen's cane syrup instead of molasses. After chilling the dough I rolled it out to 1/4" (on a floured surface with a floured rolling pin) and cut out gingerbread men. (One recipe made 24 gingerbread men) I froze the sheets of cut cookies while the batch before baked to keep the shapes. Worked great!
Excellent recipe! I used one full cup of butter, increased flour by 1/4 cup. The cookies came out beautifully, tender, chewy, and full of flavor. This recipe is a keeper! Thank you!
I've used a recipe using room temp butter not melted and went straight from mixing to oven without needing to refrigerate. The dough did not need it. This dough is so thick and malleable with room temp butter as long as it isnt over worked causing it to naturally heat up, I've never had an issue. I'm going to try it with melted butter as I dont have time today to wait for butter to come to room temp and I dont fast track it
What are dark molasses? I can buy either molases or fancy molasses. Thanks
regular molasses is dark molasses!
This is my second time baking these already. Who can wait for Christmas?
Hi!
Just wondering if pomegranate molasses can be a thing here or if it’s something entirely different.
Thanks for your all your recipes!
not quite the same flavor profile! I'd go with traditional molasses
Molasses Cookies are my adult son's favorite. I bribe him with these when I need a visit. He will drop everything on his hectic schedule to see me when he knows I have these waiting for him. He is health conscious or I would make them daily. THIS is the best recipe I've found! THANK YOU for this no-fail treat!