If you’ve never had this classic holiday cookie, they’re similar to gingerbread cookies in all the best ways! You should also try my easy ginger snaps, crinkle cookie recipe, or snickerdoodle cookies!
What You’ll Need for This Recipe
Spices: I packed all my favorites into this recipe but you can omit or add based on your preferences.
Butter: If you’d like to use salted butter then reduce the added salt by 1/2 a teaspoon.
How to make Molasses Cookies
1. Sift the dry ingredients (not sugar) into a large bowl and whisk together then set aside.
2. Add the butter, sugar, and molasses to the bowl of your stand mixer and beat until light and fluffy.
3. Once the butter is light and fluffy then add the egg and vanilla. Beat until combined, scrape bowl down, and then beat again for a few seconds.
4. Add flour mixture and beat until combined.
5. Roll dough into 1.5-2 inch balls.
6. Roll balls in sanding sugar, transfer to parchment lined baking sheet and bake until done.
Pro Tips for this Recipe
Pro Tips for this Recipe- Measure your flour correctly! Adding too much flour to the recipe is the most common mistake. The best, and easiest way to measure flour is by using a scale. If you don’t have one then fluff your flour with a spoon, sprinkle it into your measuring cup, and use a knife to level it off.
- Freshly grated and minced ginger and even candied ginger will give a nice added bite to these cookies if that’s something you like.
- I packed these molasses cookies will all my favorite spices but feel free to use what you have in the pantry and skip a few if you’re in a rush; they’ll still be delicious!
- You can roll the molasses cookies in regular granulated sugar. I like sanding sugar because the crystals are larger and there’s more sparkle and crunch but both will work well.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Molasses is best to use?
Molasses comes in various intensities from light, to dark, to black-strap. This recipe calls for DARK molasses, which has a rich, robust flavor. You can use light molasses if you want to go for a slightly milder taste but I would stay away from black-strap since it’s SO intense.
Can you make them without a stand mixer?
You can easily make this molasses cookies recipe with an electric mixer, the main thing is to beat the butter, molasses, and sugars until light and fluffy. Everything else is just getting incorporated.
What is Sanding Sugar?
Sanding sugar is basically a granulated sugar with larger crystals for more sparkle and crunch. You can find colored sanding sugars for decorating various desserts but white will work best with this recipe because of the dark dough color.
Should you chill the dough?
This cookie dough is fine plopped into the oven at room temp but chilling is definitely an option. A chilled cookie dough will spread a bit less, be a bit more chewy and the flavors will be intensified.
Can you make these ahead of time?
These molasses cookies taste best fresh out of the oven BUT you can make the dough months ahead of time and freeze it. Roll the balls out and chill them in the fridge or freezer until solid, then transfer to a sealable freezer bag and store until ready to use. When you’re ready for cookies just thaw a few minutes while the oven heats up, then roll in sanding sugar and bake! You’ll probably want to add 1-2 minutes to the bake time.
If you love this recipe try these out!
If you’ve tried this molasses cookie recipe then don’t forget to leave a rating and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
Molasses Cookies
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- 2 1/2 cups All purpose flour 300g
- 2 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1 tsp Ground Ginger
- 1/2 tsp allspice
- 1/2 tsp cardamom
- 3/4 Tsp Salt
- 3/4 Cup Brown Sugar Packed
- 3/4 Cup Butter Softened
- 1/3 Cup Molasses Dark
- 1 Egg large
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
For Rolling
- 1/4 Cup Sugar Sanding or granulated
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Sift the flour, baking soda, salt and spices into a large bowl. Whisk together and set aside.
- Cream the butter, sugar and molasses in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or using an electric mixer). Beat until lighter in color and fluffy.
- Add the egg while mixing on low, then add the vanilla. Scrape the bowl down and mix again until ingredients are distributed.
- Add the flour mixture in then mix on low to medium-low until just combined. Scrape bowl down one last time and use a spatula to fold in any remaining flour.
- Use a small ice cream scoop or tablespoon to potion out 1.5-2 inch balls. Roll each into a ball with your clean palms then roll in sanding or granulated sugar.
- Place balls about two inches apart on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and bake at 350F for 12-13 minutes. The cookies' edges will be set but the centers will continue to bake/set after they're removed from the oven.
Video
Notes
- Measure your flour correctly! Adding too much flour to the recipe is the most common mistake. The best, and easiest way to measure flour is by using a scale. If you don't have one then fluff your flour with a spoon, sprinkle it into your measuring cup, and use a knife to level it off.
- Freshly grated and minced ginger and even candied ginger will give a nice added bite to these cookies if that's something you like.
- I packed these cookies will all my favorite spices but feel free to use what you have in the pantry and skip a few if you're in a rush; they'll still be delicious!
- You can roll to cookies in regular granulated sugar. I like sanding sugar because the crystals are larger and there's more sparkle and crunch but both work well.
