Molasses Cookies

5 from 1 vote

Bake a delicious and warm snack with a touch of the holiday season with this recipe. Make molasses cookies with a few ingredients and 20 minutes of prep time.

Prep Time20

Cook Time10

Chilling Time1

Total Time1 30

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: cookies

Calories: 133kcal

Author: Heather Perine

Equipment

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups (300 g) all purpose flour *spooned and leveled
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick, 113 g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1/4 cup (50 g) granulated white sugar *plus more for rolling in before baking
3/4 cup (160 g) light brown sugar
1 large egg room temperature
⅓ cup (113 g) unsulphured molasses - I used Grandma's
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Combine dry ingredients. Whisk together flour, corn starch, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in small bowl. Set aside.
Cream butter and sugars. With an electric mixer, beat butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on medium high until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Add egg and molasses. Add the egg, mixing well until combined. Add molasses and vanilla and mix just until combined. Scrape down the bowl as needed.
Add dry ingredients. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Chill the cookie dough for at least 1 hour, until firm.
Chill dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill for 24 hours in the refrigerator.
Preheat and prepare cookie sheets. Preheat the oven to 350° F (177℃). Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper (or a silicone baking mat).
Scoop the cookies. Fill a small bowl with granulated sugar. Using a 1-inch cookie scoop or a tablespoon scoop the cookies into 1 ½ inch balls and roll smooth in the palm of your hands. Roll each cookie dough ball into sugar and place onto prepared cookie sheets about 2 inches apart.
Bake and cool cookies. Bake cookie sheet on the middle rack for 10-12 minutes, until lightly browned on the sides. The centers will still look soft. Remove from the oven and let cool on a baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

Molasses substitute: You can use maple syrup, sorghum syrup, or cane syrup if you don't have molasses in your pantry. If you like a strong molasses flavor with a slightly bitter taste, you can use blackstrap molasses. Reduce salt if you are adding blackstrap molasses to 1/4 tsp.
Storage: Store molasses cookies in an airtight container. At room temperature, it can last up to 4 days. And for long-term storage, you can freeze these molasses cookies for up to 3 months. To thaw frozen molasses cookies, transfer them to the fridge and warm them up in the microwave.
Chilling the dough: It's recommended to chill the dough for the best texture. Chilling the dough will make for a thick, soft cookie, but you can skip the chilling the process and bake right away, but the cookies will not be as thick and spread a bit more. If your cookies are spreading too much, try chilling the dough for at least 30 minutes or increasing the baking temperature to 375oF

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