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Soft Ginger Molasses Cookies to Blow Your Mind

Learn how to make this delicious, old-fashioned ginger molasses cookies recipe! These are so soft and tasty – you’ve never had a cookie like this before.

To go directly to the recipe, scroll down to the bottom. Otherwise I’ve got some information about this recipe as well as tips and tricks. Enjoy!

Molasses ginger cookies recipe

‘Tis the season to eat cookies! Tra la la la la, la la la la.

*ahem*

Now that we’re all finished digesting our turkeys and pumpkin pies, it’s time to start thinking about Christmas.

Time for baking cookies, singing carols, and baking more cookies. It’s certainly no time to cut back on butter or sugar, that’s for sure.

Well, at least not if you want to eat these totally delicious ginger molasses cookies. This recipe is large enough for a Christmas cookie exchange – you’ll get 48 cookies total!

molasses ginger cookies

Molasses Cookies

These old fashioned cookies are so good. Seriously, so so good. They’re perfect little pillows of soft and chewy, fudgy, spicy, buttery, ginger cinnamon goodness.

Once you get the hang of them, they’re a snap to make, and there’s really nothing like enjoying them warm with a cup of ice cold milk. Yumm-my!

Before we dive into the recipe, I wanted to address some commonly asked questions that I always get asked.

What do molasses cookies taste like?

“Back in the day,” molasses was an inexpensive alternative to sugar. It stuck, especially as an ingredient during the holidays! Molasses is a sugar by-product that has been boiled several times.

It’s hard to describe the taste, but it’s kind of fudge-y, burnt sugar. Which doesn’t sound great, but think about creme brûlée –  the sugar is caramelized, and it’s delicious.

A good molasses cookie is soft, mild, sugar-y, and kinda fudge-y. That’s my humble opinion.

How do you make these cookies soft?

The recipe is designed so that the cookies retain moisture. Binding the water in all of the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients slows the evaporation. It’s important that you follow the recipe exactly so that you get soft, old-fashioned style cookies.

What’s the difference between molasses cookies, gingersnaps, and gingerbread cookies?

All of these are basically sugar cookies with molasses and Christmas spices included. Gingersnap cookies have more ginger. They are crispier on the outside and more chewy on the inside.

Gingerbread cookies are similar to gingersnaps, except even more crispy. They are rolled out thin and typically cut with cookie cutters.

I like all three of these cookies, but I have to say that the old-fashioned ginger molasses cookies are my favorite because they are so soft. It’s just a personal preference!

How long do these cookies last?

Make sure to place these cookies in a loosely covered container at room temperature. These will last about a week to two weeks . . . the more they are exposed to air, the more moisture they lose. That means over time, they aren’t as soft. But they are still delicious!

My last tip: Make sure that you adequately chill the cookie dough prior to rolling them into balls for baking, otherwise they will become a little too flat and will likely spread too much. They’ll also be impossible to roll!

ginger molasses cookie on a plate

Now that we’re done with all that, let’s dive into the recipe!

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ cups unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • ½ cup molasses
  • 2 eggs (room temperature)
  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 4 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Additional Thoughts for This Recipe:

  • Don’t skip chilling the dough. In addition to making the dough easier to roll, it keeps the cookies from spreading and enhances the flavor. It should be a minimum of 30 minutes but ideally an hour or more.
  • Cold ingredients should be at room temperature (egg, butter) but don’t leave them out too long. You don’t want the butter melted at all. It should be soft.
  • Creaming the butter and sugar together separately makes sure they really incorporate before adding to other ingredients. It prevents over mixing because you can’t overbeat the butter and sugar!
  • Let your pan cool between batches of cookies (it helps to have two pans in rotation). This keeps the cookies from spreading a lot.
  • swear by USA Pans. They are my absolutely favorite and cook baked items so evenly.
  • Check the cookies regularly through the baking process and go by how they look versus the time on the recipe. Just because everyone’s ovens are different!

Once your baked goodies are out of the oven and moved to the cooling rack, it’s time to dig in. Serve, eat, enjoy with cold milk.

ginger molasses cookie recipe

Let me know if you try this molasses ginger cookie recipe in the comments! I’d also love for you to try our gingerbread cupcakes, muffins, or bundt cake for additional ginger desserts you’ll love.

Yield: 48 cookies

Ginger Molasses Cookies

ginger molasses cookie recipe

Learn how to make this delicious, old-fashioned ginger molasses cookie recipe! These are so soft and tasty - you've never had a cookie like this before.

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Total Time 22 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter (softened to room temperature)
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup molasses
  • 2 eggs (room temperature)
  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 4 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

  1. Using a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium speed for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy.cream butter and sugar
  2. Add in the eggs and molasses, and beat on medium-low speed until combined.add the egg and molasses
  3. While wet batter is mixing, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and salt in a medium-sized bowl.whisk together the dry ingredients
  4. Slowly add in the dry ingredient mixture into the creamed butter and molasses mixture with the mixer on medium-low. Mix dough until ingredients are just combined.mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients
  5. Cover and refrigerate cookie dough for at one hour or until thoroughly chilled.
  6. Preheat oven to 375°F and cover a pan with parchment paper.
  7. Roll the dough into balls around 1 - 1.5 inches in diameter. Fill a bowl with the sugar, and roll each ball in sugar until it is completely coated.rolling the dough balls in sugar
  8. Place on cookie sheet at least 1.5 inches apart, then bake for about 10-12 minutes, until the cookies begin to slightly crack on top. Cookies will firm up as they cool, so don’t worry if they appear undercooked.Dough balls placed on a cookie sheet
  9. Remove from the oven and let cool for five minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.Transfer the cookies to a wire rack

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

48

Serving Size:

1 cookie

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 135Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 23mgSodium: 199mgCarbohydrates: 19gFiber: 0gSugar: 11gProtein: 1g

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If you love cookie recipes like this one, let me know in the comments! Also try these other cookie recipes I love:

4th of JulyAlmond Flour ShortbreadApple PieApricot Dark ChocolateBacon Chocolate ChipBrownie Chocolate ChipBuckeyeButterscotch Chocolate ChipButterscotch PopcornCaramel AppleChocolate Chip (Air Fryer)Chocolate Chip PuddingChocolate Chip SandwichChocolate CrinklesChocolate MarshmallowChocolate Mint SandwichChocolate ThumbprintChristmas ButterChristmas LinzerCircus AnimalCotton CandyEaster M&MFunfettiGrinchHalloween M&MHeath BarLemon Blueberry ThumbprintLemon Cream CheeseLemon ShortbreadNutella StuffedOatmeal Chocolate ChipOatmeal Cream PiesPaleo ShortbreadPeanut Butter BlossomsPeppermint FrostedPeppermint PuddingPumpkin Chocolate ChipPumpkin LinzerPumpkin SugarRed Velvet ThumbprintReese’s PiecesReindeerRitz S’moresRoloSanta CookiesShortbread TeaSnickersJam Thumbprints (Classic)VanillaWhite Chocolate CranberryWhite Chocolate Snickerdoodles

Nicole

Sunday 19th of November 2023

This is the chewy and crinkly ginger cookie recipe that I have been searching for, for years! My friend’s grandma used to make these when we were teenagers but sadly she passed away and the recipe was never known. I have been searching for a recipe that bakes up similar to hers for 20+ years and this is it!! Chewy, flat and cracked on top. So good!

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