These Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies are easy to make, super-soft and chewy, and irresistibly delicious.
It seems a bold move to declare an all-time favorite cookie. But after having been on Team Molasses for going on over three decades now, and already whipped up my third batch of molasses dough in a month, I’ve gotta say that I don’t foresee any allegiance shifts happening soon. So with that said, allow me to introduce you to my all-time favorite cookies…
…the most delicious, soft, chewy, gingery, life-changing molasses cookies. ♡♡♡
My love for these molasses cookies is entirely thanks to my mom, who baked fresh batches of cookies for our family pretty much every week when we were growing up. Granted, she was always a bit mystified that her oldest daughter (hi, Mom) never inherited her obsession with all kinds of chocolate cookies, which will forever and always be her all-time faves. But molasses cookies were always a compromise we could both agree on. We both love these cookies.
This time of year, they are still the first recipe to which I always turn for holiday cookie baking. And this year in particular, they’ve been extra fun to share with all of our European friends who — as it turns out — maybe love them even more than we do! Ha, every time that we have served them to our friends, and our Spanish class, our neighbors, everyone goes crazy for them. Which means that we never come home with leftovers. Which just means that we have to keep baking more, naturally. Which requires exactly zero twisting of my arm. More molasses cookies for all!
Anyway, these cookies are clearly a hit. So as part of our week of cookies here on the blog, I thought I would bump this recipe back up to the top of the pile today for some non-chocolate cookie inspiration. I initially shared this recipe on the blog nine years ago. But that said, a number of you have reported over the years that your cookies have spread a bit more than you like. So I’ve been tinkering around with our family recipe this fall, and have made a few small adjustments to the recipe below that should help them to stay nice and thick and chewy, without compromising the flavor of the cookies at all. (Although if your cookies do ever flatten out, I promise they’ll still be delicious.)
So I hope that you enjoy them as much as we do, and if you decide to bake up a batch, I’d love to hear how they go! Enjoy, everyone!
Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies Recipe | 1-Minute Video
Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies Ingredients:
To make this chewy ginger molasses cookies recipe, you will need:
- Butter: Completely softened to room temperature (not melted, or else it will not cream properly with the sugars)
- Sugars: I use half granulated (white) sugar, half packed brown sugar, plus extra sugar for rolling the dough balls.
- Molasses: I typically opt for “original” (versus dark) unsulphured molasses.
- Eggs and baking soda: Two soft and chewy cookie staples.
- Flour: I typically use all-purpose flour for this classic recipe, but white whole wheat flour can work too.
- Spices: We will use a mixture of ground ginger, cinnamon and cloves. Feel free to tinker around with the spice proportions to taste.
- Salt: To bring out all of those delicious flavors.
How To Make Molasses Cookies:
To make these homemade molasses cookies, simply:
- Whisk together dry ingredients. Flour, soda, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt.
- Cream together butter and sugars. Using a separate mixing bowl, either with a stand mixer or a hand mixer, cream together the softened butter and sugars on medium-high speed until the mixture is light and fluffy and a pale yellow color, about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides occasionally as needed.
- Mix in the remaining wet and dry ingredients. Mix in the eggs (one at a time) and molasses, and beat on medium-low speed until each is combined. Gradually add in the dry ingredient mixture and beat until it is evenly incorporated.
- Chill the dough. Transfer the dough to an airtight container and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or until the dough is completely chilled. I know — the extra chilling time is substantial, and very tempting to skip. But this particular dough, with all of its butter and molasses, really does need a thorough chilling to prevent the cookies from spreading. Worth the wait, I promise. :)
- Preheat oven. Heat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, and set aside.
- Roll the dough balls. Once the dough is chilled and firm, roll the dough into small balls, about 1-inch in diameter. Fill a separate small bowl with sugar, and roll each ball in the sugar until it is completely coated. Place dough balls on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake. Bake for about 8-10 minutes, until the cookies begin to slightly crack on top. (They will crack more while cooling.) Remove from the oven and let cool for 4-5 minutes. Then transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.
- Serve. Serve warm and enjoy, or store in a sealed container for up to 4 days. Or freeze for up to 3 months.
Possible Variations:
Want to mix things up with your ginger cookies? Feel free to:
- Add in extra ginger: I also really love adding some chopped crystallized ginger to these cookies for added ginger flavor and crunch.
- Frost your cookies: A really light glaze is delicious atop these cookies. Or if you really want to go for it, cream cheese frosting is divine.
More Favorite Cookie Recipes:
Looking for more delicious cookie inspiration? Feel free to check out our full collection of cookie recipes, or any of these other favorite classic cookies:
- Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Peanut Butter Cookies
- Gingerbread Cookies
- No-Bake Cookies
- Brown Sugar Cookies
Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (340g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) granulated white sugar
- 1 cup (213g) packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (170g) unsulphured molasses
- 2 large eggs
- 4 1/2 cups (639 grams*) all-purpose flour
- 4 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and salt. Set aside.
- Using a separate mixing bowl, either with a stand mixer or a hand mixer, cream together the softened butter and sugars on medium-high speed until the mixture is light and fluffy and a pale yellow color, about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides occasionally as needed. Mix in the eggs (one at a time) and molasses, and beat on medium-low speed until each is combined. Gradually add in the dry ingredient mixture and beat until it is evenly incorporated.
- Transfer the dough to an airtight container and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or until the dough is completely chilled.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper; set aside.
- Roll the dough into small balls, about 1-inch in diameter. Fill a separate small bowl with sugar, and roll each ball in the sugar until it is completely coated. Place dough balls on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for about 8-10 minutes, until the cookies begin to slightly crack on top. (They will crack more while cooling.) Remove from the oven and let cool for 4-5 minutes. Then transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.
- Serve warm and enjoy, or store in a sealed container for up to 4 days. Or freeze for up to 3 months.
Notes
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
This recipe contains affiliate links.
I’ve been looking for the perfect ginger cookie recipe, and THIS IS IT. Chewy, decadent and delicious. I cut the recipe in half as to not have too many cookies to eat, but now I regret it! I should’ve made the whole batch. This is definitely a keeper.
I felt as though there was either too much salt or too much baking soda. I followed recipe exactly and although the texture/look/dough are great it tastes too salty/baking soda :(
Same happened to me, taste like metal even with just over 2 tbsp of spice. They also puffed quite a bit and are cakey, which now looking at it, it6s listed as 639g of flour but I think should be closer to 540 using King Arthur’s conversion of 30g flour = 1/4 cup. Idk if this would have such a dramatic impact on the taste but likely explains my texture.
I had the same experience as well. I felt 4 tsp of baking soda sounded like too much and the cookies puffed up and didn’t crack much. Then we tasted them and although the spiciness and taste were otherwise spot on, there was that tell-tale metallic aftertaste when there’s too much baking soda. I will be adjusting the recipe so to avoid the aftertaste and have a flatter cookie.
I made the molasses cookies for Christmas. They were a hit. Only thing I changed was instead of rolling the doe in sugar I used powder sugar instead and they were delicious. Thanks for putting all these good recipes on the internet.
Made these and loved them! So does my 5-year-old. The only weird thing was that it said the recipe as listed yields 42-46 cookies. I halved the recipe, and with dough balls between 1″ and 1.25″ in diameter, I still came out with 41 cookies.
Delicious cookies love the flavor and softness. Mine stayed small without flattening or much cracking on top. Delicious just don’t look like picture or very appetizing. Any advice welcome
SO DANG GOOD!!! Perfectly chewy and crisp.
I don’t think I’ve ever received so many compliments on a cookie before! I’ve never made molasses cookies but it just so happened that I had all the ingredients on hand and after reading the other reviews I decided to go for it. I AM SO GLAD I DID! It made about 46 cookies for me as I rolled them slightly bigger than everyone else did and the cookies just got better with each day! They make a great holiday gift with plenty of left over for you to keep some at the house and munch on through the week. Also pairs really well with a black cup of coffee!!
I stuck to the recipe (including the 4 tsp of baking soda) and they came out perfect. The only thing I did differently: chilled the dough overnight and I added ginger to the sugar that the dough is supposed to be rolled in prior to adding to the cookie sheet. PERFECT COOKIES I’m glad I found this recipe, it’s definitely going in my favorites for years to come!
I did the same to my sugar, after reading your review. Thanks for the idea. And the 4 tsp of baking soda was perfect for mine as well. This is a A+++++ recipe and they turned out stupendous!
The best cookie I have ever tasted.
These cookies are delicious! I followed the recipe exactly and they turned out perfect. I am often my own worst critic when I make things but I tasted these and thought damn they are good!! Lots of compliments from family over the holidays, everyone enjoyed them. Will definately be adding it to my cookbook to make again in the future! Thanks for sharing :)
These were PERFECT. crackle topped, fragrant, quick. I made them on Christmas Day for the first time, not familiar with the site, which is very unlike me. I was nervous it wouldn’t turn out. But the high butter content and standard recipe made it feel like not too big a risk and it totally worked out. A hit!