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’m a big fan of grams to weigh flour but the amount suggested it too high. 1 cup of AP flour is 120 gram which means that for 4.5 cups of AP flour that amount should be 540 grams – not 639 grams as listed above. My first batch came out way too dense. Just that minor change and you’re good to go – great cookies!
I wish I knew how everyone else had such great results. They came out paper thin and chewy, which made them taste stale. Lots of grease on the parchment paper. I ended up intentionally baking them to melt into the pan so I could just cut them and hope for some depth. I followed directions to a T, and also chilled overnight. I’m a pretty great baker. I was disappointed, since this was one of two cookie recipes I selected to make for Christmas.
I feel like I have to leave a comment based on how many times I’ve made this cookie. I think I have been making them for the past 3 years. I always get compliments when I make them and they are the only cookie I know will turn out great every time. Thank you so much for posting this recipe.
Hello! I discovered this recipe last year (or maybe the year before) and have received RAVE reviews! This year, however… I don’t know what I’ve done wrong, but my cookies have come out flat. They taste good, but look terrible. I thought maybe I forgot that 1/2 cup flour and dumped the first dough and started over, making sure I used 4.5 cups of flour. Got the 4 tsp of baking soda as well. Still on the flat side. What could I be doing wrong?? Thank you!!
Test your baking powder. If you Baking Powder is too old it does not puff up in your recipe
put 1/2 teaspoon baking powder in a small bowl
Pour 1/4 cup of boiling water on it.
Watch. If it does not foam and bubble up your Baking Powder is shot, buy a new can.
I ran my test right before mixing the ingredients and my baking powder was shot and i had ot send my husband to the store for new Baking Powder.
Mine did not come out at all like the picture. Mine had a high dome and were almost like cake inside. I am guessing to much good fresh baking powder is why. Aldo I question baking at 350, I read in comments she has in the video 375. Mine did not spread much and instead rose like a loaf of bread, they also were not dark brown, but golden brown. They are still good I will eat them. I froze the leftover dough in balls. Wen I bake these I will bring to room temperature and smash the balls down a bit with a fork and see if that helps them spread instead of rising like a cake.
These are fabulous! I coated mine in powered sugar and even though it melted into them somewhat, they were delicious. All gone in one day. I’m making more right now for Christmas weekend. Thank you for this recipe. It is now officially a new holiday staple.
I made these yesterday..They are so tasty and bring back memories of gingerbread men as a child..They were so easy, but so good..I’ll be making these more often..A great change from the peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies i usually make..love the spices and added 1/2 teas nutmeg as well..
This recipe is absolutely wonderful!
How should we adjust the recipe if we want to double the size of each cookie?
These are SPECTACULAR! My favorite holiday cookie to make and eat. The recipe may seem a bit intimidating, but they are really not that complicated to make. The ingredients come together so well. Chill for a couple of hours and use a cookie scoop and BAM you have perfect soft baked molasses cookies. I rolled some in sugar this year but the sugar got lost, so the rest I sprinkled sugar on top as soon as I pulled them from the oven. They all taste equally perfect (of course you have to taste test every batch, right?) and this is a staple in my holiday baking retinue.
Hi Brandi
Did u use both white and brown sugar on your dough? If yes when you add the brown sugar? Thanks.
I’m terrible at baking cookies but these are a fool proof for me. always a hit. they’re the only consistently fantastic cookie i can bake! haha
Can you add chocolate chips to these cookies?