These Molasses Cookies have the perfect old fashioned flavor and chewy bite, and are great for cookie exchanges and holiday parties!

While Molasses Cookies will never have the popularity of Snickerdoodles, Shortbread Cookies, or this Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe, I think they are easily one of the best.

Molasses Cookies - On a Gold Wire Rack

The flavor and texture are both just too incredible.

They’re crisp on the edges but very chewy in the middle, and the flavor is so spicy and bold.

With ginger, allspices, and cloves supporting the dark, rich flavor of molasses, the cookies simply taste AND smell like the holidays.

Old Fashioned Molasses Cookies - On a Gold Wire Rack

You’ll notice that these have a flatter, more crinkled texture than most molasses cookies.

I specifically use only egg white and proportioned the ingredients so they have this really flat, ultra chewy texture.

As in, they’re not one bit cakey or fluffy, which is how I like it.

Can Molasses Cookies be Frozen?

These cookies freeze nicely after being baked, so you could easily make a few batches ahead of time for cookie exchanges or for holiday parties.

How to Make Molasses Cookies:

Combine all purpose flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, allspice, and cloves:

Flour and Spices in a Mixing Bowl

Whisk well, then set aside.

In a separate bowl, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy and light, then add 1 egg white:

Butter and Egg White Mixing in a Bowl

Whip that in until the mixture is creamy, then add molasses:

Blackstrap Molasses Added to Wet Ingredients In bowl

I have used both classic unsulphered molasses (like Grandma’s brand) and more artisanal blackstrap molasses, and both yield good results. The choice is yours!

Whip that until the molasses is evenly mixed in:

whipped Blackstrap Molasses Wet Ingredients In Bowl

Add the dry ingredients, and mix until a soft dough forms:

Old Fashioned Chewy Molasses Cookies Dough in Bowl with Beaters

Now, you can either bake these right away, or you can chill them.

Baking them right away is great if you want a really flat and chewy texture to the cookie, and also if you’re impatient and WANT COOKIE NOW lol.

Chilling the dough to firm up the butter is a better option if you want a less flat cookie, as it will spread less during baking. It will also be easier to work with.

I usually choose to bake them right away, but they will be harder to roll because the dough is sticky. To get around this, use a cookie scoop to drop them straight into granulated sugar:

Dropping Dough Scoop Into Sugar In bowl

The sugar will help you give them a quick roll with your hands, into a ball shape:

Chewy Molasses Cookie Dough balls on Parchment

Bake the cookies for about 13-15 minutes, depending on how “done” you like the cookies. I pull them when they’re still glistening a bit in the center.

Note that they will look pretty puffed right out of the oven, because of the egg white:

Soft Molasses Cookies on Parchment Freshly Baked with Cracks

But as they cool, they will flatten out a bit:

Blackstrap Molasses Cookies - In Piles on Gold Wire Rack

Chocolate Candy Cane CookiesMonster Cookies, and Snowball Cookies are a few of my other favorite recipes to bake. And Cut Out Cookies if you want to decorate. Enjoy!

Molasses Cookies On a Gold Wire Rack

Molasses Cookies

These Molasses Cookies have the perfect old fashioned flavor and chewy bite, and are great for cookie exchanges and holiday parties!
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Ingredients

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour (5 ounces by weight)
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp ground allspice
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves
  • 4 tbsp softened unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup sugar plus extra for rolling
  • 1 egg white
  • 4 tbsp unsulphered molasses

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
  • Whisk to combine the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, allspice, and cloves.
  • In another bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy and light.
  • Add the egg white and whip until smooth, then mix in the molasses.
  • Add the dry ingredients, and mix until the flour just disappears.
  • For a flatter, chewier cookie, bake the dough now, or for a less flat cookie, chill the dough in the fridge for 1 hour.
  • Add a few spoonfuls of sugar to a bowl, and use a small cookie scoop to drop the cookie dough straight into the sugar. Roll with your hands into a ball, then place 12 balls onto the prepared baking sheet.
  • Bake the cookies for 13-15 minutes, then allow to cool. Because of the egg white, the cookies will look very puffy when you pull them from the oven, but they will fall and crinkle as they cool. 

Notes

These cookies freeze well after being baked. I also like baking Peanut Butter Cookies and Chocolate Crinkle Cookies with these for the holidays, as all three do well in cookie exchanges.

Nutrition

Calories: 125kcal, Carbohydrates: 21g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 3g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 10mg, Sodium: 194mg, Potassium: 112mg, Sugar: 13g, Vitamin A: 120IU, Calcium: 16mg, Iron: 0.8mg

Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.