Molasses Cookies, extra tender

Old-fashioned Super Soft Molasses Cookies are a house-made familiar treat packed with bold flavors of molasses, ginger, and cinnamon in each bite. They're soft and chewy on the inside, with a crackly top rolled in sugar. They're a fall and holiday favorite recipe that's the perfect addition to any cookie swap!

Why this bake works

One of my all-time favorite cookie recipes are these molasses cookies! They are seriously soft and chewy, evenly flavored with molasses, ginger, and cinnamon, and lightly rolled in granulated sugar for a sweet crunch!

They're an straightforward to mix holiday favorite that stays soft for days and tastes fantastic! Add them to your must-make holiday baking list and don't forget to include them in your next cookie swap!

If you love this method, check out my Chocolate Shortbread, Holiday Slice and Bake Cookies, and Familiar Spritz Cookies, which would also be a strong match for holiday cookie tins!

Where Does Molasses Come From?

Molasses is commonly used as a sweetener in baking, cooking, coffee, or oatmeal and comes from either sugar cane or sugar beets, where it's boiled down to syrup. After removing the sugar crystals, what's left is the dark molasses!

Molasses comes in a variety of flavors, including light/mild, full/dark, and blackstrap. Light/mild is the lightest and sweetest of the three, followed by full/dark, which is thicker and has a stronger flavor (a strong match for recipes like this!). Blackstrap is the thickest of the three and has no sweetness. You'll typically see blackstrap molasses used in savory dishes.

What goes in

The ingredients shown in the image below are used to make these soft and chewy ginger molasses cookies. Items noted in the bulleted list are key ingredients that need more explanation.

• Ground Spices. Using ground cinnamon, ground cloves, and ground ginger helps round out the flavors in these molasses cookies. Enjoy using ground Vietnamese cinnamon from King Arthur, but honestly any brand will work fine.
• Full Flavor Molasses. My molasses brand of choice is Brer Rabbit. If you don't have full-flavor molasses, you can use light or dark flavor, but I don't recommend blackstrap, as it has no sweetness.
• Vegetable Oil. You can also use coconut oil. Try using Carrington Farms coconut cooking oil (unflavored). While I didn't test the method with this substitute, you can also use melted, cooled butter (1:1 ratio) in place of vegetable oil.
• Granulated Sugar. Used in the molasses cookie recipe and also for rolling the cookie.

For quantities and instructions, please see the method card below.

How it comes together

Below is a brief overview of how to make these especially soft molasses cookies. For the full printable recipe, which can be made using US customary or metric measurements using the toggle switch, visit the method card below.

Step 1. Whisk the all-purpose flour, ground cloves, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, and salt.

Step 2. Whisk the vegetable oil and sugar together. Add in the molasses and egg, mixing until well blended.

Step 3. Combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients. The cookie dough will be very soft and mushy.

Step 4. Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate the cookie dough for at least 2 hours.

Step 5. Form the cookie dough into balls using a 1-tablespoon cookie scoop.

Step 6. Roll the molasses cookie dough balls in a small bowl of sugar. Place 2 inches apart on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.

Step 7. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 375ºF. Your cookies should have a nice, sparkling crinkle top with golden-brown edges.

Step 8. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling completely.

Keeping and freezing

Molasses cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

To freeze molasses cookie dough, chill the dough, then roll the cookie dough into 1-inch balls, but skip rolling them in the granulated sugar. Place them onto a parchment paper- or wax paper-lined baking sheet and freeze until solid. Remove from the freezer and place the frozen cookie dough balls into a well-sealed freezer bag. Molasses cookie dough balls will keep for up to 3 months in the freezer. When ready to bake, roll in sugar, and add 1-2 minutes to your baking time.

Baker notes

• Measuring sticky molasses. Measuring sticky ingredients can be tricky, so Try lightly spraying the inside of a measuring cup with baking spray. This will help the molasses slide out more easily when you're pouring it into the mixer.
• Don't skip chilling the dough. Try chilling the dough for at least 2 hours, or until you can easily form it into 1-inch balls. If they haven't properly chilled, things can get pretty messy.
• Use a cookie scoop. For more consistently sized cookies, use a 1-tablespoon-sized cookie scoop. A regular spoon will work fine, too.
• Shape the cookies. This is totally optional, but if your cookies come out a little flatter than you like or you'd like them to be about the same size, you can shape them! Check out my Salted Brownie Cookies recipe to learn how to shape them!

Questions on this bake

What is a good substitute for ground cloves?

If you don't typically keep ground cloves on hand, you can use ground nutmeg.

Can I freeze molasses cookie dough?

Yes! Follow the method instructions up to the point where you chill the molasses cookie dough. Roll the cookie dough into 1-inch balls, but skip rolling them in the granulated sugar. Place them onto a parchment paper- or wax paper-lined baking sheet and freeze until firm. Remove from the freezer and place the frozen cookie dough balls into a well-sealed freezer bag. Molasses cookie dough balls will keep for up to 3 months in the freezer. When ready to bake, add 1-2 minutes to your baking time.