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These soft and chewy Molasses Cookies taste just like the ones Grandma used to keep in a cookie tin. They are warm, cozy, full of sweet molasses and spice, and they stay soft for days. If you love old fashioned holiday cookies that melt in your mouth and make your kitchen smell amazing, these Molasses Cookies will be a new family favorite.
5 Star Reviews ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“Boy, I haven’t seen a molasses cookie recipe ever. My grandmother made these for me as a child and I thought they were just the best cookie ever. Thank you for sharing this one, it brings back the good old days.” – Rhonda
“These were the best cookies I’ve ever had!” – Chuck
“These look so soft and chewy, I can’t wait to try them!” -Susan
Why I Love these Cookies
These Molasses Cookies are very near and dear to my heart because they remind me of my sweet mother-in-law. We lovingly called her Grandma Blick, and she made these cookies often. She always had a secret stash in a cookie tin tucked away in a cupboard. When anyone came to visit, she would pull out that tin, pass around the cookies, and make everyone feel completely at home.
Now these Molasses Cookies are one of my most treasured family recipes. I love making them for my own family and sharing that same cozy, nostalgic feeling. The cookies are soft and chewy, a little like a gingersnap, with a gentle molasses flavor, warm spices, and a sparkly, sugary outside. If you are looking for a warm, nostalgic cookie recipe, this is it.
When I serve these Molasses Cookies, I love to pair them with hot drinks like peppermint hot cocoa, wassail, or hot apple cider. Or warm with a cold scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream and hot fudge.
🩷 Echo
Ingredients You Will Need
- Shortening and brown sugar: Keep cookies soft and add rich caramel sweetness.
- Egg: Binds the dough and adds a little richness.
- Molasses: Light molasses gives sweet flavor and a beautiful brown color.
- Dry ingredients: All purpose flour, baking soda, and salt for structure and lift.
- Warm spices: Ground cloves, cinnamon, and ginger for classic molasses cookie flavor.
- Sugar for rolling: Granulated sugar for sparkly, crinkly cookie tops.
Ingredient Additions And Substitutions
- Shortening vs butter: Shortening keeps cookies extra soft, butter adds more flavor and spread.
- Light vs dark molasses: Light is sweet and mild, dark is stronger and slightly less sweet.
- Avoid blackstrap: Very bitter and heavy, not a good choice for these soft Molasses Cookies.
- Spice level: Add more ginger or cinnamon if you like a stronger spice flavor.
- Sugar coating: Coarse sugar works if you want extra crunch on the tops.
- Optional add ins: Mini chocolate chips, chopped pecans, or orange zest in small amounts.
How To Make Molasses Cookies
- Mix the wet ingredients. In a mixing bowl, cream together the shortening and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and molasses and mix until smooth.
- Combine the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cloves, cinnamon, and ginger so everything is evenly distributed.
- Make and chill the dough. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the molasses mixture and mix until a soft dough forms. Cover the bowl and chill the dough in the refrigerator for about 1 hour so it is easier to handle and keeps its shape while baking.
- Shape and sugar the cookies. Roll the chilled dough into balls about the size of large walnuts. Dip the tops of the dough balls into granulated sugar and place them sugar side up on a greased or parchment lined baking sheet, leaving space between them because they will spread.
- Bake the cookies. Bake at 375 degrees for about 10 to 12 minutes. The cookies are done when they are just starting to turn a light brown on top and you can see the tops getting slightly crusty and crinkled.
- Cool completely. For the best chewy texture, let the cookies sit on the baking sheet for a minute, then move them to a wire rack and cool completely before storing or serving.
Recipe Tips
- Chill the dough so it is easier to roll and so the cookies keep their shape without spreading too much. Aim for at least 1 hour of chilling time.
- Use light molasses for the sweetest flavor and best texture. Dark or blackstrap molasses will make the cookies taste more bitter.
- Do not overbake or the cookies will turn crisp instead of chewy. Pull them out when the edges are just set and the tops are lightly browned and starting to crack. They will continue to set as they cool.
- Sprinkle a little water on top of the hot cookies right after they come out of the oven. This dissolves a bit of the sugar and helps create a pretty, crinkly top.
- Let the flavors develop by storing the cookies for a day before serving if you can. The spices blend with the molasses and they taste even better the second day.
- Cool on a wire rack so moisture escapes and the bottoms do not get soggy.
- Use parchment paper on your baking sheet for easy cleanup and to help prevent sticking and over browning on the bottom.
Frequently Asked Questions
Molasses gives these cookies their rich, deep flavor and beautiful brown color that you cannot get from honey or regular sugar alone. It also helps keep the cookies soft and chewy.
Molasses Cookies are soft, thick, and chewy with a gentle molasses and spice flavor, while gingersnap cookies are typically thinner, crispier, and have a stronger snap when you bite into them.
If your cookies taste bitter, the most common cause is using blackstrap molasses. It is very strong and bitter. For sweeter cookies, use light molasses and make sure you measure your spices carefully.
Yes, you can easily double the recipe without changing the texture. It is a great recipe to double for parties, cookie exchanges, or holiday gifting.
Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. Adding a small piece of bread to the container can help keep them extra soft because the cookies absorb the moisture.
Make Ahead And Storage
- Make ahead dough: Mix the dough, cover tightly, and refrigerate for up to 2 days before baking. Let the dough sit at room temperature for a few minutes if it is too firm to scoop.
- Room temperature storage: Store fully cooled Molasses Cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. They stay soft and delicious for several days, and I think they taste even better after the first day.
- Freezing baked cookies: Place cooled cookies in a freezer safe container or bag with parchment between layers. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature.
- Freezing cookie dough balls: Scoop and roll the dough into balls, place on a baking sheet, freeze until solid, then transfer to a freezer bag. Bake from frozen and add a couple of extra minutes to the baking time.
More Holiday Cookie Recipes
From classic chocolate chip to peanut butter, we have SO many delicious cookie recipes to choose from. Try some new cookie recipes with your family!
- Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies
- No Bake Cookies
- Gingerbread Cookies
- Peanut Butter Cookies
- Sugar Cookies
- 25+ Christmas Desserts
These soft and chewy Molasses Cookies are everything I love in an old fashioned cookie recipe, with simple pantry ingredients, warm spices, sweet molasses, and a texture that stays soft for days. I hope they become a tradition in your home too, and when you make them, please leave a star rating and comment how it went! 🤎
Molasses Cookies
Video
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup shortening
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cloves
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ginger
Instructions
- Mix shortening, brown sugar, eggs, and molasses.
- In a separate bowl, sift together
- Mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients. Chill dough for 1 hour.
- Roll into balls the size of large walnuts.
- Dip top of dough ball in sugar.
- Place 3″ apart on greased cookie sheet.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
Notes
- Chill the dough for at least 1 hour so the cookies hold their shape and bake up thick and chewy.
- Use light molasses for the best sweet flavor and soft texture. Avoid blackstrap molasses, which is very strong and bitter.
- For chewy cookies, bake just until the edges are set and the tops are lightly browned. The cookies will firm up as they cool.
- These Molasses Cookies taste even better the next day, after the spices have had time to blend with the molasses.
- The recipe doubles easily, and both the baked cookies and unbaked dough balls freeze well for up to 3 months in an airtight container.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Boy, I haven’t seen a molasses cookie recipe ever. My grandmother made these for me as a child and I thought they were just the best cookie ever. Thank you for sharing this one, it brings back the good old days… Smile
These were the best cookies I have ever had!
I’m making this for the weekend, I bet everyone is going to devour it!
These look so soft and chewy. Can’t wait to try them!
Have you doubled the recipe? Does it change the chewy texture of the cookie?
You can double the recipe without any problems. These cookies are delicious – you will love them!
Why do you sprinkle the tops with water?
It dissolves the sprinkled sugar just a little bit and gives the top of the cookie a crunchier texture than the rest of the cookie. It’s not necessary, the cookie will be a softer cookie without it. Thank you for asking!
is there a difference in type of molasses used? Is blackstrap molasses generic molasses?
There is definitely a difference. Black strap molasses is much stronger in flavor and intensity than general molasses. The cookies will have a different flavor, but it will still work. If I was using black strap molasses in this recipe, or any other recipe that calls for molasses, I would use about 1/2 of what the recipe calls for. Thank you for your question and for visiting our site!
Those look delicious! I love molasses cookies. 🙂
Me too! These are my favorite! Thank you for visiting our website!