Old fashioned Super Soft Molasses Cookies are a homemade classic 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 that's been rolled in sugar. They're a fall and holiday favorite recipe that's the perfect addition to any cookie swap!
Jump to:
- Reasons You Will Love These Super Soft Molasses Cookies
- Where Does Molasses Come From?
- How to Make Soft and Chewy Molasses Sugar Cookies
- What is a Good Substitute for Ground Cloves?
- Can I Freeze Molasses Cookie Dough?
- Quick Tips for Baking Molasses Cookies
- Looking for More Holiday Cookie Recipes?
- 📖 Recipe
- Reviews
Reasons You Will Love These Super Soft Molasses Cookies
- seriously soft and chewy
- a holiday favorite
- perfectly flavored with molasses, ginger, and cinnamon
- lightly rolled in granulated sugar to give them a nice, sweet crunch
- they stay soft for days
- perfect for cookie swaps
This soft molasses cookie recipe couldn't be any easier to make, and they taste fantastic! They are a definite must-make heading into the holiday season!
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!
There are a variety of molasses flavors like light/mild, full/dark, and blackstrap. The light/mild flavor is the lightest and sweetest of the three, followed by the full/dark, which is thicker and has a stronger flavor (great for recipes like this!). Blackstrap is the thickest of the three and has no sweetness to it. You'll typically see blackstrap molasses used in savory dishes.
How to Make Soft and Chewy Molasses Sugar Cookies
Here is a brief overview of how to make this soft molasses cookie recipe!
- Whisk the dry ingredients together. This includes all-purpose flour, ground cloves, ground ginger, cinnamon, and salt.
- Mix the wet ingredients together. Start with vegetable oil and granulated sugar. Next, you will add in the full-flavored molasses and egg.
- Combine the dry and wet ingredients. Unless specified in the recipe, always add the dry ingredients to the wet. Mix the cookie dough together until just combined. The cookie dough will be a thin to medium consistency.
- Chill the dough. A minimum of 2 hours is best or until you can form the cookie dough balls. Make sure the mixing bowl is covered with plastic wrap.
- Roll and Coat. Roll the molasses cookie dough into 1-inch balls, then roll in a small bowl of granulated sugar (or you can use pure can organic sugar). You only need about ½ cup to coat all 36 cookies this recipe yields.
- Bake, then Cool. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 375ºF. Mine seem to bake perfectly right at the 8-minute mark. Your cookies should have a nice sparkling crinkle top with golden brown edges. Cookies should cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before you transfer them to the wire cooling rack.
What is a Good Substitute for Ground Cloves?
Ground cloves are not something I always have on hand when baking. So if you find yourself in the same situation, you can use nutmeg.
Can I Freeze Molasses Cookie Dough?
Yes! Follow the recipe instructions up until you have chilled the molasses cookie dough. Roll the cookie dough into the 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.
Quick Tips for Baking Molasses Cookies
- Measuring sticky molasses. One thing that can be tricky sometimes is measuring sticky ingredients, so I suggest lightly spraying the inside of a measuring cup with some baking spray. This will help let the molasses slide out a lot easier when you're pouring it into the mixer.
- Don't skip chilling the dough. I recommend at least 2 hours of dough chilling or until you can easily form the dough 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!
Looking for More Holiday Cookie Recipes?
📖 Recipe
Super Soft Molasses Cookies
Author:Ingredients
- 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
- ½ teaspoon Ground Cloves
- ½ teaspoon Ground Ginger
- 2 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ¾ cup Vegetable Oil
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar (plus extra for rolling cookie dough balls in)
- ¼ cup Full Flavor Molasses (I used the Brer Rabbit brand)
- 1 Large Egg (room temperature)
Instructions
- Whisk together the all-purpose flour, ground cloves, ground ginger, baking soda, ground cinnamon, and salt. Set to the side.2 cups All-Purpose Flour, ½ teaspoon Ground Cloves, ½ teaspoon Ground Ginger, 2 teaspoon Baking Soda, 1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon, ½ teaspoon Salt
- Using your hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the vegetable oil and granulated sugar together on medium-high speed until well blended. Add in the full flavored molasses and egg.¾ cup Vegetable Oil, 1 cup Granulated Sugar, ¼ cup Full Flavor Molasses, 1 Large Egg
- Switching the mixer speed to low, gradually add in the whisked dry ingredients until just combined.
- Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate the molasses cookie dough for a minimum of 2 hours (or until it's easy to shape).
- Once the cookie dough has chilled, adjust the oven rack to the 2nd level position (just above center) and preheat the oven to 375ºF. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
- Using a spoon or a 1 tablespoon size cookie scoop, form 1 inch size cookie dough balls. Roll each one in a small bowl of granulated sugar and place on the lined baking sheet roughly 2 inches apart.
- Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes at 375ºF. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely. The cookies will be puffy at first, but will flatten as they cool.
- Molasses cookies can be kept stored in an airtight container for up to a week at room temperature. They'll stay soft too!
Video
Recipe Notes
- Pure cane organic sugar can be used as a substitute for granulated sugar (both in the recipe and what you roll the cookie dough balls in).
- If your cookies come out misshapen or flatter than you like, you can reshape them using a round cookie cutter right when they come out of the oven.
- If you do not have full-flavor molasses, you can use a light or dark flavor, but I do not recommend using blackstrap as it has no sweetness to it.
- Recipe adapted from A Taste of Bedminster Elementary Cookbook.
Nutrition
Nutritonal information provided above is an estimate only and will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Laura says
My cookies did not come out soft. They really spread and are very crunchy. I did put in a plastic container with a piece of bread hopping this will soften them. I'm not sure what happened, I followed the recipe. Thoughts?
Jennifer says
I'm so sorry they came out like this! Because every kitchen is different, it's tough to pinpoint exactly what may have been the issue. Things like oven temp being off, over mixing cookie dough, mistakenly adding or not adding enough of an ingredient could contribute. I hope the piece of bread will soften them some (one of my favorite tips btw)!
Sara says
These are just what I was looking for. They came out perfectly with exactly 8 min cooking time. Will be serving them with apple cider at a reception at church during the holidays. 😊
Jennifer says
What a lovely treat to share with everyone! Thank you so much for making them!
Grandpa Chef says
This recipe is great. Family loves them and to kick them up a notch I put in 1/2 teaspoon Cardamom.
Jennifer says
So glad you and your family enjoyed them!
Anna Pandolfini says
If I could give 10 stars I would. I made these cookies on Thursday and by Friday my two kids had eaten them all…I may have had a few as well. I’m making them again today (Saturday) because their cousins need to try them. They are soft and chewing and taste like fall. I also love and appreciate the way the recipe was written out. Step 1 mix dry ingredients and then the list and quantity of the ingredients right there instead of having to scroll back up. Thank you for this recipe!!
Jennifer says
I'm so glad you and your kids enjoyed them so much! Thank you so much for making them and for the feedback on the instructions!
Joanne says
Mine did not puff up or flatten while baking them… the temp was correct.. what did I do wrong?
Jennifer says
Did the cookies spread out at all?
Betty says
Excellant I added candied ginger delicious!
Carol Williams says
These cookies are soft, chewy, and absolutely delicious!! Just sent a batch to relatives in another state (after hiding some from my husband) and making another batch this weekend. 8 minutes was perfect cooking time-do not overbake! I rolled the cookies in orange sanding sugar before cooking, and sprinkled on extra sugar after baking. YUM!! Thanks!
Jennifer says
I love the idea of rolling the molasses cookies in orange sanding sugar, Carol! Thank you so much for making them!
savannah says
is pumpkin pie spice and ok alternative to the cloves and cinnamon
Jennifer says
I didn't test it with pumpkin pie spice, but you can certainly try it in place of the cinnamon, cloves, and ginger that's called for in the recipe. The only difference is you'll be adding nutmeg to the flavoring (the 4th spice in pumpkin pie spice), so they may taste a little different, but should still taste really good. Let me know how they turn out if you use it as a sub!
Meg says
These are delicious and so soft.
Jennifer says
Thank you, Meg. I am so glad you enjoyed them!
Julie says
These turned out just right. I only left in frig for 1 1/2 hour. Next time will do longer making it a little easier to handls. Freezing them now and hoping for the best.
Jennifer says
Awesome! I am so glad to hear that they did! Thank you so much for making the recipe!
Julie says
Can these cookies be frozen?
Jennifer says
Yes, absolutely! I include a section on the best way to do this in the blog post above.
Melissa says
Could unsweetened applesauce be subbed for the liquid shortening?
Jennifer says
I didn't test the recipe this way, but you could certainly try it and see how it goes!
Sandy says
These are amazing! 8 minutes is PERFECT!
Jennifer says
Thank you so much for making them!