These chewy molasses cookies are easy to make and perfect for the holidays!
Molasses Cookies
If you need an easy cookie that is perfect for the holidays you need to try these molasses cookies. I needed some kind of treat for a cookie exchange at work and knowing I had zero time I searched for a recipe that would make cookies magically appear in my kitchen. Unfortunately, I didn’t find any magic recipes that would produce fresh baked cookies with no work on my part, but I found the next best thing – a recipe for chewy molasses cookies from Bon Appetit.
Seriously. These are super easy and the recipe produces a perfectly chewy cookie. No waiting around for butter to soften (recipe calls for melted – yay!) and no complicated techniques or decorating required. Oh, and they’re perfect for the holidays thanks to all the cinnamon, ginger, and allspice. We’re sort of obsessed with ginger around these parts, so think about it this way – if my gingerbread loaf hooked up with my gingersnap recipe these molasses cookies would be the love child. Yep, it’s true.
Notes about the Recipe
The first batch I made went to the cookie exchange, so I made another batch and made a few changes to that the recipe I’m sharing here.
- First I increased the brown sugar and added in some maple syrup, which I think goes great with the molasses. With all the sugar, you’d think they’d turn out super sweet, but they’re not – using dark molasses balances out the sweetness nicely.
- Finally, I rolled each cookie ball in a cinnamon-sugar mixture, which added a little more special-ness. You can never have too much cinnamon for the holidays.
- What I love best about this recipe is that you can make the dough ahead, roll it into balls and freeze them for later. Before baking roll them in the sugar. Freezing the dough makes holiday baking so much easier!
If you have a need for some last-minute cookies give these a try!
PrintMolasses Cookies
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 30 cookies 1x
Description
A quick and easy cookie!
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoon, plus 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon divided
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 1 teaspoon all-spice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup melted butter
- 1/3 cup, plus 1/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup dark molasses
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat oven 375 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper
- In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and salt, In a large bowl, combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, molasses, and maple syrup. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and stir until just combined. Chill the dough in the fridge for about 10 minutes
- While the dough is chilling, mix 1/4 cup of the granulated sugar with 1/2 tablespoon of cinnamon in a small bowl. Once chilled, scoop 1 tablespoon of dough and roll it into a ball. Coat each cookie ball in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place cookie balls about 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes at 375 degrees, just until the cookies have puffed and start to crack on top. Cool on baking racks and store in an airtight container.
Notes
Adapted from Bon Appetit
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 102
- Sugar: 10.6g
- Sodium: 128.1mg
- Fat: 3.3g
- Saturated Fat: 2g
- Unsaturated Fat: 1.2g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 17.3g
- Fiber: 0.3g
- Protein: 1.1g
- Cholesterol: 14.3mg
Keywords: molasses cookies, easy holiday cookie recipe
Charlie Loxely says
These look amazing! Question, please: We get “fancy” (lighter) molasses and “blackstrap” (a really intense dark one). When you say “dark,” are you referring latter, which is almost black? Thanks!
April Anderson says
The brand I always use is Grandma’s Original Molasses which is dark, but not a blackstrap molasses. Hope that helps!
Alice @ Hip Foodie Mom says
These are my favorite holiday cookies. . ever. . and these look perfect!!! and you can’t ever go wrong with Bon Appetit.. love these cookies!
April says
Thanks Alice! I’ve already made 4 batches of them – they are definitely my new favorite holiday cookie!