These Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies are easy to make, super-soft and chewy, and irresistibly delicious.
It seems a bold move to declare an all-time favorite cookie. But after having been on Team Molasses for going on over three decades now, and already whipped up my third batch of molasses dough in a month, I’ve gotta say that I don’t foresee any allegiance shifts happening soon. So with that said, allow me to introduce you to my all-time favorite cookies…
…the most delicious, soft, chewy, gingery, life-changing molasses cookies. ♡♡♡
My love for these molasses cookies is entirely thanks to my mom, who baked fresh batches of cookies for our family pretty much every week when we were growing up. Granted, she was always a bit mystified that her oldest daughter (hi, Mom) never inherited her obsession with all kinds of chocolate cookies, which will forever and always be her all-time faves. But molasses cookies were always a compromise we could both agree on. We both love these cookies.
This time of year, they are still the first recipe to which I always turn for holiday cookie baking. And this year in particular, they’ve been extra fun to share with all of our European friends who — as it turns out — maybe love them even more than we do! Ha, every time that we have served them to our friends, and our Spanish class, our neighbors, everyone goes crazy for them. Which means that we never come home with leftovers. Which just means that we have to keep baking more, naturally. Which requires exactly zero twisting of my arm. More molasses cookies for all!
Anyway, these cookies are clearly a hit. So as part of our week of cookies here on the blog, I thought I would bump this recipe back up to the top of the pile today for some non-chocolate cookie inspiration. I initially shared this recipe on the blog nine years ago. But that said, a number of you have reported over the years that your cookies have spread a bit more than you like. So I’ve been tinkering around with our family recipe this fall, and have made a few small adjustments to the recipe below that should help them to stay nice and thick and chewy, without compromising the flavor of the cookies at all. (Although if your cookies do ever flatten out, I promise they’ll still be delicious.)
So I hope that you enjoy them as much as we do, and if you decide to bake up a batch, I’d love to hear how they go! Enjoy, everyone!
Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies Recipe | 1-Minute Video
Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies Ingredients:
To make this chewy ginger molasses cookies recipe, you will need:
- Butter: Completely softened to room temperature (not melted, or else it will not cream properly with the sugars)
- Sugars: I use half granulated (white) sugar, half packed brown sugar, plus extra sugar for rolling the dough balls.
- Molasses: I typically opt for “original” (versus dark) unsulphured molasses.
- Eggs and baking soda: Two soft and chewy cookie staples.
- Flour: I typically use all-purpose flour for this classic recipe, but white whole wheat flour can work too.
- Spices: We will use a mixture of ground ginger, cinnamon and cloves. Feel free to tinker around with the spice proportions to taste.
- Salt: To bring out all of those delicious flavors.
How To Make Molasses Cookies:
To make these homemade molasses cookies, simply:
- Whisk together dry ingredients. Flour, soda, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt.
- Cream together butter and sugars. Using a separate mixing bowl, either with a stand mixer or a hand mixer, cream together the softened butter and sugars on medium-high speed until the mixture is light and fluffy and a pale yellow color, about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides occasionally as needed.
- Mix in the remaining wet and dry ingredients. Mix in the eggs (one at a time) and molasses, and beat on medium-low speed until each is combined. Gradually add in the dry ingredient mixture and beat until it is evenly incorporated.
- Chill the dough. Transfer the dough to an airtight container and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or until the dough is completely chilled. I know — the extra chilling time is substantial, and very tempting to skip. But this particular dough, with all of its butter and molasses, really does need a thorough chilling to prevent the cookies from spreading. Worth the wait, I promise. :)
- Preheat oven. Heat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, and set aside.
- Roll the dough balls. Once the dough is chilled and firm, roll the dough into small balls, about 1-inch in diameter. Fill a separate small bowl with sugar, and roll each ball in the sugar until it is completely coated. Place dough balls on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake. Bake for about 8-10 minutes, until the cookies begin to slightly crack on top. (They will crack more while cooling.) Remove from the oven and let cool for 4-5 minutes. Then transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.
- Serve. Serve warm and enjoy, or store in a sealed container for up to 4 days. Or freeze for up to 3 months.
Possible Variations:
Want to mix things up with your ginger cookies? Feel free to:
- Add in extra ginger: I also really love adding some chopped crystallized ginger to these cookies for added ginger flavor and crunch.
- Frost your cookies: A really light glaze is delicious atop these cookies. Or if you really want to go for it, cream cheese frosting is divine.
More Favorite Cookie Recipes:
Looking for more delicious cookie inspiration? Feel free to check out our full collection of cookie recipes, or any of these other favorite classic cookies:
- Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Peanut Butter Cookies
- Gingerbread Cookies
- No-Bake Cookies
- Brown Sugar Cookies
Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 0 About 42-46 cookies 1x
Description
These Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies are easy to make, super-soft and chewy, and irresistibly delicious. Feel free to halve this recipe if you would like a smaller batch!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (340g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) granulated white sugar
- 1 cup (213g) packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (170g) unsulphured molasses
- 2 large eggs
- 4 1/2 cups (639 grams*) all-purpose flour
- 4 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and salt. Set aside.
- Using a separate mixing bowl, either with a stand mixer or a hand mixer, cream together the softened butter and sugars on medium-high speed until the mixture is light and fluffy and a pale yellow color, about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides occasionally as needed. Mix in the eggs (one at a time) and molasses, and beat on medium-low speed until each is combined. Gradually add in the dry ingredient mixture and beat until it is evenly incorporated.
- Transfer the dough to an airtight container and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or until the dough is completely chilled.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper; set aside.
- Roll the dough into small balls, about 1-inch in diameter. Fill a separate small bowl with sugar, and roll each ball in the sugar until it is completely coated. Place dough balls on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for about 8-10 minutes, until the cookies begin to slightly crack on top. (They will crack more while cooling.) Remove from the oven and let cool for 4-5 minutes. Then transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.
- Serve warm and enjoy, or store in a sealed container for up to 4 days. Or freeze for up to 3 months.
Notes
Flour amount: Please note that different sites across the internet use a wide range of weights for 1 cup of flour. I use 142g for this recipe, so 4.5 cups = 639g.
Baking soda amount: Because this question comes up occasionally in the comment section — yes, this amount is correct. The recipe needs 4 teaspoons of baking soda to rise properly. (This recipe yields a very large batch of cookies.)
This recipe contains affiliate links.
Hi! These look great and I plan to try making them soon. I read in the comments that the butter is supposed to be unsalted, but the recipe doesn’t specify that, so you may want to change that in the original recipe. :-) When I come back to these I want to make sure I remember not to do salted butter…
I made them with gluten-free baking flour and they are awesome! I’m so tickled because gluten-free stuff can be hard to make.
That’s so cool, Jane! We’re so glad to hear they can be made gluten-free, and that you enjoyed them! :)
These are THE BEST molasses cookies I have ever made. They turn out exactly as stated and look just like the pictures on this blog. These are a family (and friend) favorite for sure. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe.
Thank you, Patricia, we’re so happy you and your friends and family love them! :D
there’s far too much butter and sugar in this.
half cup butter and three quarter cup sugar is ample otherwise it doesn’t work.
Hello Malou! We’ve tested this recipe a zillion times and have never found the cookies to have too much butter or sugar. They work out great for us every time! However, definitely feel free to use less if you prefer.
Ive made these cookies quite a few times. Definitely a family favorite.
Thanks for sharing with us, Katelyn — we’re so happy you and your family love them!
I was really excited to try these. I cut the recipe in half since I didn’t want so many cookies. I followed the instructions for the most part. I did not have an electric mixer to cream the sugar and butter so I did it by hand. The cookies turned out very much like cake and more puffy than the flat ones shown in the picture. Maybe I overbaked them? I had them in at 350 for exactly 10 minutes. Any advice to make these turn out just right?
We LOVE this recipe. We get rave reviews every time we make them. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
Thank you, Natalie — we’re so glad to hear they’re a hit! :)
I love your recipes Ali! Every, single recipe I’ve tried has been nothing short of delicious. To those having issues with spreading with these cookies, I have a tip. Not all butters are the same. I’ve made cookies for years and years (I’m not gonna date myself here, LOL) and I have found that while store brand butters taste doesn’t vary much the results with baking does. I did an experiment this past Christmas with several different cookies that called for butter, using four different butters. Each time the cookies made with store brand butters spread very thin while the brand name butters performed better and made beautiful cookies. If you’re having issues with your cookies, try a different butter and see if it helps. :)
Thanks for your sweet words, Starr, we’re so glad you enjoy the blog and the recipes you’ve made! And thank you so much for your tip on the butter, you raise a very good point! :)
Hi! So the first time I made hear they were amazing! They looked just like the photo and dark and gooey inside. Best cookie I have ever had. My husband loved them and requested them again. I made them again tonight and they were drastically different. They didn’t sink down, had the consistency of pumpkin pie now the middle, and all the bottoms burned black (had in oven only 8 min for both batches). Was trying to figure out what I did wrong. Any suggestions? Was thinking the eggs were beat too much or the butter too soft.
Hi Del! We’re sorry for just now getting to your comment. That’s so strange your experiences were so different! You do want to make sure the butter is softened to room temperature for this recipe. If it is too hard, or too melty, the creaming process won’t work its magic and you may have flatter cookies as a result. (Still tasty, but flatter!) Also, it is essential that the dough be thoroughly chilled with this recipe before baking. Otherwise, the dough will be soft and difficult to form into balls, and the cookies will flatten out significantly while baking. We hope this helps for next time!
These were just like the photo! Chewy goodness. Next time I will use less sugar in the dough.
We’re so happy you liked them, Renee!