When it comes to perfect holiday cookies these Chewy Molasses Cookies are it. Rolled in sugar and crispy on the outside, but soft and chewy in the center.
I have become quite the cookie person over the years. I used to never absolutely love cookies until I met my husband way back when I was 18.
He absolutely loved cookies which forced me to get better at making cookies. Molasses Cookies were one of the cookies I had already been making my whole life.
You know how the story goes, this was one dessert that we would always make with my mom and grandma growing up preparing for the holidays.
Luckily these Chewy Molasses Cookies I already love. So thankfully my husband also loved these, but it made me branch out as well and get into more cookies.
Anyways, these cookies are one of my favorites and always have been. They are slightly crunchy on the outside with the sugar coating but so chewy.
That is the absolute perfect cookie in my eyes. I hate hard and crispy cookies, soft and chewy are they way I like to roll around here! And these are it!
Some of my other favorite cookies we have on our site include: Chewy Sugar Cookies, Butter Pecan Cookies and Iced Oatmeal Cookies.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- With basic staple baking ingredients these come together quick.
- You can double or half th batch to make the right amount for you.
- The flavor is perfect with just the right amount of molasses vs. spices.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE AT BOTTOM):
All-purpose flour
Cornstarch
Ground cinnamon
Baking soda
Salt
Ground ginger
Baking powder
Ground cloves
Butter
Dark brown sugar
Egg
Vanilla extract
Turbinado sugar
HOW TO MAKE CHEWY MOLASSES COOKIES, STEP BY STEP:
- In a large bowl stir together the flour, cornstarch, cinnamon, baking soda salt, ginger, baking powder, and cloves until combined. Set aside
- Whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Pour the wet mixture into the dry and stir until combined and there are no dry patches.
- Line a sheet tray with parchment paper and scoop out 1.5 tablespoon-sized portions of the cookie dough and place them on the sheet tray. I used a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop for this. It is okay if you place them close together on the tray. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours but best if you can wait overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare sheet trays with parchment paper.
- Roll the cookie dough balls one at a time in your hands to form a smooth ball. Roll them in the turbinado sugar and place them on the sheet trays about 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes until the tops are no longer glossy and they look puffed up.
- Let the cookies cool for 10 minutes on the sheet tray then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. If you cannot bake all the cookies at once, I suggest leaving the sheet tray with the remaining cookie dough balls in the fridge until they are ready to bake.
WHAT IS TURBINADO SUGAR?
Turbinado sugar is usually labeled as “raw” sugar. It looks like brown crystals and you can usually find it at your local grocer with the other sugar.
What makes this sugar different is that it is less process and refined than your other sugars which leave the brown color from the natural molasses in the sugar cane.
Which makes this sugar the absolute best sugar for rolling your Chewy Molasses Cookies in. If you do not want to use this sugar you do not have to.
You can use regular sugar, coarse sugar or even decorators sugar for this recipe. We have tried all of them with great results but turbinado has been my go-to.
WHAT DOES CORNSTARCH DO IN A COOKIE?
We love baking with cornstarch in our cookies. The main purpose for using cornstarch in cookies is it helps them stay soft and chewy, just what we want.
Another aspect is that it also helps keep them thick! It helps reduce the spread of the cookie while it is baking!
DO I HAVE TO LET THE DOUGH CHILL AND FOR HOW LONG?
We really believe in chilling cookie dough for lots of our recipes. This helps the cookies not spread while they are baking.
While chilling is solidifies the fats in th cookies that when you bake them the fats slowly melt which help reduces spread and keeps the cookies nice and thick.
These need to be chilled for at least 2 hours, but the good thing is that these can be made ahead and they can be chilled overnight and baked the next day.
HOW TO STORE:
These Chewy Molasses can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3-4 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
These can also be frozen, to do that make sure you cookies are cooled completely. Place in an airtight container or a freezer bag and they should keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
To defrost, remove from freezer and let defrost in the refrigerator or at room temperature until thawed.
TIPS AND TRICKS:
- Make sure you do not forget to chill the dough.
- Turbinado sugar is our go-to, but you can also use regular, coarse or decorators sugar for these.
- Double this recipe to make more for the holidays, cookie exchanges or to have more on hand for later.
- These can be frozen, see my tips above on how to do that.
- We like dark brown sugar for these as it produces the flavor we like, you could use light brown sugar if necessary but we have not tested it.
- This has the perfect balance between spices and molasses that does not overwhelm you at all.
If you are looking for that perfect holiday cookie that is wonderful to bring to gatherings or to have around the house then these Chewy Molasses Cookies are what you need.
If you like this recipe you might also like:
If you’ve tried these CHEWY MOLASSES COOKIES or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and what shenanigans I’m getting into!
Chewy Molasses Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¾ cup unsalted butter melted
- 1 cup dark brown sugar packed
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup turbinado sugar for rolling
Instructions
- In a large bowl stir together the flour, cornstarch, cinnamon, baking soda salt, ginger, baking powder, and cloves until combined. Set aside
- Whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, molasses, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Pour the wet mixture into the dry and stir until combined and there are no dry patches.
- Line a sheet tray with parchment paper and scoop out 1.5 tablespoon-sized portions of the cookie dough and place them on the sheet tray. I used a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop for this. It is okay if you place them close together on the tray. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours but best if you can wait overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare sheet trays with parchment paper.
- Roll the cookie dough balls one at a time in your hands to form a smooth ball. Roll them in the turbinado sugar and place them on the sheet trays about 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes until the tops are no longer glossy and they look puffed up.
- Let the cookies cool for 10 minutes on the sheet tray then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. If you cannot bake all the cookies at once, I suggest leaving the sheet tray with the remaining cookie dough balls in the fridge until they are ready to bake.
Notes
- Make sure you do not forget to chill the dough.
- Turbinado sugar is our go-to, but you can also use regular, coarse or decorators sugar for these.
- Double this recipe to make more for the holidays, cookie exchanges or to have more on hand for later.
- These can be frozen, see my tips above on how to do that.
- We like dark brown sugar for these as it produces the flavor we like, you could use light brown sugar if necessary but we have not tested it.
- This has the perfect balance between spices and molasses that does not overwhelm you at all.
Nutrition
Tornadough Alli is not a nutritionist or dietitian, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and nutritional value is important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and values can vary depending on which brands were used.
Em
Isn’t there any molasses in these? I just started to make them and am wondering if the black liquid I’m seeing in the pictures is molasses and it’s just not listed in the ingredients? I have a recipe from my grandma, but it uses margarine and I wanted one with butter instead.
Tornadough Alli
There is, not sure how it got overlooked but it’s fixed now. Sorry about that.
Nancy
I am surprised that they don’t have any actual molasses in them. My Mom’s recipe always had molasses in them. I know the spices and brown sugar are the molasses in these but I will need to compare the two recipes.