It’s hard to beat molasses cookies! Soft, chewy and perfectly spiced, it’s a must-have treat for the holidays, but I recommend keeping this in your rotation year round.
These are the edgy, intensely flavored cousins to the ginger snaps and one that my husband always requests at the holidays. These are soft and chewy, with a sensational spice combination and just a tiny crunch of sugar crust. They get their richness from blackstrap molasses; don’t use regular molasses or they lose their edge.
But what really gives these a little extra zing is the freshly grated ginger and black pepper. Make sure to watch these in the oven carefully and bake until they are just set. They are easy to overbake, and if you do, you won’t get that chewy softness that is essential to this cakey cookie. Dust with a bit of sparkling sugar, if you want a little extra fancy.
Ingredients
- 4 2/3 cups 560g / all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 cup / 220g unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 cup / 200g granulated sugar
- 1 cup / 320g blackstrap molasses
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- 1 Tbsp. Very finely grated peeled fresh ginger (use a microplane grater)
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup / 100g clear sparkling decorator sugar or granulated sugar for rolling
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, baking soda, and salt.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, sugar, and molasses on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Mix in the eggs, one at a time, until well incorporated, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Mix in the fresh ginger and black pepper. Add the flour mixture all at once and mix on low speed just until it all comes together.
- Scoop the cookie dough using a #40 (1 1/2-tablespoon) portion scoop, roll the dough balls in sparkling sugar, place onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving about 1 1/2 inches of space between them to spread and flatten the balls slightly. Refrigerate the cookie dough balls for at least 30 minutes. The dough can also be made the day before or frozen for a few weeks. You can make the cook- ies larger or smaller, but it will affect the baking time.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F / 190°C.
- Bake, one sheet at a time, in the middle of the oven for 10 to 12 minutes, until the cookies are puffed, look slightly dry, and are golden brown just on the bottom. Don’t overbake or they lose their soft texture.
- Cool completely on the baking sheets.
These cookies are so soft and chewy! The texture is just perfect! Just for fun, I added candied orange peels dipped in my homemade vanilla sugar and drizzled some chocolate on as well.
Like to be a good variation from my Moms best recipe- will try but would be in contention with hers!
Wanted to make these and then saw price of cardamon at store. How important to the recipe is it? It’s such a rarely used spice.
Hi Karen, it’s not crucial! It will still be a delicious cookie if you choose to leave it out.
Thanks for responding! Found a slightly less expensive cardamon! We made these yesterday and they were a huge hit. Freezing or chilling before is crucial to not having them spread all over! Also, We used a #40 cookie scoop and it made 45 cookies, not 24! Last – it’s a sticky dough and gets stickier as it warms! Still easy to work with. Just watch the stick! Thanks Zoe and team!