These soft molasses cookies are chewy spice cookies with crackled, sugar-coated tops, made with melted butter, brown sugar, ¼ cup unsulfured molasses, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. You stir the dough by hand in two bowls, skip the fridge, and bake at 350°F for 9 to 11 minutes. That is about 25 minutes from start to cooling rack, and you get about 24 cookies.
The one thing that decides the texture is when you pull the tray. Take the cookies out while the centers still look wet between the cracks. They finish setting on the hot pan, and they stay soft enough to bend in the middle for days.
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- Yield: about 24 cookies from heaping tablespoon balls
- Time: 15 minutes prep, 9 to 11 minutes in the oven
- Oven: 350°F (175°C), two parchment-lined baking sheets
- Molasses: ¼ cup unsulfured, with 1 cup packed brown sugar
- Leavening: 2 teaspoons baking soda for 2¼ cups flour
- Chilling: none, unless your kitchen is warm
- Keeps: up to 5 days in an airtight container
Brown Sugar, Spice and a Lot of Baking Soda
The dry bowl holds 2¼ cups flour, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ginger, ¼ teaspoon cloves, ½ teaspoon salt and 2 teaspoons baking soda. Cinnamon leads. Ginger and cloves sit behind it and give the bite. Keep the salt in; it is what makes the molasses taste deep instead of just sweet.
Two teaspoons of soda looks like a lot, and it is on purpose. Molasses and brown sugar are both acidic. The soda reacts with them, so the dough balls puff in the oven, then sink as they cool, and that rise and fall splits the sugar coat into cracks. It also darkens the cookies a little. If your soda has been open for a year, buy a new box. Old soda gives you flat, smooth tops.
The card says light or dark brown sugar. Both work. Dark brown sugar has more molasses in it, so the cookies come out a shade darker and a bit more toffee-like. Light brown gives a softer, rounder flavor. The same brown sugar base makes my dark chocolate brown sugar cookies so moist.
Unsulfured, Dark or Blackstrap Molasses?
Buy unsulfured molasses, the jar often labeled “original” or “mild.” That is what this recipe is written for. It is sweet, clean and strong without tasting burnt.
- Unsulfured (original): use as written. Mild, sweet, the flavor most people expect from a molasses cookie.
- Dark or robust: works 1 for 1. Darker cookies with a slightly bitter, coffee-like edge.
- Blackstrap: much less sweet and quite bitter. Swap no more than half of the ¼ cup, or the cookies taste medicinal.
- Sulfured: fine in a pinch, but it can leave a faint chemical note. Unsulfured tastes cleaner.
Molasses clings to the cup. Grease the ¼ cup measure first, or measure it right after the butter, and it slides out clean. Otherwise you can lose a tablespoon on the sides, and the cookies come out paler and less chewy.
Melted vs Softened: Which Gives More Chew?
This recipe uses ¾ cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled. I have made these cookies both ways. Melted butter gives a denser, chewier cookie and mixes in with a spoon in a minute. Softened butter that gets creamed with the sugar traps air, so the cookies come out thicker, puffier and closer to cake.
If you like soft and chewy, stay with melted. If you want a taller cookie with deep cracks, the molasses crinkle cookies use a chilled dough that holds its height. Either way, let melted butter cool until it is warm, not hot, before the egg goes in. Hot butter makes a shiny, loose dough that spreads into thin cookies.
Stirring the Dough by Hand
Stir the melted butter and brown sugar together until smooth. Beat in the egg, then the molasses and 1 teaspoon vanilla. The mixture should look glossy and even, like thick caramel, with no streaks of molasses.
Add the dry ingredients a little at a time and stir only until no dry flour shows. The dough will be thick and slightly sticky, a bit like soft play dough. If it feels greasy or slumps in the bowl, the butter was too warm. Put the bowl in the fridge for 15 to 20 minutes and it will roll cleanly.
Rolling the Balls in Sugar
Scoop heaping tablespoons of dough and roll them into smooth balls between your palms. Then roll each one in a shallow dish of granulated sugar until it is coated on every side, not just pressed on top. That full coat is what turns into the sparkly, crisp shell that cracks.
Set them about 2 inches apart on parchment. They spread to roughly double their width, so 12 to a standard sheet is about right.
How Long to Bake Molasses Cookies
Bake soft molasses cookies at 350°F for 9 to 11 minutes. They are ready when the edges look set and dry, the tops are crackled, and the centers still look soft and a little underdone. Start checking at 9 minutes.
Leave them on the sheet for 5 minutes, then move them to a rack. They firm up during that rest. One extra minute in the oven is the difference between a cookie that bends and one that snaps. If you make bigger cookies than a heaping tablespoon, add a minute or two and look for the same set edges.
Flat, Cakey or Hard Molasses Cookies
- Flat and greasy: the butter went in hot, or the kitchen is warm. Chill the dough 15 to 20 minutes before rolling.
- Puffy and cakey: too much flour. Spoon it into the cup and level it instead of scooping straight from the bag.
- Hard the next day: baked a minute too long, or stored uncovered. Pull them earlier and keep them in a sealed tin.
- Smooth tops with no cracks: old baking soda or a thin sugar coat. Use fresh soda and roll each ball fully.
Keeping Them Soft All Week
Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. I often bake them a day ahead, because the spice flavor gets a little deeper overnight. A slice of sandwich bread in the tin keeps them soft; the cookies pull moisture from it.
To freeze, layer baked cookies between parchment in a sealed container. Thaw at room temperature, and if you want the chew back, warm them for a few minutes in a low oven. For a sweet and salty version, sprinkle a small pinch of flaky sea salt on each ball just before baking.
They are good with strong coffee or black tea. On a cookie tray they sit well next to brown sugar maple cookies, snickerdoodles and chocolate crinkle cookies. For the holidays, the same molasses and spice show up in gingerbread crinkle cookies and cut-out gingerbread men.
Baking With Molasses: Reader Questions
Do molasses cookies need to be chilled?
Not this recipe. The melted butter dough rolls straight from the bowl. Chill it for 15 to 20 minutes only if it feels greasy or your kitchen is warm.
Why are my molasses cookies not soft?
They were most likely baked too long. Take them out at 9 to 11 minutes while the centers still look underdone, and store them airtight once cool.
Can I use honey or maple syrup instead of molasses?
You can, but you lose the dark color, the deep flavor and some of the crackle, because neither is as acidic as molasses. You get a different cookie. For a maple one, bake maple brown sugar crinkle cookies instead.
Molasses Cookies Recipe
These soft molasses cookies are chewy spice cookies made with melted butter, brown sugar, unsulfured molasses, cinnamon, ginger and cloves, rolled in sugar for crackled tops. The dough is stirred by hand with no mixer and no chilling, and the cookies bake at 350°F for 9 to 11 minutes, so a batch of about 24 cookies takes around 25 minutes. Two teaspoons of baking soda react with the molasses so the cookies puff, settle and crack. Pull them while the centers still look underdone to keep them soft and bendy. Bake them for cookie boxes, holiday cookie trays, lunch boxes, or with coffee and tea. Dark molasses works 1 for 1. They keep 5 days airtight and freeze well.
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1 cup packed brown sugar (light or dark)
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup unsulfured molasses
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- Extra granulated sugar (for rolling)
Instructions
- PREHEAT THE OVEN: Set the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper to prevent sticking and ensure even baking.
- MIX THE DRY INGREDIENTS: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt. Set the bowl aside for later use.
- COMBINE BUTTER AND SUGAR: In a large mixing bowl, stir together the melted butter and brown sugar until the mixture is smooth and fully blended.
- ADD WET INGREDIENTS: Beat in the egg, then stir in the molasses and vanilla extract until everything is well incorporated and the mixture looks uniform.
- INCORPORATE DRY INGREDIENTS: Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, stirring just until no dry spots remain. The dough will be thick and slightly sticky.
- FORM COOKIE DOUGH BALLS: Scoop out tablespoon-sized portions of dough and roll each into a ball using your hands for even shaping.
- ROLL IN SUGAR: Roll each dough ball in a shallow dish of granulated sugar until evenly coated on all sides for a crisp, sweet exterior.
- PLACE ON BAKING SHEET: Arrange the sugar-coated dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart to allow for spreading.
- BAKE THE COOKIES: Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, or until the edges look set but the centers are still soft. The tops should appear crackled. Avoid overbaking to maintain a chewy texture.
- COOL THE COOKIES: Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Let the melted butter cool until just warm before adding the egg; hot butter makes the dough spread thin. If the dough feels greasy or your kitchen is warm, chill it for 15 to 20 minutes before rolling.
Use unsulfured molasses. Dark molasses works 1 for 1; blackstrap is bitter, so replace no more than half.
Use fresh baking soda for crackled tops.
Take the cookies out when the edges are set and the centers still look soft; one extra minute makes them dry.
For a sweet-and-salty twist, sprinkle a small pinch of flaky sea salt on each cookie just before baking.
Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, or freeze between layers of parchment.
