These perfectly spiced Molasses Spice Cookies are crunchy on the outside and perfectly chewy within! They taste like Christmas and Winter and happy memories.
I only ate 5 cookies 6 of these cookies while photographing them. I consider this to be a gigantic feat because these little guys are straight up addicting. Crunchy on the outside and perfectly chewy within.
They taste similar to gingerbread cookies but with a less cakey texture. They taste like Christmas and Winter and happy memories.
I’m supposed to be testing side dishes for Thanksgiving this year but when a mood for Molasses Spice Cookies hit, who can resist? Not this one.
Instead of Thanksgiving taste testing I did a little taste-test between traditional dark molasses and blackstrap molasses in these cookies. Blackstrap molasses has a distinct robust flavor that doesn’t tickle everyone’s fancy, Mr. AHC included. The cookies with Blackstrap were significantly darker. Observe…
And the blackstrap molasses kind of overpowers all the other flavors. I happen to like the flavor of blackstrap but I liked the ones made with the standard dark molasses better. I’m pretty sure you will too.
These little guys will crisp as they cool so it is super important that you don’t over bake them or you will be woefully disappointed. I took mine out right after the tops cracked but the centers were still soft. They will look underdone but don’t despair; they will be all the more delicious when they cool!
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Molasses Spice Cookies
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 24 1x
Description
These perfectly spiced Molasses Spice Cookies are crunchy on the outside and perfectly chewy within! They taste like Christmas and Winter and happy memories
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup granulated white sugar
- 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
- ½ cup unsalted sweet cream butter, softened
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons Saigon cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ginger
- ½ teaspoon cloves
- 1/8 teaspoon allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup molasses
- Turbinado sugar for coating the outsides (~1/3 cup)
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 375° and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk together flour, spices, baking soda in a medium bowl and set aside.
- Cream butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in a large bowl using your stand mixer or an electric hand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes.
- Beat in the egg yolk and vanilla until well combined. Beat in molasses until completely incorporated.
- Slowly add flour mixture until combined, mixing on low.
- Refrigerate dough for at least an hour. They were best after a 24 hour stint in the refrigerator.
- Roll 2 tablespoons of dough into balls and gently roll in the turbinado sugar. Place on cookie sheet 2 inches apart. In the case of these cookies, bigger is not better. They didn’t crack as nicely and they spread out and looked ugly.
- Bake at 375° for 8-11 minutes or until the tops crack and the centers still look under baked. Do not be tempted to leave them in the oven until the centers set unless you want gingersnaps.
Notes
Recipe adapted from America’s Test Kitchen.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
12 Comments
Consuelo @ Honey & Figs
November 16, 2013 at 4:31 pmThese molasses cookies look so fab that I think I would have eaten like 23 of them while taking the pics. I love them! ;D
Lindsey
November 16, 2013 at 5:50 pmWell I had to save some for the pics! lol! They are delish!
Kristi @ Inspiration Kitchen
November 16, 2013 at 4:34 pmLindsey, these cookies look amazing. I think I’d eat 5, no 6 (I agree with you!) too! I have never used Blackstrap molasses, but I’ve read a lot about it. I”m so glad you covered both of them here. I love being able to see (and hear!) about the difference. These are definitely cookies I’d make – they look amazing! So glad to have found your site. I’m a new follower!
Lindsey
November 16, 2013 at 5:48 pmI’m so glad you found me too! Don’t think I didn’t eat several more the next day too! Blackstrap molasses is super intense. I have another cookie recipe that I’ll post soon that uses it successfully.
Kayle (The Cooking Actress)
November 16, 2013 at 4:40 pmSO YUMMY! I just know these TASTE like Christmas mmmm
Lindsey
November 16, 2013 at 5:49 pmThey sure do! I figured since Thanksgiving is late this year, why not start Christmas baking early?
Dina
November 17, 2013 at 6:28 pmthey look delish!
Lindsey
November 17, 2013 at 11:12 pmThanks! They definitely are!
Miss Kim @ behgopa
November 18, 2013 at 7:03 pmI think I was having issues when commenting on your last post.
I was just thinking about cookies and came by your site lol. It’s one of them days of having a sweet tooth. These look so holiday-licious (if that is a word lol).
Lindsey
November 18, 2013 at 8:57 pmI’m so sorry! I was wondering where you went! I’ve been having a spam epidemic and have been trying new things to fix it. Hopefully you aren’t having a problem now!
These cookies are totally holiday-licious! That is my new favorite word! I say, if Charles Dickens & Jane Austen can make up words, then so can I! 😉
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