The Best Soft Ginger Molasses Cookies

These soft ginger molasses cookies are truly “the best”: featuring ginger, cloves, and cinnamon, a touch of molasses, and a delightfully chewy texture.

Typically Alex and I love to make desserts that are on the lighter side, even if it involves adding non-traditional items like black beans. So this holiday season, we set out to find some light / healthy cookie recipes. Somewhere along the line, we learned a crucial lesson: sometimes, cookies aren’t meant to be healthy. We had lots of failed cookie experiments over the past few weeks. Turns out, ripe bananas or apple sauce don’t exactly equal butter and sugar. And there’s something about the texture of a cookie that’s very hard to replicate without the magic of butter.

How to make ginger molasses cookies

So while we found one healthier cookie we liked (and one tasty healthyish dessert), we now bring to you — our perfect soft ginger molasses cookies! And these ginger molasses cookies have the traditional white flour, butter, and sugar. If you enjoy a reasonably whole foods diet most of the time, it’s always good to have a splurge or two, especially around the holidays.

The perfect splurge for us is a ginger molasses cookie. We were terribly excited to create this recipe, because it’s everything we’re looking for in a cookie — amped up with aromatic spices like ginger, cloves, and cinnamon, with a tinge of dark molasses, a delightfully chewy texture, and a crunch of turbinado sugar. We did use natural turbinado cane sugar, a slightly less processed version of sugar than white sugar, which brings a nice sweetness without being overpowering. Overall, these ginger molasses cookies are it: our perfect cookie.

Looking for gluten free or vegan desserts instead?

Looking for gluten free desserts or vegan desserts instead of these cookies? Try some of these options:

• Peppermint Ice Cream and Hot Cocoa Affogato
• Gingerbread Dough Truffles
  
• Raw Brownies
  
• Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
• Dark Chocolate Coconut Ice Cream
• Easy Peppermint Stick Ice Cream
• Natural Chocolate Mint Pudding
• All gluten free desserts!
• All vegan dessert recipes!

Looking for Christmas cookie recipes?

Aside from this soft ginger molasses cookies recipe, here are a few of our favorite Christmas cookie recipes:

• Soft Gingerbread Cookies
• Peppermint Meringues
• Chai Spiced Snowball Cookies
• Ginger Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches
• Shortbread Cookies with Chocolate Drizzle
• Cherry Quinoa Chocolate Bark
• Healthy Peanut Butter Buckeye Balls
• Narwhal Gingerbread Cutout Cookies
• Gingersnap Sandwich Cookies
• Cranberry Pistachio Chocolate Clusters
• Easy Peppermint Bark

This recipe is…

This best soft ginger molasses cookies recipe is vegetarian.

Best Soft Ginger Molasses Cookies

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(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

5 from 2 reviews

• Author: A Couple Cooks
• Prep Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 10 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
• Yield: 24 cookies 1x

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Description

These soft ginger molasses cookies are truly “the best”: featuring ginger, cloves, and cinnamon, a touch of molasses, and a delightfully chewy texture.

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Ingredients

• 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¾ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• ¾ cup turbinado raw cane sugar
• 1 large egg
• ½ cup molasses
• Extra sugar for rolling

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Instructions

1. In a bowl, add 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground ginger, 1 teaspoon allspice, ½ teaspoon ground cloves, and ½ teaspoon kosher salt. Mix well to combine.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer (or with a hand-mixer), beat together 3/4 cup butter and 3/4 cup turbinado sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
3. Add 1 egg and 1/2 cup molasses and mix to combine. Then stir in the dry ingredients. Refrigerate the batter 1 hour.
4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375°F.
5. Roll the dough into 1 ½” balls, then roll the balls in turbinado sugar to coat the outsides. Arrange on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake in oven until set and crinkled on top, about 10 to 12 minutes (around 10 minutes for smaller cookies and 12 for larger). Remove from the oven and cool slightly.

Notes

Adapted from Food 52

• Category: Dessert
• Method: Baked
• Cuisine: American

Keywords: Ginger Molasses Cookies, Cookies, Ginger Cookies, Spices, Cinnamon, Cloves, Holiday, Baking, Baked, Ginger

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About the Authors

Sonja Overhiser

Cookbook Author and writer

Sonja Overhiser is author of Pretty Simple Cooking, named one of the best healthy cookbooks of 2018. She’s host of the food podcast Small Bites and founder of the food blog A Couple Cooks. Featured from the TODAY Show to Bon Appetit, Sonja seeks to inspire adventurous eating to make the world a better place one bite at a time.

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Alex Overhiser

Cookbook Author and photographer

Alex Overhiser is an acclaimed food photographer and author based in Indianapolis. He’s host of the food podcast Small Bites and founder of the recipe website A Couple Cooks. Featured from the TODAY Show to Bon Appetit, Alex is author of Pretty Simple Cooking, named one of the best vegetarian cookbooks by Epicurious.

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