Warmly spiced, deeply flavoured molasses cookies with a crinkled sugar exterior, soft chewy interior, and the complex ginger-cinnamon heat that makes them the most addictive cookie of the autumn and winter season.
About This Recipe
Ginger molasses cookies are the cookie equivalent of a warm blanket — spiced, deeply flavoured, and possessed of a warmth that goes beyond temperature into something more elemental. The molasses, which darkens both the colour and the flavour of the dough, provides a bittersweet complexity that white sugar simply cannot. Combined with three forms of ginger — ground, fresh, and crystallised — the result is a cookie with layers of flavour that reveal themselves over the course of eating.
Molasses is the ingredient that most people under-use in home baking, often out of unfamiliarity. It is the thick, dark syrup produced as a byproduct of sugar refining, and its flavour is simultaneously sweet, bitter, and mineral — not simply sweet, but complex in a way that transforms everything it touches. In these cookies, it produces a dough that smells extraordinary when mixed, fills the kitchen with an intense caramel-spice fragrance during baking, and produces a cookie that tastes considerably more sophisticated than a simple spiced cookie has any right to.
The three-ginger approach is worth the effort of sourcing all three forms. Ground ginger provides the warm, gentle heat and familiar spice character. Fresh grated ginger provides a bright, sharp top note. Crystallised ginger, folded in as chunks, provides chewy pockets of intensely gingery sweetness throughout the cookie. Each form of ginger contributes something different and together they produce a genuinely complex, layered flavour.
History & Origins
Ginger has been used in baking since the medieval period, when it was among the most prized spices in European cooking. Gingerbread in various forms has been made across Europe for centuries. The specific American format of a soft, molasses-based ginger cookie became popular in the 19th century and was a standard feature of American home baking through the 20th century. The combination of molasses with spices reflects the historical connection between the American spice trade, the sugarcane industry, and the development of a distinctly American baking tradition.
Why It’s Easy To Make
Widely available ingredients. Molasses is available in most supermarkets. One bowl recipe with no complex technique.
Ginger Molasses Cookies
Course: Baking, Cookies20
servings12
minutes1
hour30
minutes2600
kcalIngredients
•t175g unsalted butter, softened
•t200g brown sugar
•t80ml molasses
•t1 large egg
•t1 tsp vanilla extract
•t1 tbsp fresh ginger, finely grated
•t300g plain flour
•t2 tsp ground ginger
•t1 tsp cinnamon
•t0.5 tsp cloves
•t0.5 tsp bicarbonate of soda
•t0.5 tsp salt
•t80g crystallised ginger, finely chopped
•tWhite sugar for rolling
Directions
- Beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add molasses, egg, vanilla and fresh ginger. Beat until combined.
- Mix in flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, bicarbonate of soda and salt until just combined.
- Fold in crystallised ginger.
- Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 180°C. Line trays with baking paper.
- Roll into balls the size of a large walnut. Roll in white sugar to coat.
- Place on trays and bake for 10 to 12 minutes until the edges are set and the tops are crackled.
- Cool on tray for 5 minutes.
Notes
- Chilling the dough is important with this recipe as the molasses makes it sticky and difficult to handle at room temperature.
Roll in sugar generously — the white sugar coating against the dark cookie creates a beautiful visual contrast.
These cookies should look underdone when pulled from the oven. Overbaking produces a hard, dry cookie.
The flavour deepens significantly on the second day, making these one of the best make-ahead cookies.
Make Ahead Tips
Dough keeps refrigerated for up to 5 days and the flavour improves throughout. Roll in sugar and freeze dough balls for 3 months. Baked cookies keep for 7 days and improve over the first 3 days.
Storage & Serving
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 7 days. These are one of the longest-lasting cookies due to the moisture from the molasses. They are significantly better on day 2 and 3 than fresh from the oven. Freeze for 3 months. These are one of the best cookies for gifts and holiday cookie boxes as they stay fresh, transport well, and the flavour continues to develop.
Variations & Substitutions
Add black pepper to the spice mixture for extra warmth. Replace crystallised ginger with dark chocolate chunks for a chocolate ginger version. Add orange zest alongside the fresh ginger. Make them into sandwich cookies by filling two with cream cheese frosting or lemon curd for a spectacular, grown-up cookie sandwich.
