Homemade soft molasses cookies with crackly tops are super chewy and perfectly spiced. They stay seriously soft for days—if they last that long—and are always a holiday favorite.
Molasses cookies have always been my top choice because they bring me right back to my childhood. I grew up helping my mom bake them. After rolling the dough in the sugar and watching them bake through the little oven window, my sweet reward was biting into a warm cookie fresh from the oven. In addition to the nostalgia, the soft texture paired with cozy molasses puts them above any other cookie.
Sorry, chocolate chip cookies, you don’t even compare.
Molasses Cookie Comparison
Since they’re a favorite, I have plenty of gingersnap/molasses cookie recipes on my website and in my cookbooks. Most stem from the same-ish recipe with the exception of the crisp variety. Let’s review what makes each one individually and undeniably delicious:
- Soft White Chocolate Chip Molasses Cookies: Studded with white chocolate chips, these cookies are lusciously soft and mega chewy. You’ll love the combination of cozy spices and white chocolate.
- Ginger Pistachio Cookies: I add salty pistachios to my mom’s classic recipe. These ginger molasses cookies are soft, salty, sweet, and spiced. Find this recipe in Sally’s Cookie Addiction cookbook.
- Crisp Molasses Cookies: Another favorite! These are extra crisp. If you’re looking for a crunchy molasses cookie, this one’s for you—they actually snap when you break them!
- Chocolate Ginger Cookies: These are an elevated twist to our classic molasses cookies. You’ll appreciate the added cocoa flavor and how they are beautifully finished with dark chocolate and crystallized ginger.
- Gingerbread Blossoms: Think of this recipe as a new take on these holiday-favorite spiced soft molasses cookies, with the chocolatey appeal of peanut butter blossoms. They capture so many of the things we love this time of year—warm spice; cozy molasses; a soft, chewy texture; and a melty chocolate kiss in the center.
If I had to choose, I would always reach for my mom’s recipe that lives in Sally’s Baking Addiction cookbook. Nothing compares to mom’s.
What Makes These Molasses Cookies Different?
Another molasses cookie recipe? Yes! These cookies are different from my other varieties and here’s why: they’re soft, crackly, and chewier than all the rest. I used my gingerbread blossoms recipe as a starting point. My goal was to produce a flatter, chewier cookie with the same amount of softness. To accomplish this, I used the same ingredients but slightly altered the ratios:
- Flour: I reduced the flour considerably to yield a flatter cookie.
- Baking Soda: To avoid a super flat and overly greasy cookie, I increased the baking soda. Need that lift!
- Spices: Same amount. This careful blend of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves is exactly what every molasses cookie needs!
- Butter, Brown Sugar, Egg, + Vanilla: Same amounts. Brown sugar is what helps produce the softest molasses cookie ever. (In fact, it’s the first thing I changed when making my crisp molasses cookies.)
- Molasses: Make sure you’re using unsulphured or dark molasses, but do not use blackstrap because it is too intense for these cookies.
Mission accomplished. These cookies are mega chewy, mega soft, and mega crackly!
Which Molasses Do I Use?
There are varying intensities of molasses on store shelves from lighter molasses to blackstrap molasses. Go for an unsulphured or dark molasses, also sold as “robust” molasses. Blackstrap molasses can be quite intense—I don’t bake with it too often.
I’m not working with any of these companies, but I prefer Grandma’s, Brer Rabbit, or Wholesome brands. Wholesome’s organic molasses is super dark, so it will make your cookies a little darker. Look how dark it makes my spiced gingerbread loaf. As opposed to the same recipe as a cake (gingerbread cake) made with Grandma’s brand. What a difference in color!
How to Make Soft Molasses Cookies
- Whisk the dry ingredients together.
- Combine the wet ingredients together.
- Mix the wet and dry ingredients together.
- Chill cookie dough. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Roll cookie dough into balls. Use about 1 Tablespoon of dough per cookie.
- Generously roll each cookie dough ball in granulated sugar. For sparkle, of course!
- Bake. The cookies will puff up as they bake then gently sink back down. This is what creates those familiar crinkles and crackles we love. If your cookies aren’t cracking, gently bang the cookie sheet on the counter 2–3x which will help those warm cookies spread and crack on top. See recipe direction #5.
This is a wonderful make-ahead recipe because the cookies stay seriously soft for days (if they last that long!).
This recipe is part of my annual cookie countdown called Sally’s Cookie Palooza. It’s the biggest, most delicious event of the year! Browse dozens of cookie recipes over on the Sally’s Cookie Palooza page.
Seriously Soft Molasses Cookies
- Prep Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 30-32 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These seriously soft molasses cookies are the most tender and chewy gingersnap cookies around!
Ingredients
- 2 and 1/4 cups (281g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup (80ml) unsulphured or dark molasses (do not use blackstrap; I prefer Grandma’s brand)
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Rolling
- 1/3 cup (67g) granulated or coarse sugar, for rolling
Instructions
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt together until combined. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and both sugars together on high speed until creamy and combined, about 2 minutes. Add the molasses and beat until combined. Then add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- On low speed, slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined. The cookie dough will be slightly sticky. Cover dough tightly with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour and up to 2–3 days.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. (Always recommended for cookies.) Set aside.
- Remove cookie dough from the refrigerator. If the cookie dough chilled longer than 2 hours, let it sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. The cookies may not spread in the oven if the dough is that cold. Roll cookie dough, 1 Tablespoon each, into balls. Roll each in granulated sugar and arrange 3 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake for 11–12 minutes or until edges appear set. If the tops aren’t appearing cracked as pictured, remove the baking sheet from the oven and gently bang it on the counter 2–3x. This will help those warm cookies spread out and crack on top. Return to the oven for 1 additional minute.
- Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Cookies will stay fresh covered at room temperature for 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 2–3 days. Baked cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature, if desired, before serving. Unbaked cookie dough balls (before rolling in sugar) will freeze well for up to 3 months. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes, preheat the oven, then roll in granulated sugar. Bake as directed. Read my tips and tricks on how to freeze cookie dough.
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Reader Comments and Reviews
These are delicious and were a huge hit with everyone. I actually thought they were a little too “butter forward” the first day, but the flavors melded together more as time went on. I froze them and whenever I pulled a batch out to have a treat or to give away- they were still perfect, like they had just been made.
Made these for the first time today and the texture is exactly what I was going for!! I often have spreading issues with my cookies (very warm kitchen) so I did chill them a couple of minutes on the pan after rolling them to make sure that didn’t happen.
My only complaint is that there’s nowhere near enough ginger in the recipe, but I’ll play around with it for next time – I might try subbing in grated ginger for the powdered, that usually pumps up the ginger taste!
Hey Sally!
Great site btw! I was wondering about tinkering with making a sweet potato ginger molasses cookies – not vegan or gluten free – but just adding some in there for some holiday fun and resourcefulness.. do you think I could play around with subtracting some butter and sugar from the recipe in order to have some positive results? I feel like the egg should stay where it is, yes?
Hi Sean, it’s worth playing around with this recipe. I would perhaps reduce the butter to 1/2 cup, increase the flour a bit, and add 1/2 cup of sweet potato puree/mashed plain sweet potatoes. I’ve never tested this, but that’s where I would start. You could try these pumpkin cookies and replace the pumpkin with sweet potato puree/mashed plain sweet potatoes. Not sure about adding molasses to that recipe though.
I made the first batch they seemed to not be very chewy the second batch I took off the cookie sheet out of the oven and put on cooling rack my husband said they were much more Chewier I have a home at 4,800 elevation I would like to use same recipe there any suggestions for baking at a high elevation? Thank you
Can you use coconut oil as a substitute for some of the butter? Has anyone tried this?
Hi Angela, We haven’t tested it but solid coconut oil should work.
These turned out really great. As recommended I used a kitchen scale to precisely measure the flour. The dough was quite sticky but putting in the fridge helped it firm up a lot. One thing I did change was subbing all of the spices for 1.5 teaspoons of cloves because I wanted only clove flavor. The end result was a beautiful soft cookie with some crispyness around the edges. I’m so happy with the result!
Hi Sally!
Just tried this recipe and my cookies didn’t spread very much and didn’t turn out very chewy. The taste was great though!! I refrigerated them for about 2-3 hours and let them rest at room temp for 30min before baking. While baking, I didn’t see many cracks so I tried banging the pan to get the cracks like you suggested, but that didn’t seem to help in my case. Where do you think I went wrong?
Hi Jasmine, When cookies aren’t spreading, it means that there’s too much dry ingredient (flour) soaking up all the liquid. Make sure you are properly measuring your flour. When measuring flour, use the spoon & level method. Do not scoop the flour out of the container/bag. Doing so leaves you with excess flour in the cookie dough. If banging the pan doesn’t work you can use a spoon to slightly flatten them out if needed.
Flavor was great but I was surprised that it was a bit more “cakey” then I thought it would be. Next time I make this recipe I will back of on the Baking Soda from 1-1/4 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon or maybe even a bit less. Also I made it with Pumpkin Spice and Ground Clove which was fine but next time I think I will have Ground ginger on hand so I can kick up that flavor a bit more than what the Pumpkin spice offered.
First time making this recipe tonight and I also ended up with a”cakey” cookie, despite being very careful to follow the directions to a T. I love a good chewy molasses cookie, so was a little disappointed. I may follow your lead and back off of the baking soda next time.
I found a different but similar recipe and again backed off on the baking soda and saw similar results on the first batch out of the oven. My action on the next batch into the oven was to back off on the baking time by a few minutes but more importantly I immediately flatten then with a spatula right out of the oven.
Those turned out exactly how I wanted them; a slight crunch on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside. Once fully cooled I stored them in an airtight container and they stayed that way until they were all consumed. In my home that was around 4 days and that was a 40 cookie batch! LOL
I made these cookies and they taste wonderful but mine were flat like pancakes and the dough was very gooey. I refrigerated the dough for an hour.
Hi Christine, To help troubleshoot flat cookies you can see these 10 Guaranteed Tips to Prevent Cookies from Spreading. I hope they help!
Love this recipe. I freeze them for our afternoon coffee. Our golden retriever stares at the freezer door until I take them out and give her a little treat. Lately I’ve been adding some black pepper for an extra kick. All of your recipes are great and family approved. Will have to mail some to the grandkids during this terrible time to make their day sweeter. Thank yiu
just made some.. they were gone in minutes.
Made these cookies exactly according to the directions, they were sooooo good. Only disappointment was they didn’t spread at all (only refrigerated for 30 minutes…cause I needed cookies sooner than later) they were just these little brown mounds of sweet and spicy goodness. Even removed from oven and banged as suggested, nothing. Didn’t affect their taste, we made two and half dozen and they were gone in three days. Anyways, on second batch even tried to gently press a few with a fork right out of the oven and they were so thick and chewy it would have taken a lot more pressure to flatten them than I was willing to give, so we at them as is (rounded) and they were delicious anyways. Sharing this recipe with my son, who’s granny always supplied him with store brand molasses and/or iced oatmeal cookies, he’s gonna be so happy with these.
Hi Sheila, I’m so glad you enjoyed these cookies! When cookies aren’t spreading, it usually means that there’s too much dry ingredient (flour) soaking up all the liquid. Make sure you are properly measuring your flour. You can see more about this in the post 5 Cookie Baking Tips to Improve Your Next Batch – see tip number two the section called “What if cookies AREN’T spreading?”
Just made these – wow! Heavenly. I used my Cookie Preset on my Wolf Convection Steam oven (which was 340 for 12 minutes) and they came out perfectly! Also rolled dough balls in turbinado sugar. Can’t wait to try freezing some of the cookie dough for next time.
I stored some dough in the freezer and saved it for the later months and it was still good!
Followed the recipe exactly – used blackstrap since it’s what I had on hand. Cookies over spread and were flat. Looked nothing like the pic and I’m not even mad about it lol they were what I wanted. Chewy and like a gingerbread cookie flavor but 100 times better. I’ve already had 5 and my mom and family love them! Thank you!
Really soft cookies and easy to make and ball up.
Great way to supplement iron!
My little one hasn’t liked a lot of typical ways to get iron, but when I made these with blackstrap molasses he dives right in! I substitute out the sugar except for the little bit it’s rolled in, and I’ve used various kinds of whole grain and nut flours and they’ve all been a hit. Thank you!
Seriously loved these molasses cookies. This is the only recipe I’ve found that makes soft, nicely rounded and very spicey cookies. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Wowsie! These tasted better than any bakery cookie I have ever had. I will be making these often. Thank you for all your wonderful recipes and the helpful tips you include.
Random pregnancy craving…. these hit it out of the park!!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Love these! Another traditional Christmas cookie in this household!
This recipe is my favorite for Christmas cookies. I’ve made them a few times and they’re always a hit.
These turned out perfectly. We subbed gluten free four 1 – 1 and viola! Deliciousness!
Thank you!
Thank you!
One more question, actually. If you decrease or omit the 1/4 cup granulated sugar that goes into the dough (since they’re rolled in sugar), do you think it would still turn out fine?
I usually make these at Christmas time but decided why not. They’re delicious Sally! I added another 1/4 teaspoon of ginger just to add even the more flavor but otherwise make them as written each time. Would give 10 stars if I could.
These cookies turned out very thick and cake like. The flavor was subtle. I was more looking for a goey flat cookie so I will keep looking.
OMG! This is the best recipe ever! So so so good!!
I made these cookies a couple days ago and they were so good!! I’m vegan so I used vegan butter and a flax egg and it was seriously yummy. I brought them into my work and we all ate them together.
Delicious Cookies! Followed recipe to a T and my family loved them!
These cookies are delicious! We love making this recipe and I wouldn’t change a thing. Taste is most yummy… Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Followed exactly. Cookies puffy, cake like and dry so I added more molasses to the remaining dough and it improved quite a bit. Flavor just okay. Thinking it needs to be a bit sweeter.