Description
These Bakery Style Molasses Cookies are soft, chewy, and packed with warm spices like ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. Rolled in sugar and baked to perfection, they offer a delightful molasses-rich flavor with a crisp sugary exterior. Perfect for holiday treats or everyday snacking, these cookies are easy to prepare with simple pantry ingredients.
Ingredients
Scale
Dry Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Wet Ingredients
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup unsulfured molasses
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For Coating
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
Instructions
- Prepare Dry Ingredients: In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, ground ginger, cinnamon, and cloves to ensure the spices and leavening agents are evenly distributed. Set this dry mixture aside.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: Using an electric mixer on medium speed, cream the softened butter and brown sugar in a large bowl for about 2-3 minutes until the mixture becomes light and fluffy. This aeration helps create a tender cookie texture.
- Add Wet Ingredients: Beat in the egg, molasses, and vanilla extract to the creamed butter and sugar mixture until fully combined and smooth, which infuses the dough with moisture and deep flavor.
- Combine Wet and Dry Ingredients: Gradually add the dry ingredient mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing on low speed just until a soft dough forms. Avoid overmixing to prevent tough cookies.
- Chill the Dough: Cover the dough tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Chilling solidifies the fats and enhances the depth of flavors while controlling spreading during baking.
- Preheat Oven: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper to ensure the cookies bake evenly and don’t stick.
- Shape the Cookies: Using about 1 tablespoon of dough per cookie, roll the dough into balls. Then roll each ball in granulated sugar to create a sweet, slightly crisp coating. Place the sugar-coated dough balls on the baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart to allow room for spreading.
- Bake: Bake in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes. The cookies should look soft and slightly underbaked in the center when taken out; this ensures they remain chewy once cooled.
- Cool and Serve: Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes to firm up, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Serve and enjoy your freshly baked molasses cookies!
Notes
- Be sure not to overmix the dough to maintain a soft texture in the cookies.
- Chilling the dough is essential to prevent excessive spreading and to intensify flavors.
- You can substitute unsulfured molasses with regular molasses, but the flavor will be slightly different and potentially less rich.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.
- For a festive touch, add a sprinkle of coarse sugar or a drizzle of white chocolate after baking.
