Soft Molasses Cookies

White plate filled with molasses cookies.

Soft Molasses Cookies are chewy drop cookies that are lightly spiced and rolled in sugar. Popular for the holidays, these soft molasses drop cookies are filled with seasonal flavors like cinnamon, cloves, and ginger.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Resting Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Servings cookies

Calories 120kcal

Author Heather

Ingredients

¾ cup unsalted butter room temperature
¾ cup brown sugar
1 large egg
¼ cup molasses
2 ¾ cups all purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ cup turbinado sugar or granulated sugar, for rolling

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

In a large bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Add eggs and molasses, stirring to fully incorporate.
In a separate bowl, whisk (or sift) together the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, and ground ginger.
Gradually stir dry ingredients into butter mixture until just combined.
Cover bowl or wrap dough in wax paper. Chill for at least 1 hour (up to 24 hours) in the refrigerator. Refrigerating will help the flavors meld and also create a firmer dough to roll into balls.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Remove dough from refrigerator and allow to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes. Scoop dough using a 1.5 tablespoon scoop or shape by hand into 1.5 inch balls.
Add turbinado sugar to a small bowl. Gently roll balls in sugar to coat. Place cookie dough balls 2 inches apart onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake for 10-11 minutes, then allow to cool for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

Your cookies will keep for 5-7 days in a sealed container. To help keep cookies fresh, you can place a slice of bread in the container with the cookies. Replace the bread slice as needed.
You can keep raw cookie dough in the refrigerator for 3 days.
Cookie dough balls (and baked cookies) freeze well, up to 3 months in a sealed plastic container or freezer bag. Allow frozen balls to thaw for up to 10 minutes on the baking sheet before baking, or add 1-2 minutes to the baking time.

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