Ginger Molasses Cookies

Ginger Molasses Cookies– These are the thickest, fluffiest ginger molasses cookies you’ll ever eat. They’re soft and slightly chewy around the edges and filled with warm, spicy-sweet flavor–they’re so incredibly delicious.

These ginger molasses cookies are actually the exact recipe that I meticulously tested and sold for my home bakery a couple years ago around Christmas-time. I sold them at a holiday market and they were super popular!

They’re made with a simple, classic cookie dough and ingredients ideal for thick, gourmet cookies, like cold butter and bread flour. This cookie dough develops wonderful flavor and texture while being chilled in the freezer (worth the wait!).

The spotlight is on the warm, cozy flavors of ginger, molasses, and other sweet, warm spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves in these cookies. They bake up beautifully thick and tall and are perfect for your holiday cookie exchanges and Christmas parties!

Why you’ll love this recipe:

• The thickest, fluffiest ginger molasses cookies
• Incredibly spicy-sweet with warm, cozy ginger & molasses
• Dough chills in freezer–make ahead or save some for baking later
• Perfect for holiday cookie exchange parties

Ingredients

• Salted butter: Salted butter is my favorite for cookies. A little salt makes a big difference in a sweet, sugary cookie!
• Granulated sugar: Granulated sugar provides structure, sweetness, and makes these cookies soft and tender.
• Brown sugar: Light brown sugar also helps with the structure, sweetness, and tenderness. Since it has molasses added to it, it only deepens that sweet, caramelized flavor in these molasses cookies.
• Molasses: The star of the show in this recipe. Molasses helps give that wonderful caramel-y, deep flavor, but also helps these cookies become a little chewy. There are different kinds of molasses, but the one that I always use is Grandma’s brand from Walmart.
• Eggs: Eggs help bind the ingredients and provide the perfect richness.
• Vanilla Extract: Use 100% pure extract if you can, since it will give you a stronger, sweeter vanilla flavor.
• Bread flour: Bread flour is my secret weapon for giving cookies AMAZING texture and height. It’s higher in protein content, so it helps to make a denser, “dough-ier” cookie.
• Baking soda & baking powder: Leavening agents to help those cookies rise.
• Salt: Again, a sweet cookie needs a little salt to balance everything out and bring out the sweet flavors.
• Spices: Cinnamon, cloves, and ginger are three warm, sweet spices that elevate the cozy factor in these cookies.

Equipment

• Large glass mixing bowl
• Handheld mixer
• Kitchen scale
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Quarter and half sheet pans
• Parchment paper
• 1/2 cup cookie scoop – go-to for BIG cookies

How to Make Ginger Molasses Cookies

1. Cream the butter, sugars, and molasses. Mix these together with a handheld mixer on medium-low speed until creamed together, or about two minutes.
2. Add the egg and vanilla. Mix on low until smooth and slightly thicker.
3. Add the bread flour, baking powder, soda, salt, and spices. Measure the bread flour accurately (by spooning and leveling into a measuring cup OR by weighing on a kitchen scale). Sprinkle the remaining ingredients over top this as evenly as possible. Mix on low until the dough comes together and is very thick.
4. Roll into dough balls. Portion into eight dough balls, each about a half cup (or 150 grams). Roll each of the dough balls in sugar.
5. Chill in freezer. Place the dough in the freezer for at least 2 hours, overnight ideally.
6. Bake at 350˚F. Bake the cookies on two separate parchment lined sheet pans for 18-20 minutes. The cookies will appear underdone, but pull them. They will be perfectly soft, fluffy, and slightly chewy. Let them cool for at least 30 minutes before enjoying.

Notes & Tips

Tips for Success

1. Start with cold butter. One of the tricks for keeping these cookies tall and thick is to use cold butter. Only heat the butter just enough to make it workable for creaming with the sugars. Cold butter helps prevent the cookies from spreading.
2. Weigh the flour. Flour is so easily over-measured by scooping into measuring cups. The best way to ensure perfect cookies is to weigh the flour with a kitchen scale. If you do not have a kitchen scale, make sure you lightly spoon the flour into the measuring cup, then level it off with a butter knife before adding to the dough.
3. Don’t skip the chill time. I’ve found that chilling cookie dough results in superior cookies (compared to no chill). This will help develop the flavor, reduce spread, and improve texture. I like to chill in the freezer as it helps keep the tall, thick shape better than just in the refrigerator.
4. Don’t over-bake. It’s really easy to over-bake these cookies since they will look under-done. Trust me and pull them after 18-20 minutes. They’ll continue to bake and set after being pulled and they’ll be the perfect texture–soft and fluffy.

Storage

These ginger molasses cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days. Beyond that, store them in the refrigerator or freezer. If frozen, thaw at room temperature for about 30 minutes before enjoying. These cookies can be frozen for up to three months.

Tip for freezing cookie dough:

This cookie dough can be made ahead just about as far in advance as you need. Get an early start on Christmas cookie baking or just keep some dough on hand to pull out and bake later. I like to only bake a few cookies at a time, keeping the rest of the dough balls in the freezer and ready to bake for when I need them in a pinch.

Other Cookie Recipes You Might Like…

• Red Velvet Cream Cheese Chip Cookies
• Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies
• Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cookies
• Mini M&M Cookies
• Honey Butter Cornbread Cookies

Print Recipe

5 from 3 votes

Ginger Molasses Cookies

These giant ginger molasses cookies are the thickest, fluffiest ginger molasses cookies you'll ever eat. They're soft and slightly chewy around the edges and taste like a warm hug with the cozy flavors of ginger, molasses, and sweet spices. This is an incredibly delicious take on a classic holiday cookie that everyone is sure to love!

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Chill Time2 hours hrs

Total Time2 hours hrs 40 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: bakery style cookies, christmas cookies, ginger molasses cookies

Servings: 8 cookies

Author: Kate Reeder

Ingredients

• ¾ cup salted butter cold, cubed
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ⅓ cup molasses
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 ½ cups bread flour (spooned and leveled) 585 grams
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp ground ginger
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• ~⅓ cup granulated sugar for rolling

Instructions

• In a large glass mixing bowl, warm the cold, cubed butter in the microwave in 10 second increments until just softened (about 30-45 seconds total).
• Add the sugars and molasses. Use a handheld mixer on medium-low speed to cream together, about two minutes.
• Add the eggs and vanilla and mix on low until the mixture becomes smooth and slightly thick.
• Add the bread flour (measured correctly), then sprinnkle over evenly the baking soda, baking powder, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Mix on low speed until the dough comes together (it may seem crumbly at first, but keep mixing and it will come together). The dough should be very thick and not sticky.
• Portion the dough into 8 balls. Each dough ball should be about a half cup, or weigh about 150 grams. Roll each dough ball between your palms to smooth and shape it into a perfect sphere.
• Roll each dough ball in sugar, then place on a small quarter sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Chill dough in the freezer for two hours, or overnight if possible.
• Preheat oven to 350˚F. Prepare two sheet pans with parchment paper. Place four cookies on each pan.
• Bake cookies for 18-20 minutes. They will stay very tall and will look underdone, but they are ready to be pulled. Do not over-bake.
• Let cool before enjoying or storing.

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