Molasses cookies for those who need chewy quarantine comfort. Yes, if you eat a lot of these you will gain weight but it’ll all come off when the gyms reopen sometime in the distant future. So enjoy and be at one with your molasses based love handles!
The Prep
The great thing about these cookies (besides the fact that almost everyone likes them) is that they’re easy and fast. I simplified the spice list by calling for pumpkin pie spice, similar to “cake spice” (which can also be used) providing a variety of flavor in one convenient location which you then just top off with ginger and a little optional grated nutmeg.
This is a conventional molasses cookie recipe except for one little tweak. That would be stirring in the white sugar at the end. By not creaming it with the molasses, brown sugar and egg you will end up with some caramelized crunch in the finished product, a bit like my Bourbon Balls.
Another thing to remember is to use Grandma’s Molasses or something like it. Blackstrap will be too bitter and will overwhelm the spices. You could also substitute Steen’s Cane Syrup which has the same consistency.
Once you’ve got everything at room temperature just follow the prompts below. After the cookies come out of the oven, bang the sheet on the counter to form those camera ready cracks, let cool and store in a cookie tin.
- 1⁄2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup packed brown sugar (light or dark)
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1⁄2 cup molasses*
- ½ cup white sugar
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour**
- 1⁄2 tsp baking soda
- 1⁄4 tsp salt
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- ½ tsp fresh ground nutmeg***
- 1⁄2 cup powdered sugar for rolling
- Preheat the oven to 325°F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or foil; set aside.
- Cream the butter and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl until light in color and smooth. Beat in the egg, then the molasses.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, & spices. Add all at once to the butter mixture, stirring until thoroughly blended, then stir in the granulated sugar just until combined. Adding the white sugar last gives it a bit of extra chewy crunch.
- Use a small ice cream scoop or two teaspoons to shape the batter into balls. Roll the balls in the powdered sugar to coat and place them on the cookie sheets, 2 inches apart. Gently press down on the cookies with the palm of your hand to flatten.
- Bake until the cookies have puffed up and appear set at the edges, 12 to 15 minutes. Hold the tray about an inch above the counter top and drop it. This will produce the crackle top. Let cool on the trays for a couple of minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- Let cool completely if you are packing them in a cookie tin. If they have any residual heat the pretty white powdered sugar will melt into the cookie and no longer be visible. It won't affect the taste only the appearance.
- These keep for a week if you can keep yourself from eating them all at once...
**Cake flour also fine.
***optional but recommended.