Warmly spiced and perfectly sweet, these molasses cookies will disappear fast!
Old-fashioned molasses sugar cookies are perfect for the holidays or any time of year!
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It’s no secret that I adore soft and chewy cookies. It’s how I think all homemade cookies should be. The soft texture gives them a bakery-style feel that makes them extra comforting.
Holiday cookies are no exception! It’s one reason why I make my Scottish shortbread cookies softer instead of crunchier.
Over the years, I’ve made various types of molasses cookies. Thin cookies that crisp up a good bit on the edges, crunchy gingersnap-type molasses cookies, and these soft and chewy molasses sugar cookies.
By far, these are my favorite!
An Easy Molasses Cookie Recipe
This recipe is quite easy to make, because I know you’re busy and don’t have time for complicated instructions.
A lot of molasses cookie recipes require the dough to be chilled prior to baking, but there’s no chilling required here!
The depth of flavor from the molasses pairs beautifully with the spices, and the sparkly sugar they’re rolled in makes them so lovely, almost like a molasses crinkle cookie.
Whether you need a classic, tried-and-true Christmas cookie recipe to take to a cookie swap, or you just want something to satisfy your sweet tooth on a regular Tuesday, this recipe is the ticket!
How to Make the Best Molasses Sugar Cookies that are Soft
I’m going to show you exactly how to make these pretty molasses sugar cookies the easy way!
Molasses behaves sort of like an invert sugar in baked goods, meaning it’s liquid instead of solid, so it helps keep baked goods soft.
Once the cookies bake and cool off, the sugar from molasses doesn’t recrystallize the same way regular sugar does.
Also, a trick to keeping the cookies soft is to not overbake them!
Ingredients You’ll Need:
- Vegetable shortening
- Sugar
- Molasses
- Egg
- All-purpose flour
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Ginger
- Cloves
- Baking Soda
- Salt
How to Make Molasses Sugar Cookies:
(Full printable recipe is available below)
Mix sugar and shortening. First, you’ll use an electric mixer to combine shortening and sugar. I use my stand mixer, but you can use a handheld mixer as well.
Add molasses and egg. Next, you’ll mix in the molasses and egg until the mixture gets light and fluffy.
Combine dry ingredients. In a separate mixing bowl, you’ll add the dry ingredients, then whisk them together.
Make the dough. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. You want to only mix until they’re combined into a soft dough.
Roll and bake. Scoop out dough by the Tablespoonful and roll in your hands to form a ball. Then, roll the ball in some plain white sugar.
Transfer to a prepared baking sheet and pop in the oven.
Cool. Once they’re out of the oven, let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
Once they’re mostly cooled, they’re ready to enjoy with a tall glass of milk, or to be given as a holiday gift!
Recommended Equipment:
More Delicious Cookie Recipes:
- Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Twix Cookies
- Bisquick Sugar Cookie Cutouts
- Soft & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Bakery-Style Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- Brownie Mix Cookies
- Walker’s Scottish Shortbread Cookies
- Cream Cheese Cookies
Old-Fashioned Soft Molasses Sugar Cookies
These soft and chewy molasses cookies will disappear fast!
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup vegetable shortening
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1 egg
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup sugar, for rolling cookies
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F and line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine granulated sugar and shortening. Mix to combine.
- Add molasses and egg, mixing well until light and fluffy.
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, baking soda, and salt.
- With the mixer on low speed, gradually add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing only until combined and a soft dough forms.
- Scoop out dough by the Tablespoonful, rolling in your hands to form a ball. Roll each ball in the 1/4 cup of sugar to coat, then place on the prepared baking sheet (12 cookies at a time).
- Bake for 9-11 minutes, until edges are just starting to turn golden-brown. Remove from oven.
- Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
30Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 125Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 9mgSodium: 129mgCarbohydrates: 18gFiber: 0gSugar: 11gProtein: 1g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated and is not guaranteed for accuracy.
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