Old-Fashioned Soft Molasses Sugar Cookies

Warmly spiced and perfectly sweet, these molasses cookies will disappear fast!

Several molasses sugar cookies on an ivory plate, with one cookie broken in half and set in the middle to show the tender interior of the soft and chewy cookies.

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!

stack of four old-fashioned ginger molasses cookies, with the top cookie broken in half to show the interior.

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
Seven molasses crinkle cookies on a cream-colored plate, with one cookie broken in half in the middle.

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.

shortening, sugar, molasses, and egg mixed together in the bowl of a stand mixer

Combine dry ingredients. In a separate mixing bowl, you’ll add the dry ingredients, then whisk them together.

Dry ingredients for molasses cookies mixed into a metal bowl.

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.

Cookie dough for easy homemade molasses cookies.

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.

A ball of molasses cookie dough in a dish of sugar for rolling.

Transfer to a prepared baking sheet and pop in the oven.

Twelve rolled balls of molasses cookie dough on a baking sheet, ready to be baked.

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.

Freshly baked molasses cookies on a baking sheet.

Once they’re mostly cooled, they’re ready to enjoy with a tall glass of milk, or to be given as a holiday gift!

Molasses cookies made with shortening on a Christmas cookie platter.

More Delicious Cookie Recipes:

Yield: Approx. 30 cookies

Old-Fashioned Soft Molasses Sugar Cookies

stack of four molasses sugar cookies, with the top cookie broken in half to show the soft inside.

These soft and chewy molasses cookies will disappear fast!

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 9 minutes
Additional Time 5 minutes
Total Time 24 minutes

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

  1. Preheat oven to 325F and line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine granulated sugar and shortening. Mix to combine.
  3. Add molasses and egg, mixing well until light and fluffy.
  4. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, baking soda, and salt.
  5. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing only until combined and a soft dough forms.
  6. 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).
  7. Bake for 9-11 minutes, until edges are just starting to turn golden-brown. Remove from oven.
  8. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

30

Serving Size:

1

Amount 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.

Want more delicious recipe ideas?

Check out even more mealtime inspiration on my Pinterest boards!

a stack of four soft and chewy molasses cookies, with the top cookie broken in half to show the soft interior.

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