Soft & Chewy Molasses Gingerdoodles — These soft molasses cookies taste like a cross between chewy gingerbread cookies and crinkly snickerdoodles. An unbeatable holiday cookie recipe!
Soft Molasses Cookies Recipe
I combined three favorite cookies into one — soft molasses cookies, chewy gingerbread cookies, and crinkly snickerdoodles. That way I didn’t have to choose among favorites because I love them all. And I loved these ginger molasses cookies more than I should have. I couldn’t keep myself away from them.
I used my recipes for Soft Molasses Coconut Oil Crinkle Cookies and The Best Snickerdoodles as the jumping off point. I absolutely adore soft molasses cookies that have rich, deep, bold molasses flavor and the cookies deliver. The molasses flavor profile dominates.
There’s plenty of cinnamon, ginger, and warming spices in the dough, as well as a cinnamon-sugar coating, creating a very well-spiced cookie that packs tons of flavor in a pillowy, crinkly little package.
The cookies are super soft in the center with slight chewiness around the edges, and I always underbake slightly to ensure they stay soft for days. If you like crunchier cookies, bake them longer.
The flavor of the cookies improves and enhances in the day or two after baking. Everything just blends together beautifully, but it’s very hard for me to save any that long. They’re my new favorite molasses cookies.
What’s in Soft Molasses Cookies?
To make these soft and chewy molasses cookies, you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter
- Dark brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Egg
- Unsulphered molasses
- Vanilla extract
- Spices
- Salt
- All-purpose flour
- Cornstarch
- Baking soda
- Cream of tartar
How to Make Soft Molasses Cookies
To make these ginger molasses cookies, you first need to cream together the butter, sugars, and egg. Add in the remaining wet ingredients and the spices, then mix in the dry ingredients.
Scoop the molasses cookie dough into balls, then chill for at least 3 hours before baking. Once chilled, roll the cookie dough in a generous amount of cinnamon sugar.
Bake the soft molasses cookies until the edges have set and the tops have crackled. Don’t overbake for soft cookies (I bake mine 8 to 8 1/2 minutes and they’re extremely soft and a touch underdone but firm up in time; for crispier cookies, bake longer).
Can I Omit the Cornstarch?
If you need to omit the cornstarch due to an allergy, that’s fine. Your molasses cookies won’t be quite as soft, but they should be delicious regardless.
Can I Omit the Cream of Tartar?
Probably not if you want them to have a great pillowy texture. I have only made them as written though and cannot say for sure what will happen if you omit it.
Can I Make These Gluten-Free?
I’ve only made these soft molasses cookies as written, so I’m not sure if you can make these with a gluten-free flour blend. If you try it out, please leave me a comment below letting me know how they turn out.
Tips for Making Soft Molasses Cookies
I used dark molasses in these soft and chewy molasses cookies because I really love the intensity of it, but use your favorite. I think blackstrap molasses would be too strong, though.
Also note that if you prefer more mildly spiced cookies, you can halve the amounts of all spices used.
The dough is very soft and must be chilled before baking because chilled dough spreads less in the oven. Chilling also gives the flavors time to marry and the dough tastes better on the second or third day after it’s made. You can keep the dough in the fridge for up to 5 days before baking.
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Soft and Chewy Molasses Gingerdoodles
Ingredients
Cookies
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup dark brown sugar, packed (light brown sugar may be substituted)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- ⅓ cup unsulphered molasses, I used robust molasses (dark; light or medium may be used; blackstrap will likely be too pungent)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
Cinnamon-Sugar Coating
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 to 3 teaspoons cinnamon
Instructions
- For the Cookies
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or large mixing bowl and electric mixer) combine the butter, sugars, egg, and beat on medium-high speed until creamed and well combined, about 4 minutes.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the molasses, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, optional salt, and beat on medium-high speed until combined and smooth, about 1 minute.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, cream of tartar, and beat on low speed until just combined, about 45 seconds.
- Using a medium 2-inch cookie scoop, form two tablespoon mounds (I made 20). Place mounds on a large plate or tray, cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, up to 5 days. The dough is soft, mushy, limp, and isn’t suitable for baking until it’s been chilled. Do not bake with unchilled dough because cookies will bake thinner, flatter, and be more prone to spreading.
- Preheat oven to 350F, line baking sheets with Silpats, or spray with cooking spray; set aside.
- For the Cinnamon-Sugar Coating
- Add sugar and cinnamon to a small bowl and stir to combine.
- Roll each mound of dough through the coating, liberally coating all sides. After all mounds have been coated, I like to go back and double-dip each mound to get an extra-thick coating.
- Place coated mounds on baking sheets, spaced at least 2 inches apart (I bake 8 cookies per sheet).
- Bake for about 8 to 9 minutes, or until edges have set and tops are have crackled; don’t overbake for soft cookies (I bake mine 8 to 8 1/2 minutes and they’re extremely soft and a touch underdone but firm up in time; for crispier cookies, bake longer). Cookies firm up as they cool.
- Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for about 10 minutes before serving. I let them cool on the baking sheet and don’t use a rack.
Notes
- Cookies will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 6 months. Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 4 months, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.
- Adapted from Soft Molasses Coconut Oil Crinkle Cookies and The Best Snickerdoodles.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Molasses Recipes:
25 Holiday Cookie Favorites — The tried-and-true favorites are all here! If you need a holiday cookie recipe, this collection has you covered!!
Soft Molasses Coconut Oil Crinkle Cookies — No butter, no problem. One of my favorite molasses cookie recipes!
Molasses Triple Chocolate Cookies – Chocolate is used three times for a fun twist on the traditional. No mixer required!
Soft and Chewy Gingerbread Molasses Chocolate Chip Bars — Rich, chocolaty & like eating a piece of molasses fudge!
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies — Between the molasses, pumpkin pie spice, and pumpkin pie spice extract that I used, these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies beautifully showcase the flavors of fall!
Chocolate Gingerbread Toffee Cake – An EASY, no mixer cake that’s perfect for the holidays!! Chocolate and ginger are amazing together! The GINGER spiced whipped cream is the literal icing on this cake!!
Gingerbread Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting – Gingerbread bars are so much FASTER AND EASIER than making gingerbread cookies!! The sprinkles and tangy cream cheese frosting will put everyone in a festive mood!!
Originally published December 2014 and republished December 2019 with updated text.
These turned out perfect! Amazingly soft with the right amount of spiciness. Thanks for the recipe!
Glad they came out great for you and thanks for trying the recipe!
Push these happy cookies over the top by using coarse sugar instead of granulated. You won’t believe the difference. I always use the coarse sugar for my ginger snaps and they look like they have been glazed with ice. Great ginger snap.recipe I have developed using 1/4 cup of ground ginger plus tiny bits of finely chopped candied ginger. Wow-we-wow-wow-wow!!!
:)
Hi Averie, I made these tonight and couldn’t help myself from gobbling up a bunch –they are fantastic! They came out perfectly. I let the dough chill for 4 hours and baked for 9 minutes on parchment and they are perfection–they are going to be a huge hit with my molasses-cookie loving family this Christmas! I just discovered your blog through Pinterest and I’m a fan!
Thanks for finding me, trying the recipe, and so glad you’re happy and that the cookies came out perfectly! Merry Christmas!
Mine turned out flatter than pancakes! I chilled the dough overnight and baked for 10. Not sure where I went wrong….
I have a cookie tips post here. Silpat, King Arthur flour, etc. https://www.averiecooks.com/2014/02/the-best-soft-and-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies.html
Try these suggestions and I bet you won’t have flat cookies! That said, sorry these did turn flat for you and I hope you keep trying. If nothing else, you could add a little more flour to make the dough stiffer which will make them more prone to staying thick in the oven.
Hm, I usually use parchment so the silpat would be something to try. I could probably add more flour to make up for the lack of gluten by not using King Arthur. Thank you. :)
Parchment – I liken it to an ice skating rink for cookies; super slippery, slidey, and the cookies have no where to go but spread outward. Whereas a Silpat is tacky and it has traction and something for the cookies to grip onto and way less likely to spread. I encourage everyone to never bake on parchment for cookies. Just my (extreme) personal bias.
And with the higher gluten level in KA flour, it’s just insurance against flattening!
Hi Averie – I wanted to let you know that I made these for a Christmas brunch yesterday and they came out perfectly. I made the dough on Saturday and let it chill in the fridge overnight. I got 17 good sized cookies from the dough and baked for about 9 minutes. Got a ton of compliments and wanted to pass those on to you for the recipe!! :)
Love hearing great feedback and thanks for making these for your party and glad they were a big hit with tons of compliments – thanks for sharing!
These look absolutely incredible!! They look so soft and chewy, but they have just a perfect crackle on top. I could go for a plate of these right about now!
Thanks, Ashton! I loved these things wayyyy too much :)
You had me at molasses!
I love saying Gingerdoodles! I’m going to like it even more when I make these cookies. Thanks!
These gorgeous cookies definitely puts me in the holiday spirit!
Thank you :)
These look so good! Could you make them as bars?
Probably, although I haven’t tried. LMK if you do!
I’ve had soft ginger cookies. But never soft with the chewiness of a snickerdoodle! You’ve done a beautiful and brilliant thing here.
These cookies are genius. I love the idea of combining three cookie flavors into one. Yummy.
My family would go nuts for these cookies! So awesome!
YUMMM! this is too good to be true!!
3 cookies in one and three of my favorites! I have been compiling a Christmas cookie baking list. This has definitely made the list. I love molasses cookies, the hardest part about these is making sure I don’t eat them all and that they end up in the Christmas cookie pile. Thanks, I cannot wait to try them.
Averie,
These looks so good. I can’t wait to try them. Pinned.
I have a tendency to make cookies that are time consuming and hard to make. These would be a great addition that is much easier than most of my Christmas cookies.
Annamaria
Thanks for pining and yes, these are easy! A nice break from your usual it sounds like!