Usually Nellie makes the recipes around here. She comes up with ideas like Ginger Apple Cookies and Butternut Cake, figures out how to make them, and then wows everyone with how delicious the recipes are. I mean, who doesn’t love a sugar-free Butternut Cake? But once in awhile (a very rare while), I actually have a recipe to contribute. Like this molasses cookie recipe.
We are big fans of the molasses cookie around here.
They might actually top the list of favorite cookies for most of us in the family, but we’re kind of particular about the kinds we eat. When we eat a molasses cookie, we want it to be rich and gooey and ridiculously dark. We don’t ever want to wonder if we’re eating a spice cookie or ginger cookie; we want to taste molasses, and taste it well. In this batch of cookies Levi was the second taste-tester verifying there was plenty of molasses flavor.
And finding a recipe for a molasses cookie that meets those requirements is not as easy as you would think. Hundreds of recipes out there, but very few with the richness we look for. So I found a very basic recipe and tinkered with it. These molasses cookies are the result.
When you make this cookie, it is absolutely vital that you chill the dough long enough.
Because there’s so much yummy molasses in the batter, the batter is very sticky when you first make it. That doesn’t roll well or cook the way you want it to. But if you chill the dough until the stickiness is gone, at least 2 hours, it will be easy to roll into balls and will cook perfectly in your oven.
Also, don’t be afraid to change the size of your cookies. We made pretty big ones because we love giant cookies, but you could make much smaller ones and the recipe would still work just fine. Be sure to expect less cooking time and not to let them burn!

Ingredients
- 3/4 cup butter melted
- 1 cup white sugar + 1/2 cup white sugar for rolling
- 1 egg
- 3/4 cup molasses increase to 1 cup for extra molasses flavor
- 2 cups flour
- 2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix together melted butter, 1 cup sugar, and egg.
- Mix in the molasses. Do not over-mix.
- Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
- Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients.
- Cover and chill dough for at least 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 375.
- Roll dough into golf ball sized balls.
- Roll them in the remaining sugar.
- Place cookies 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. A darker cookie sheet will work best.
- Press on the cookies to flatten them out slightly.
- Bake 8-10 minutes, or until the tops are slightly cracked.
- Cool on a wire rack if you have one (or just take them off the pan fairly quickly after they come out of the oven).
- Note: Depending on the cookie sheet you use, the bottoms will sometimes burn. Prevent this by placing the cookie sheet on the top rack, or putting parchment paper on the cookie sheet before the cookies.
Sorry, we’ll fix that. It actually means anywhere between 3/4 of a cup to 1 cup. It’s based on your preference.
Your recipe says “3/4-1 cup molasses.” Is this 3/4 of 1 cup, or 1 and 3/4 cups?
Pretty close, Leanne, one letter off. Levi is pretty adorable, isn’t he!
Eli is it? You make me smile with your happy grin and your cool guy glasses. I’m going to make these cookies just because you are “selling” it with your enthusiasm.