If there is one cookie I have to bake every holiday season, it's these molasses crinkle cookies. These crackly topped cookies are cozy, festive and a holiday family favorite.
These chewy cookies are full of warm spices like cinnamon, ginger, and cardamom and deeply flavored with toasty molasses and caramel-y brown sugar.
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Why You'll Love These Cookies
- These cookies are soft and chewy, with crisp edges.
- They are egg free and can be made gluten-free by replacing the flour with a gluten free baking blend.
- Easy to follow recipe with step by step instructions and photos.
Ingredients
These are some of the key ingredients for this recipe. For a full list of ingredients and quantities, check out the recipe card below.
Spices - Cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom and cloves
Unsalted butter
Brown sugar - light or dark
Molasses - Choose a dark molasses but do not use blackstrap molasses as it is very intense and bitter.
Recipe Instructions
Before beginning the recipe, preheat the oven to 350F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. For this recipe, you will need a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, or an electric hand mixer, and a 1 oz/2 tablespoon cookie scoop.
- Whisk together flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cardamom, and cloves in a medium bowl.
- In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter, brown sugar and molasses.
- Beat in the hot water.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture.
- Beat until just combined.
- Scoop the dough into portions with 2 tablespoon cookie scoop.
- Roll the scoops into balls and roll in granulated sugar.
- Press down on the cookie to flatten slightly with the bottom of glass or measuring cup. Bake for 12-15 minutes.
Baking Tips
- Properly measure your ingredients. Baking with a scale is always recommended as it is the most accurate way to measure ingredients and create a consistent recipe. But if you're not using a scale, you want to spoon and level your flour. Fluff up the flour a bit with a spoon, as the flour sort of settles as it sits. Spoon the flour into the measuring cup so that it is overflowing. Use the back of a knife to level it off, taking care to not pack flour into the measuring cup.
- When the cookies come right out of the oven, scoot around them in circular motion with a large round cookie cutter. This will help give the cookies a perfect round shape.
Storage and Freezing
Store the baked cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
To freeze the dough, after scooping the dough into balls, refrigerate to firm up the dough. Place the dough balls into a freezer bag, or airtight container and place in the freezer for up to three months. Defrost the cookies in the fridge then roll in sugar before baking.
Recipe FAQs
Switch out the flour in this recipe for a gluten free baking blend. My preferred gluten free flour is Cup4Cup.
These are even more amazing dipped in white chocolate.
Really increase the ginger flavor by adding chopped crystallized ginger.
More Cookie Recipes to Try
Recipe
Molasses Crinkle Cookies
Ingredients
- 1½ cups all purpose flour
- 1¼ teaspoons cinnamon
- 1¼ teaspoons ginger
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon cardamom
- ⅛ teaspoon cloves
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed (light or dark)
- ⅓ cup molasses
- 2 teaspoons hot water
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cardamom and cloves.1½ cups all purpose flour, 1¼ teaspoons cinnamon, 1¼ teaspoons ginger, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt, ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg, ⅛ teaspoon cardamom, ⅛ teaspoon cloves
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the butter, brown sugar and molasses. Beat on medium speed until lightened and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature, ½ cup brown sugar, packed (light or dark), ⅓ cup molasses
- Beat in the hot water.2 teaspoons hot water
- On low speed, beat in the flour/spice mixture until just combined.
- Scoop the dough with a medium size/2 tablespoon ice cream scoop onto prepared baking sheets.
- Roll the scooped dough into balls.
- Roll the dough balls in the granulated sugar to coat. Place on the prepared cookie sheets, leaving 2" between the cookies.¼ cup granulated sugar
- Use the bottom of a measuring cup or the bottom of a glass to flatten the cookies slightly.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the edges look set and the tops cracked.
- Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Lourdes Somohano says
If the cookies don't crack on the top after 15 minutes does it mean that I did something wrong with the recipe?
Thanks
Ashley says
Hi Lourdes! No not at all. Sometimes the cookies crack when they're cooling, not while they're baking. I hope you loved them! Ash xx