Homemade soft molasses cookies with crackly tops are super chewy and perfectly spiced. They stay seriously soft for days—if they last that long—and are always a holiday favorite.
Molasses cookies have always been my top choice because they bring me right back to my childhood. I grew up helping my mom bake them. After rolling the dough in the sugar and watching them bake through the little oven window, my sweet reward was biting into a warm cookie fresh from the oven. In addition to the nostalgia, the soft texture paired with cozy molasses puts them above any other cookie.
Sorry, chocolate chip cookies, you don’t even compare.
Molasses Cookie Comparison
Since they’re a favorite, I have plenty of gingersnap/molasses cookie recipes on my website and in my cookbooks. Most stem from the same-ish recipe with the exception of the crisp variety. Let’s review what makes each one individually and undeniably delicious:
- Soft White Chocolate Chip Molasses Cookies: Studded with white chocolate chips, these cookies are lusciously soft and mega chewy. You’ll love the combination of cozy spices and white chocolate.
- Soft Gingersnap Molasses Cookies: These extra soft cookies are fat and fluffy!
- Ginger Pistachio Cookies: I add salty pistachios to my mom’s classic recipe. These ginger molasses cookies are soft, salty, sweet, and spiced. Find this recipe in Sally’s Cookie Addiction cookbook.
- Crisp Molasses Cookies: Another favorite! These are extra crisp. If you’re looking for a crunchy molasses cookie, this one’s for you—they actually snap when you break them!
- Chocolate Ginger Cookies: These are an elevated twist to our classic molasses cookies. You’ll appreciate the added cocoa flavor and how they are beautifully finished with dark chocolate and crystallized ginger.
If I had to choose, I would always reach for my mom’s recipe that lives in Sally’s Baking Addiction cookbook. Nothing compares to mom’s.
What Makes These Molasses Cookies Different?
Another molasses cookie recipe? Yes! These cookies are different from my other varieties and here’s why: they’re soft, crackly, and chewier than all the rest. I used my traditional soft gingersnap molasses cookies recipe as a starting point (the cute puffy ones!). My goal was to produce a flatter, chewier cookie with the same amount of softness. To accomplish this, I used the same ingredients but slightly altered the ratios:
- Flour: I reduced the flour considerably to yield a flatter cookie.
- Baking Soda: To avoid a super flat and overly greasy cookie, I increased the baking soda. Need that lift!
- Spices: Same amount. This careful blend of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves is exactly what every molasses cookie needs!
- Butter, Brown Sugar, Egg, + Vanilla: Same amounts. Brown sugar is what helps produce the softest molasses cookie ever. (In fact, it’s the first thing I changed when making my crisp molasses cookies.)
- Molasses: Make sure you’re using unsulphured or dark molasses, but do not use blackstrap because it is too intense for these cookies.
Mission accomplished. These cookies are mega chewy, mega soft, and mega crackly!
Which Molasses Do I Use?
There are varying intensities of molasses on store shelves from lighter molasses to blackstrap molasses. Go for an unsulphured or dark molasses, also sold as “robust” molasses. Blackstrap molasses can be quite intense—I don’t bake with it too often.
I’m not working with any of these companies, but I prefer Grandma’s, Brer Rabbit, or Wholesome brands. Wholesome’s organic molasses is super dark, so it will make your cookies a little darker. Look how dark it makes my spiced gingerbread loaf. As opposed to the same recipe as a cake (gingerbread cake) made with Grandma’s brand. What a difference in color!”
How to Make Soft Molasses Cookies
- Whisk the dry ingredients together.
- Combine the wet ingredients together.
- Mix the wet and dry ingredients together.
- Chill cookie dough. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Roll cookie dough into balls. Use about 1 Tablespoon of dough per cookie.
- Generously roll each cookie dough ball in granulated sugar. For sparkle, of course!
- Bake. The cookies will puff up as they bake then gently sink back down. This is what creates those familiar crinkles and crackles we love. If your cookies aren’t cracking, gently bang the cookie sheet on the counter 2–3x which will help those warm cookies spread and crack on top. See recipe direction #5.
This is a wonderful make-ahead recipe because the cookies stay seriously soft for days (if they last that long!).
Sally’s Cookie Palooza
This recipe is part of my annual cookie countdown called Sally’s Cookie Palooza. It’s the biggest, most delicious event of the year! Browse dozens of cookie recipes over on the Sally’s Cookie Palooza page including:
- Chocolate Butter Cookies
- Easy Cookie Icing
- Peanut Butter Blossoms
- Lemon Crinkles
- Gingerbread Cookie Bars
and here are 75+ Christmas cookies with all my best success guides & tips.
Seriously Soft Molasses Cookies
- Prep Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 30-32 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These seriously soft molasses cookies are the most tender and chewy gingersnap cookies around!
Ingredients
- 2 and 1/4 cups (281g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup (80ml) unsulphured or dark molasses (do not use blackstrap; I prefer Grandma’s brand)
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Rolling
- 1/3 cup (67g) granulated or coarse sugar, for rolling
Instructions
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt together until combined. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and both sugars together on high speed until creamy and combined, about 2 minutes. Add the molasses and beat until combined. Then add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- On low speed, slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined. The cookie dough will be slightly sticky. Cover dough tightly with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour and up to 2–3 days.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. (Always recommended for cookies.) Set aside.
- Remove cookie dough from the refrigerator. If the cookie dough chilled longer than 2 hours, let it sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. The cookies may not spread in the oven if the dough is that cold. Roll cookie dough, 1 Tablespoon each, into balls. Roll each in granulated sugar and arrange 3 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake for 11–12 minutes or until edges appear set. If the tops aren’t appearing cracked as pictured, remove the baking sheet from the oven and gently bang it on the counter 2–3x. This will help those warm cookies spread out and crack on top. Return to the oven for 1 additional minute.
- 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.
- Cookies will stay fresh covered at room temperature for 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 2–3 days. Baked cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature, if desired, before serving. Unbaked cookie dough balls (before rolling in sugar) will freeze well for up to 3 months. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes, preheat the oven, then roll in granulated sugar. Bake as directed. Read my tips and tricks on how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Cooling Rack
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
Slightly frustrated momentarily with the video instructions, but thrilled with the results. I did my own little test on my first batch regarding the “ mine didn’t crack” posts.. I honestly wasn’t wild about the thought of cracking a hot baking sheet on my counter thinking cookies would be sliding around crashing into each other… so….after dropping a few dough balls measured out of my small release scoop, and rolling them into those perfect little balls, I thought maybe that’s why they don’t crack… rolled to tight? I did the rest by letting the loosely scooped dough fall into my hand and rolling it in the sugar not worrying about the perfectly round ball… they weren’t perfect cute balls, but they cooked out perfectly round, perfectly flat and perfectly cracked! Yahoo!!! I love baking again… mystery solved for me… also… I had to reduce the size of some of my balls… they have to be smaller than my small scoop.. I could tell they would cook too big and run into the neighbor. Packing the dough into the scoop defeats the purpose of keeping the dough loose so it can crack. The pictures are deceptive.. the balls look so big, but your directions only said 1Tbs of dough per ball. I love reading everyone’s remarks.. they made me think. Delicious cookies and so fun! Addicted to baking and these cookies!
Just made these I used dark sorghum molasses turned out pretty darned good hubby and I ate 6 already
Hi, I’m wondering if this recipe would work as 6 “giant” cookies like in your chocolate chip cookie recipe? Would anything need to be adjusted besides bake time to be able to make these a larger size? Thanks!
Hi Sarah! We haven’t tested these cookies in a giant size so can’t say for sure. You may want to try baking them at a slightly lower temperature (325°F) like we do with our 6 giant chocolate chip cookies recipe. Let us know if you give it a try!
I made these for our church coffee hour. They were delicious. People wanted the recipe and I told them it was a high altitude cookie recipe as well as being so good. I referred everyone to your site. We are at 7,000 feet. Thank you!!
These are seriously the best cookies I’ve made in a long time. Without a doubt they came out super soft and chewy. The only change I made was using 1-1 gluten free flour. And the only thing I wish it has more of was that molasses flavor. I saw many complain about the lack of cracking in the tops of the cookies but mine came out perfectly cracked.
This recipe is definitely going into the keeper box! Can’t wait to try more from this site.
Has anyone tried omitting the ginger? Since these are basically soft ginger cookies (snaps). I was looking for more of a true molasses cookie. I thought leaving out the ginger might achieve that.
Hi! I love your blog! I was wondering, how long do YOU put the cookies in the freezer for? Just wanted to know, thanks!
Hi Lili, We freeze cookies all the time for up to three months! You might find the post, How to Freeze Cookie Dough, helpful to see exactly how we freeze both cookie dough and baked cookies.
Delicious! However mine did not crack on top.
How wouldyou make these bar cookies?
Hi Shannon, you can definitely use this cookie dough for cookie bars. A 9×13 inch pan would be best. We’re unsure of the exact bake time. Let us know what you try!
I made these vegan replacing the egg with a chia egg (1 tbsp chia seeds, 2 1/2 tbsp water, sit 5 min), and using vegan butter (Earth Balance).
They turned out wonderful!
They cracked nicely when i slapped them with one of those paper thin metal spatulas. I felt too clumsy to do the cookie sheet slamming thing.
Help! I’ve developed a cinnamon allergy! How can I modify this recipe to get a similar taste?
Hi Rachel! You can leave out the cinnamon and play around with adding some more of the other spices to make up for it. Let us know what you try!
I have baked these cookies a few times, and it seems that every time mine spread out very flat, and end up with tiny holes in the tops rather than the smooth tops with cracks like in your pictures? What am I doing wrong? Could it be over/undercreaming the butter? Maybe they aren’t cold enough? Would really appreciate some help!
Hi Eric, it sounds like your butter may have been too soft/warm to begin with. That’s usually a culprit for overspreading cookies. Also, chilling for longer than the recommended hour should also help for next time. Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try!
Hi Sally! So, still in process of making them, but my husband, toddler, and myself tasted from the first batch. They are sooooooo good!! I didn’t have ground cloves and accidentally added the nutmeg as the amount of cinnamon, but all is amazing still! Thank you for this recipe!
How is this cooki different than the soft gingersnap recipe?
Hi MD, the soft gingersnap cookie was actually the inspiration for this cookie! Those are softer, fatter, and fluffier. If you take a look at the section titled “What makes the molasses cookies different?” you can see all the ways Sally modified the recipe for these cookies. Let us know if you give them a try!
These have become my new favorite cookie!! I added a dash of cayenne pepper to the rolling sugar mix and we absolutely loved it.
Can anyone tell me approximately how many calories are in each cookie. Just curious
Hi Barbara, We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp
I made a batch of these this morning. My mum and dad always like to have cookies with their tea at lunch. Mum said they are as good as my aunties recipe. My auntie just turned 101.
Hi, wondered if I could double this recipe. Thank you
I’d like to try and bring out the molasses flavor. Why suggestions?
Hi Tammi, There are varying intensities of molasses. We use unsulphured molasses but you can reach for a darker variety. Black strap molasses is the most robust in terms of flavor.
Ok, the flavor was great and the extra crunch with the course sugar was really nice. Thanks for that tip. However, I did not get the crackled top at all. Tapping the pan with the first batch didn’t do anything. On the second batch, I pressed the dough a little before baking and then tapped the pan about a minute before the bake was finished and still no crackles. The second batch was slightly flatter than the first but still too tall and spongy (and I did spoon and level the flour).
I was looking back through the ingredient list and I think (not quite sure) that I may have forgotten the baking soda. Would that have prevented the cookies from spreading more?
Hi Steve! Yes, the baking soda will help the cookies rise and crack while baking. That could definitely be the issue. Hope they’re still delicious!
Ginger makes this a ginger molasses cookie, not a true molasses cookie (a recipe for which I’d love to find). As the name would imply, a ginger snap is by nature a crispy cookie, so anything other would be a ginger cookie or soft ginger cookie.
That said, this is certainly a nice recipe. I added about of an inch of minced fresh ginger (I should have upped the powdered to a full Tbsp as well) but otherwise changed nothing. The cookies baked nicely, kept their shape, and had a lovely texture and a mild flavor of ginger, with only a hint of molasses. The sparkling sugar I used gave them a nice crispy surface texture. I’d make this again.
These are delicious! I made them to take to league night, now if I can keep my husband and I from eating them all first … even the dog won’t leave them alone, he just stands there staring at the counter where they are cooling and whines and barks at them. LOL they are German-Rat approved!
At first these wouldn’t spread so I decreased the amount of flour. It worked although they don’t crack as much as they do in your photos but they are delicious and the texture inside is incredible.
For me, a cup of spooned leveled flour is about 3/4 cup of flour just scooped out. So I used 1 3/4 c flour the second time around, just scooped out because I was feeling lazy.
Hi Ann, we’re glad you enjoyed these! You’re correct — when cookies aren’t spreading, it means that there’s too much dry ingredient (flour) soaking up all the liquid. Spooning and leveling (or measuring by weight, if possible) is the best way to ensure consistent results. For more, see “What to do if my cookies AREN’T spreading?” under #2 in our post 5 Cookie Baking Tips to Improve your Next Batch.
These cookies are amazing! I didn’t have cloves, so I skipped that (I don’t love cloves anyway) but otherwise followed the recipe to a T. I had to do the countertop trick to get them to really crack at the top and it worked perfectly. Yum!
Very disappointed with this recipe, no matter what I do the cookies will not spread out. I’ve tried this recipe several times now and each time is the same result. Never using this recipe again.
Hi Sarah, When cookies aren’t spreading, it means that there’s too much dry ingredient (flour) soaking up all the liquid. Make sure you are properly measuring your flour. When measuring flour, use the spoon & level method. Do not scoop the flour out of the container/bag. Doing so leaves you with excess flour in the cookie dough. If banging the pan doesn’t work you can use a spoon to slightly flatten them out if needed.
Very well pleased with this recipe. I followed it exactly and the cookies were delicious and looked great. I made a maple drizzle for them too and I will say maple is a perfect flavor buddy for these. Next batch I make I’m gonna try increasing slightly the molasses as I prefer a little more molasses flavor but i really dont like a strong molasses taste either so hope i can hit it just right. Again, loved these cookies!
These were super soft and delicious! The sugar adds a nice textural element. Love this recipe. Thanks!
Hi Sally,
Thanks for yet another wonderful recipe. We love molasses gingersnap/gingerbread cookies and I have been searching for a recipe that would fit the bill with just the right amount of spice. This is it! I made a half batch (just 2 of us and the recipe divides perfectly) and they came out beautifully. I did have to bang the tray as described but ended up with the desired result. Great texture. Even better, they are still soft and chewy a week later! My husband has already asked me to make them again (soon!). Thank you Sally for doing all the hard work perfecting these recipes so that we can reap the rewards at home.
Made these many times and they are always perfect. All your cookie recipes havre been keepers
The cookies taste pretty good but they didn’t really spread out at all in the oven, even though the dough wasn’t cold…not sure what went wrong but it was definitely disappointing.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who had this problem. I haven’t tasted mine yet because they’re special cookies so I’m not sure about the flavor. But yeah, I followed the instructions to a tee, only left the dough in the fridge for an hour and they didn’t spread at all. They DID crack so I didn’t have to bang the tray. A bit disappointed that I ended up with puffy cookies! LOL
I’m going to add some grated ginger to mine. They may spread out more with the added liquid
Giving this 5 stars in advance because Sally hasn’t let me down yet. Any advice for how to adjust this recipe for high altitudes? I’m at about 5,000ft elevation and I haven’t found a cookie recipe that works for me.