Name: Chewy Old-Fashioned Molasses Cookies with Ginger
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 2 h 30 min
Yield: 36 cookies
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 cups All-Purpose Flour; 1/2 tsp Ground Cloves; 1/2 tsp Ground Ginger; 2 tsp Baking Soda; 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon; 1/2 tsp Salt; 3/4 cup Vegetable Oil; 1 cup Granulated Sugar, plus extra for rolling cookie dough balls in; 1/4 cup Full Flavor Molasses, I used the Brer Rabbit brand; 1 Large Egg, room temperature

Old-fashioned Super Soft Molasses Cookies are a homemade classic packed with bold molasses, ginger, and cinnamon flavor. They're soft and chewy inside, with a crackly top rolled in sugar, and they're a fall and holiday favorite that fits right into any cookie swap!

Molasses cookies randomly placed on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

These molasses cookies are one of my all-time favorite cookie recipes. They're seriously soft and chewy, perfectly flavored with molasses, ginger, and cinnamon, and lightly rolled in granulated sugar for a sweet crunch!

They're an easy-to-make holiday favorite that stays soft for days and tastes fantastic! Add them to your must-make holiday baking list, and don't forget them for your next cookie swap!

If you love this recipe, check out my Chocolate Shortbread, Holiday Slice and Bake Cookies, and Classic Spritz Cookies. They'd also be great in holiday cookie tins!

Where Does Molasses Come From?

Molasses is a common sweetener in baking and cooking, and it's also stirred into coffee or oatmeal. It comes from sugar cane or sugar beets, which are boiled down into syrup. Once the sugar crystals are removed, what's left is dark molasses!

Molasses comes in light/mild, full/dark, and blackstrap. Light/mild is the lightest and sweetest of the three. Full/dark is thicker with a stronger flavor, which makes it great for recipes like this one. Blackstrap is the thickest and has no sweetness, so you'll usually find it in savory dishes.

What You'll Need

The ingredients in the image below go into these soft and chewy ginger molasses cookies. The bulleted items are the key ones that need more explanation.

Ingredients in various size bowls labeled as ground cloves, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, salt, baking soda, all purpose flour, full flavor molasses, egg, vegetable oil, and granulated sugar on a white marbled background.

Ground Spices. Ground cinnamon, ground cloves, and ground ginger round out the flavors in these molasses cookies. I love the ground Vietnamese cinnamon from King Arthur, but honestly any brand will work fine.
Full Flavor Molasses. My go-to is Brer Rabbit. If you don't have full-flavor molasses, light or dark flavor will work, but I don't recommend blackstrap because it has no sweetness.
Vegetable Oil. You can also use coconut oil. I recommend Carrington Farms unflavored coconut cooking oil. I haven't tested this swap, but you can use melted, cooled butter in place of the vegetable oil at a 1:1 ratio.
Granulated Sugar. It goes into the cookie dough and is also used for rolling the cookies.

For quantities and instructions, see the recipe card below.

Molasses cookies randomly placed on different size ceramic plates with a glass of milk in the background.

How to Make the Recipe

Here's a short overview of how to make these incredibly soft molasses cookies. For the full printable recipe, which works with US customary or metric measurements via the toggle switch, see the recipe card below.

Whisked all purpose flour, ground cloves, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, and salt in a glass mixing bowl on a white and grey marbled background.

Step 1. Whisk together the all-purpose flour, ground cloves, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, and salt.

Vegetable oil, sugar, molasses, and an egg whisked together in a glass mixing bowl on a white and grey marbled background.

Step 2. Whisk the vegetable oil and sugar together. Add the molasses and egg and mix until well blended.

Molasses cookie dough in a glass mixing bowl on a white and grey marbled background.

Step 3. Combine the dry ingredients with the wet ones. The dough will be very soft and a bit mushy.

Chilled molasses cookie dough in a glass mixing bowl covered with plastic wrap on a white and grey marbled background.

Step 4. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours.

Cookie scoop filled with molasses cookie dough over a bowl of molasses cookie dough in a glass mixing bowl.

Step 5. Scoop the dough into balls with a 1-tablespoon cookie scoop.

Ball of molasses cookie dough rolled in sugar in a small glass bowl on a white and grey marbled background.

Step 6. Roll each dough ball in a small bowl of sugar. Place them 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Baked molasses ginger cookies on a parchment paper lined baking sheet on a white and grey marbled background.

Step 7. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 375ºF. The cookies should have a sparkly, crinkled top and golden-brown edges.

Molasses ginger cookies cooling on a wire cooling rack on a white and grey marbled background.

Step 8. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then move them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Storage and Freezing Instructions

Molasses cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

To freeze molasses cookie dough, chill the dough, then roll it into 1-inch balls, but skip rolling them in sugar. Set them on a parchment- or wax paper-lined baking sheet and freeze until solid. Move the frozen dough balls to a well-sealed freezer bag. They'll keep for up to 3 months. When you're ready to bake, roll them in sugar and add 1-2 minutes to the baking time.

Parchment paper lined baking sheet with randomly placed molasses ginger cookies.

Helpful Tips

Measuring sticky molasses. Sticky ingredients are tricky to measure, so lightly spray the inside of your measuring cup with baking spray. The molasses will slide out much more easily when you pour it into the mixer.
Don't skip chilling the dough. Chill it for at least 2 hours, or until you can easily form it into 1-inch balls. If it isn't chilled properly, things can get pretty messy.
Use a cookie scoop. For more evenly sized cookies, use a 1-tablespoon cookie scoop. A regular spoon works fine too.
Shape the cookies. This is optional, but if your cookies come out flatter than you'd like or you want them to match in size, you can reshape them! Check out my Salted Brownie Cookies recipe to see how.

Common Questions

What is a good substitute for ground cloves?

If you don't usually keep ground cloves on hand, you can use ground nutmeg instead.

Can I freeze molasses cookie dough?

Yes! Follow the recipe up to the point where you chill the dough. Roll it into 1-inch balls, but skip rolling them in sugar. Set them on a parchment- or wax paper-lined baking sheet and freeze until firm. Move the frozen dough balls to a well-sealed freezer bag. They'll keep for up to 3 months. When you're ready to bake, add 1-2 minutes to the baking time.

If you tried this Super Soft Molasses Cookies recipe or any other recipe on my site, please leave a star rating and let me know what you thought in the comments below. Thanks for stopping by!