During the holidays, I love having a spiced cookie in my rotation. Usually, I turn to these giant ginger snap cookies, which are a family favorite. This year, I decided to work on getting a molasses cookie recipe just right.
In Chicago, we have a cafe called First Slice Pie Cafe, which is an impressive combination of bakery, cafe, weekly food delivery, and community outreach organization. They use some of the funds they make selling their food through their cafes and meal programs to feed hundreds of meals each week to people in need.
At the register of the cafe, they have a display of individually wrapped cookies that are easy to grab on impulse. Their molasses cookie is irresistible. Even when I give myself a pre-cafe pep-talk, “just get a coffee, no sweets today, nothing extra, just a latte…” the giant molasses cookie ends up in my hand, on my receipt, and in mouth almost every time.
I’ve been trying to replicate the First Slice Pie Cafe molasses cookie and have not managed to do that yet, however, this batch of cookies had the right combination of spices and I am happy enough with it to call my recipe testing quits for now. Perhaps some day I’ll see if Judy at First Slice will give me her recipe.
This difference in molasses cookie recipes tends to be the mix of the spices used. This recipe does not have cardamom or nutmeg but I did use a half teaspoon of ground clove, which I love. Before baking the cookies, I rolled them in powdered sugar to give them a “snowy” look for the holidays. With some batches, the cookie dough soaked up the powdered sugar during baking so it barely showed up. I experimented with coarse granulated sugar and that added a nice texture to the outside. Either option works!
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Chewy Spiced Molasses Cookies
- Prep Time: 45
- Cook Time: 12
- Total Time: 57 minutes
- Yield: 24 1x
Description
Warmly spiced molasses cookie recipe with ginger, cinnamon, and clove. A perfect cookie to add to your holiday cookie platter!
Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup dark (not light or blackstrap) molasses
1 large egg
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Combine the flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, salt and baking soda in a bowl and mix to combine.
In a separate bowl, cream the butter, sugars, and molasses together on medium speed until smooth.
Add the egg and beat until smooth.
Stir in the flour and spice mixture just until combined.
Place the bowl in the refrigerator for the dough to firm up (30 minutes to overnight).
Roll dough into 1 inch balls, roll them in powdered sugar or coarse granulated sugar if desired, and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone liner.
Bake for 10-12 minutes until edges are firm but center is still soft.
Cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet and then remove to a cooling rack.
Store in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
To freeze cookie dough balls: put the cookie dough balls in the freezer before you roll them in sugar. When you want to use them, remove them from the freezer, roll them in the sugar if desired, and bake them immediately. Add 1-2 minutes to the time, checking for doneness on the edges when baking.