If you love soft and chewy molasses cookies, try this molasses cookie recipe asap! Dark molasses, ground cinnamon, brown sugar, and ginger add flavor and warm spice! These cookies bake up chewy yet light and fluffy, and you can freeze the dough balls for up to 2 months! Roll in white sugar before baking and cool completely before digging in.

Need a Winning Molasses Cookies Recipe?

With Christmas just a few weeks away, I wanted to pop in and quickly share my recipe for chewy molasses cookies with you! These cookies are so festive and perfect for holiday celebrations or cookie parties. They taste just like the ginger molasses cookies we all know and love, but even better! Because they have a subtle bourbon flavor that’s to die for. I made a batch for a cookie swap last weekend and EVERYONE  wanted the recipe. Even the women who don’t typically have bourbon in their home said they would buy a bottle just to make these cookies. That’s when I knew I needed to share them with you!!

Molasses Cookie Recipe

Even if you’re not a huge fan of bourbon, I encourage you to give these molasses cookies a try!

Because the bourbon isn’t overpowering and it actually gives the cookies a subtle caramel flavor. It’s so DELICIOUS! Oh, and don’t worry about getting buzzed off of these cookies. There’s only 3 tablespoons of bourbon in the recipe and most of the alcohol bakes out while the cookies are in the oven! Unfortunately I don’t have any suggestions for substituting the bourbon, so if you can’t consume it, I suggest making my soft and chewy gingersnaps instead.

Do I need to Chill the Dough?

Please note, the cookie dough for this recipe needs to chill for at least 4 hours!

Like most recipes for molasses cookies, this recipe requires you chill your dough. This is important to know in advance so you can plan ahead time wise. But don’t let the chill time get you down! Because this cookie dough can be chilled for up to 72 hours. And scooped and frozen for up to 2 months! Just add an extra minute or two onto the bake time when baking from a frozen state.

Wet & Dry Ingredients (Updated)

• All-Purpose Flour: For the best results, you’ll want to weigh your flour with a digital scale. If your cookies are coming out too thin or too thick, it’s likely because you measured the flour incorrectly. A scale also let’s you measure the tablespoons of dough evenly!
• Baking Soda: Helps the soft and chewy molasses cookies spread in the oven! Don’t use baking powder in place of baking soda, as they’re not interchangeable ingredients.
• Warm Spices: Ground ginger, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, ground allspice and a tiny little pinch of finely ground black pepper. All these warm spices gives this molasses cookies recipe great flavor!
• Salt: Just a pinch helps balance the sweetness and enhance the warm spices and dark molasses flavor in these cookies.
• Unsalted Butter: Your butter should be room temperature, but not ultra soft or melted at all!
• Light Brown Sugar: But in a pinch, dark brown sugar will work just fine! I don’t suggest using white sugar in place of the brown sugar. As this will alter the taste and texture in this molasses cookie recipe.
• Vanilla Extract: Adds rich vanilla flavor and enhances all the other wonderful flavors in this recipe.
• Orange Zest: Finely grated orange zest adds amazing flavor!
• Eggs: Use large eggs and make sure they’re at room temperature before adding them to the cookie dough.
• Molasses: I don’t suggest using blackstrap molasses, as I find the flavor too dominant. But if you’d like to use them, go for it.
• Bourbon: An optional ingredient, but makes the cookies have exceptional flavor!
• Granulated Sugar: We roll the cookies in white sugar to give them their classic crispy texture.

Let’s Bake Molasses Cookies

1. Cookie Dough: Using a stand mixer or electric hand mixer, make the cookie dough. Chill for at least 4 hours, or your cookies will bake up flat as a pancake. The longer you chill the molasses cookie dough, the thicker the cookies will be.
2. Baking Prep: Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Place the parchment lined baking sheets aside. Preheat the oven 30 minutes before you plan on baking.
3. Roll the Dough Balls: In granulated sugar or sparkling sugar, right before baking.
4. Bake the Dough Balls: Arrange cookie dough balls on parchment paper lined baking sheets, leaving space between cookies for spreading. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until set at the edges and slightly crinkly on top.
5. Cool: Place the molasses cookies on a wire rack to cool. Once on the rack to cool, I suggest cooling completely. The molasses cookies will crack more as the cool, and get a nicer texture and taste as they cool.

Bourbon Molasses Cookies

Ashley Manila

Made with brown sugar and plenty of festive spices, these Bourbon Molasses Cookies are soft and flavorful! 

4.79 from 33 votes

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Inactive Time 4 hours hrs

Total Time 4 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 2 dozen

Ingredients

 

• 6 and 1/4 cups (750g) all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons ground ginger
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 TINY pinch finely ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 12 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 and 1/4 cups (479g) light brown sugar, packed
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
• 2 large eggs room temperature
• 1/2 cup molasses (not blackstrap variety)
• 3 Tablespoons bourbon optional
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (for rolling the cookie dough)

Instructions

 

• In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, black pepper, and salt. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl using a handheld electric mixer, beat together the butter and brown sugar on medium-high speed until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides as needed. Add in the vanilla and orange zest and beat until combined. Reduce the mixer speed to medium-low. Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add in the molasses and bourbon and beat until combined. Gradually add in the dry ingredients and beat until it’s evenly incorporated.
• Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, and up to 3 days.

When ready to bake:

• Preheat oven to 350 (F).  Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
• Roll the dough into 3 Tablespoon sized balls. Fill a small and shallow bowl with granulated sugar. Roll each ball in the sugar until it’s completely coated. Place the sugar coated cookie dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between each ball for spreading.
• Bake, one tray at a time, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the cookies have puffed up and have begun to slightly crack on top. (They will crack more as they cool, so don’t over bake!)
• Remove from the oven and place the pan on a cooling rack. Cool cookies for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then carefully transfer the cookies to a separate cooling rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining cookie dough.
• Serve cookies warm, or completely cool them and store them in an airtight container for up to 4 days.  Cookies may also be frozen for up to 3 months.

Notes

You may make smaller cookies or large cookies, but you will need to adjust the baking time. 

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