Coming at you on Day 5 of our 12 Days of Cookies a little late… WordPress was having a little snafu this morning. Who doesn’t love some late night baking anyway?! These ginger molasses cookies are the ultimate holiday bundle in a few little bites. Chewy, full of spice, and coated in crunchy sugary bites. Mmmm, perfect for holiday cookie boxes or weekend treats because why not??

Why are these cookies so darn good?

These ginger molasses cookies have a crisp edge, chewy center, and the sugary crystals just tie it all in. The spice filled flavor reminds me of gingerbread, but not as rich and over powering.

The cookies are not dry and cakey, but moist and melt in your mouth. These cookies are not only super easy, but great for holiday boxes, neighbor gifts, or gathering desserts.

Ingredients You Need

• Flour
• Cake Flour
• Ground Ginger
• Ground Cinnamon
• Baking Soda
• Salt
• Brown Sugar
• Butter
• Egg
• Vanilla Extract
• Molasses
• Turbinado Sugar (raw sugar)

How to make the best ginger molasses cookies:

I’m all about easy recipes here, especially when it comes to holidays. Whip up an easy batch of cookies and gift to your friends or just enjoy the holidays treats yourself.

1. Start by whisking together your dry ingredients in a medium bowl. This includes your flour, cake flour, salt, baking soda, and spices. Set aside.
2. In another bowl, cream your butter and sugar. Since we’re using brown sugar this is going to make the cookies softer and chewier than regular sugar.
3. Add in your vanilla, egg, and molasses. Mix until combined. The dough will be slightly sticky and soft.
4. Use a large cookie scoop to scoop your cookies and place them next to each other on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Chill for 2-4 hours until the cookies are very firm.
5. Once chilled, pre-heat the oven to 350 F. Roll your chilled cookie dough balls in the turbinado sugar until it sticks. You may need to press the sugar into the cookies pretty firmly since they were chilled for so long.
6. Place back onto 2 cookie sheets at least 2 inches apart. They are going to spread a little in the oven. Bake for 10-15 minutes until the cookies have browned a little and the edges are crisp. They will also be puffy and crackly on top.
7. Continue this for all your dough.

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Picking Your Ingredients

For these cookies, there are a few ingredients that really do help to make your cookies the best they can be. Here are the best tips for your ginger molasses cookies!

• Molasses – It may seem simple, but there are so many kinds of molasses out there and it’s hard picking the right one. For this recipe, I used unsulphured blackstrap molasses.
• Cake Flour – Yes, I know what you’re thinking. Do you really have to use cake flour? Yes! The cake flour actually helps these cookies to be extra tender and chewy. However, this is a little sneaky shortcut so you don’t have to buy any. Measure 1 cup of AP flour and remove 2 tbsp of it. Replace the 2 tbsp with cornstarch. Do this for however many cups you need. Boom!
• Raw Sugar – Now, this isn’t just cane sugar from your local grocery, raw sugar are much larger crystals. It is most commonly used for topping baked goods for that extra crunch. I used turbinado sugar, which is basically the same thing.

What is raw sugar?

Raw Sugar are very large sugar crystals that haven’t been grinded into little morsels. Hence the name raw. Raw sugar can be topped on any baked good if you want a little extra crunch. I use it on scones, pie crust, cookies, pastries…etc.

It is similar to brown sugar, but not as moist. The sugar can be found at almost any store right next to where you would get normal sugar. It could say “Sugar in the Raw,” “Turbinado Sugar,” or just “Raw Sugar.”

Bonus: It adds some extra sparkle!

Do I really have to chill the dough?

Yes! Yes! Yes! These ginger molasses cookies are soft from the beginning because of the molasses and brown sugar, so they must be chilled! If you don’t chill the dough, they could end up flat and sad.

Not only could they be flat, but chilling them helps the center to cook a little faster than the outside, giving you a crispy edge and chewy middle.

Although everyone hates waiting hours for baked goods, the holidays are busy anyway so make the dough, chill it, and make something else while you’re waiting. 😁

Use your large cookie scoop and just plop em’ right next to each other on the pan. If you don’t have a large cookie scoop, you can just scoop a golf ball portion of dough in your hand and roll until smooth. Don’t forget, once they are chilled, spread them out on the pan because they will spread in the oven.

Help! My cookies have fallen to the bottom of the pan and can’t get up!

Have your cookies flattened like a smushed can? Here are something to try next time for the perfect cookies!

• Make sure you are measuring your dry ingredients correctly, especially the flour. This can make or break a cookie and having it too wet will cause it to flatten and too dry with be thick.
• You might not have chilled your cookies enough. Make sure they are suuuuper firm before baking. Trust me, it’s all worth it in the end.

You’ll be able to tell if you have the right consistency after scooping your dough. If it’s slightly sticky and soft, but can still be scooped in a ball, it’s perfect. If it’s very thick and almost dry, you added too many dry ingredients.

How to store your cookies

After baking all those delicious ginger molasses cookies, store them in an airtight Tupperware or plastic bag for up to 7 days.

You can also freeze the cookies in an airtight container and enjoy months later!

For more of my favorite chewy cookie recipes, view my:

• Caramel Stuffed Snickerdoodles
• Chocolate Chunk Toffee Cookies
• Soft & Chewy Sugar Cookies
• Chewy Chocolate Peppermint Sugar Cookies

Did you make this recipe? Let us know below or on Instagram, @tuesday.treats or use #tuesdaytreats2016