These gingerbread molasses cookies have a crisp edge, chewy centers, big gingerbread flavor, and pretty, sparkling crackly tops. These are perfect for the holidays and cookie boxes.

ingredients in gingerbread molasses cookies

butter– I always use unsalted butter in my recipes so I can accurately tell you how much salt to add, but the truth is that when I’m just baking personally, I use salted butter and nothing is ever too salty. Use what you have, but make sure that it has come to room temperature, about 66-70 degrees. Butter straight out of the fridge will not cream as well, which will either require too much creaming (creating too aerated of a mixture) or the final dough will have little pebbles of butter that will melt in the oven, causing uneven cookies. Make sure the butter hasn’t softened too much and become melty or squishy. See the “success tips” section for more help about butter temperature.
granulated sugar– For sweetness and texture. Granulated sugar gives a nice crisp edge to cookies.
dark brown sugar– Brown sugar, especially dark brown sugar will give the cookies extra flavor as well as a great chew to the center.
salt– Diamond Crystal kosher salt is the best for baking, so I recommend grabbing a box if you can. It will last you for a long time if you just use it for baking! If you don’t have this type of salt, swap for regular table salt and use half the amount called for.
molasses– Molasses is pretty important to the flavor of gingerbread, and I like to use the Grandma’s brand.
egg– for texture and structure
vanilla– Vanilla is for flavor in this recipe. Typically, I love to use vanilla bean paste because the flavor is more intense, but vanilla extract is great in this cookie. I love The Spice House, Heilala, and Nielsen-Massey. (Make sure to check your local Costco store for big jars of Nielsen-Massey at an amazing price!) You can use my code LINENGRAY for 10% off at The Spice House.
all purpose flour– for structure
ground ginger– Essential for gingerbread flavor, try to get a new jar for the year since they do expire. I, of course, love The Spice House spices, so here is a link for The Spice House ginger. You can use my code EMILYLOGGANS for 10% off at The Spice House.
ground cinnamon– my favorite cinnamon
ground nutmeg– a link for The Spice House nutmeg
ground cloves- and a link for The Spice House cloves
baking soda– the leavener
sparkling sugar– I love rolling these cookies in a 1:1 mixture of sparkling sugar and granulated sugar. Here is the sparkling sugar I use. And here is the other one I use from Target, which is only $1.99.

supplies needed to make gingerbread molasses cookies

hand mixer or stand mixer– A stand mixer makes this process so incredibly easy, but a hand mixer works just fine, especially if you’re just making a single batch.
spatula– A spatula is essential to scrape down the bowl throughout the process. Without scraping, you’ll end up with an unevenly mixed dough and cookies that are inconsistent.
scale– If there’s one thing I can convince you of, please let it be a kitchen scale. 🙏🏻Using a scale makes everything easier with baking, and it ensures you get the same results every time. Flour is so easy to over-add with volume measurements, and a scale solves that problem.
parchment paper– I like to bake my cookies on this pre-cut parchment paper.
baking sheets– I use these cookie sheets for years, and they are amazing.
cookie scoop– I like to use a #40 cookie scoop for these
large round metal cookie cutter– to “scoot” the cookies after baking

watch how to make gingerbread molasses cookies

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Czox5giu1W9/?igsh=MTdjeThtcjV0ZWIwdg==

gingerbread molasses cookies

Print Recipe

These gingerbread molasses cookies have a crisp edge, chewy centers, big gingerbread flavor, and pretty, sparkling crackly tops. These are perfect for the holidays and cookie boxes.

Author: Emily Loggans
Yield: 21 1x

Ingredients

Scale

113g unsalted butter, room temp (1 stick ; ½ cup ; 8 Tbsp)

150g granulated sugar (¾ cup)

55g dark brown sugar (¼ cup, packed – light brown sugar is fine)

1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt (or ½ tsp regular table salt)

113g molasses (⅓ cup)

1 whole egg, large

2 tsp vanilla

300g all purpose flour (2 ½ cups)

2 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

½ tsp ground cloves

1 ½ tsp baking soda

topping

¼ sparkling sugar

¼ cup granulated sugar

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Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 F (177 C).

Cream butter, sugars, and salt together until fully combined and lightened.

Add the egg, vanilla, and molasses and continue mixing until the mixture is emulsified.

Add the dry ingredients and fold in with a spatula until there are no streaks of flour.

In a small bowl, combine the granulated sugar and sparkling sugar.

Scoop balls of dough with a #30 cookie scoop and roll in the sugar mixture before placing on a parchment lined baking sheet a couple inches apart.

Bake for 12-14 minutes. Once removed from the oven, immediately “scoot” the hot cookies with a round metal cookie cutter to both shape them and add a more crackly look on top.

Cool on the baking sheet for five minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.