Molasses Cookies

Since I featured Samajé’s favorite Christmas cookie last week, this post is all about my favorite!

This molasses cookie recipe is another of my Grandma’s seasonal staples. Every year, once the pumpkin bread fades away, the molasses cookies step in and take its place. I modified the recipe slightly from a family cookbook, realizing soon after that our family recipe is very similar to the one you can find on the bottle of Grandma’s brand molasses. So these really are Grandma’s cookies, in more ways than one. 😊

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These cookies are some of the chewiest I have ever made, and the aromatic spices combined with the rich molasses makes for an incredible flavor. The sugar in which the dough is rolled crystallizes as the cookies bake, creating a tiny bit of crunch on the outside. Perfect crinkles grace the tops of the cookies, making them just as attractive as they are delicious.

For those of you who have never tried a molasses cookie before (which, I have found, is true of a lot of people), I tend to compare this recipe to a gingerbread cookie. The spices and flavor are similar, but the molasses are softer, chewier, and richer. All this goes to say, if you have never tried a molasses cookie before, you have to give these a shot!

Molasses Cookies

• 3/4 c. (154 g) shortening
• 1 c. (222 g) light brown sugar
• 1/4 c. molasses
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 2-1/4 c. (315 g) flour
• 1/2 tsp. cloves
• 1/2 tsp. ginger
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3 tbsp. sugar, for rolling

1. Preheat oven to 375˚F.
2. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, cream shortening and brown sugar together, about 3 mins. on medium speed.
3. Add molasses, egg, and vanilla, and beat about 1 min. more.
4. Sift or whisk together flour, cloves, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Add to shortening mixture and mix on low speed until just combined.
5. Scoop dough into tablespoon-sized balls. Roll each in sugar and place on a baking sheet.
6. Bake 8 – 10 mins.

I hope y’all enjoy my fave Christmas cookies! Be on the lookout for the best gingerbread recipe EVER, coming to Touchdown Kitchen later this week. Happy baking!

<3 Meg