Soft Molasses Cookies
Soft, warmly spiced molasses cookies with tender centres, gently crackled tops and a sparkling sugar coating. Batch yield: 30 soft molasses cookies. One serving: 1 cookie, approximately 26 g after baking and cooling. Allow approximately 214 minutes from starting to soften the butter until the final cookies are completely cool. Prep time is total non-oven elapsed time: 45 minutes softening and tempering ingredients, 25 minutes active mixing and shaping, 90 minutes mandatory chilling, and 30 minutes final-batch cooling. Oven preheating overlaps the end of chilling. The second tray's refrigerated wait and the first batch's cooling overlap baking and are not counted again. Cook time covers two sequential 12-minute tray batches. Appliances: Oven; Electric hand mixer; Refrigerator. Equipment: Kitchen scales; Measuring spoons; Two mixing bowls; Whisk; Flexible spatula; Bowl cover; Shallow bowl for coating sugar; Two 40 × 33 cm baking trays; Baking parchment; Wire cooling rack; Timer. Allergens: Contains wheat flour, butter made from milk, and egg. Check packaged ingredient labels for any additional allergens or cross-contact warnings. Storage: Cool completely before storing. Keep airtight at cool room temperature for up to 5 days, or refrigerate airtight for up to 7 days; bring refrigerated cookies to room temperature before eating for a softer texture. Freeze baked cookies in an airtight container, separating layers with parchment, for up to 3 months. Thaw covered at room temperature for about 1 hour.
190 min
Prep
24 min
Cook
30
Serves
119
Calories
Macros · per serving
1g protein
17g carbs
5g fat
Ingredients
For 30 servings
- 281 g Plain all-purpose flour
- 7 g Baking soda
- 4 g Ground ginger
- 4 g Ground cinnamon
- 0.5 g Ground cloves
- 0.5 g Ground nutmeg
- 1.5 g Fine salt
- 170 g Unsalted butter
- 100 g Soft light brown sugar
- 50 g Granulated sugar for the dough
- 113 g Unsulphured molasses, not blackstrap
- 1 whole egg Large egg
- 10 ml Vanilla extract
- 67 g Granulated sugar for coating
Instructions
- 1
Allow about 45 minutes for the butter to soften and the egg, still in its shell, to reach room temperature. The butter should indent easily when pressed but remain cool and hold its shape; do not melt it.
- 2
Whisk the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and salt together in a bowl.
- 3
In a separate large bowl, use an electric hand mixer to beat the softened butter, brown sugar and 50 g granulated sugar for about 3 minutes, until creamy and slightly lighter. Scrape down the bowl. Beat in the egg, followed by the molasses and vanilla, until evenly combined.
- 4
Add the dry ingredients in two additions, mixing on low just until incorporated. Scrape the bowl and finish with a spatula. The dough will be soft and sticky, with no visible dry flour. Cover and refrigerate for 90 minutes.
- 5
During the final 15 minutes of chilling, preheat the oven to 180°C conventional / 350°F, or 160°C fan / 320°F. Position a shelf in the centre. Line two 40 × 33 cm baking trays with baking parchment; no grease is needed.
- 6
Divide the chilled dough into 30 equal pieces, approximately 26 g each before coating. Roll into balls. Put the remaining 67 g granulated sugar in a shallow bowl and coat the balls generously, distributing any remaining sugar over their tops and gently pressing it on. Arrange 15 balls on each tray in three rows of five, approximately 7.5 cm apart centre to centre. Leave them rounded rather than flattening them.
- 7
Bake one tray at a time for approximately 12 minutes per tray. The cookies should spread, develop fine cracks and have set edges, while their centres remain soft but no longer look wet. Avoid baking until firm throughout, which makes them less tender. Total sequential oven time is approximately 24 minutes.
- 8
Let each batch rest on its tray for 5 minutes, then transfer carefully to a wire rack. Allow another 25 minutes to cool completely. Cool the first batch while the second bakes; allow the final batch its full 30-minute cooling period before packing.
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