These Old Fashioned Molasses Crinkle Cookies are just like you remember eating at your Grandma’s house during the Holidays! They are soft and chewy, taste of molasses, cinnamon, clove and ginger, and the top is dipped in sugar and full of crackly crinkles.
Some other old fashioned cookie recipes that we love around here are these fruit cake cookies, peanut clusters, and chocolate star cookies.
Old Fashioned Recipes Are The Best
- Old Fashioned recipes that came from our Grandparents (like this Carrot Cake Recipe) are just the best!!!
- The old fashioned cookies are probably the ones you remember eating when you were little and bring back SO MANY memories.
- They embody the saying “tried and true” more than anything else!
Ingredients
Pictured are the ingredients that you need to make Old Fashioned Molasses Crinkle Cookies, plus some pro tips on a few ingredients:
Molasses: The key ingredient in Molasses Cookies!! Buy an unsluphered molasses. Grandma’s is a popular brand at the store. Learn more about molasses below.
And if you have molasses left over, pop over and make these Iced Oatmeal Cookies too!
Brown Sugar: Make sure you use brown sugar not white sugar in the dough. The molasses flavor of the brown sugar adds the perfect flavor here.
Cinnamon, Clove, and Ginger: It may seem like a lot of spices in this cookie, but it really makes a difference. It infuses the cookies with a nice warm spiciness.
Kosher Salt: make sure to use kosher salt, not table salt or iodized salt. Kosher salt is less salty and has a milder flavor.
More About Molasses
Molasses is basically a byproduct of producing sugar from natural sugar cane. There are five different types. The most popular ones you will find are light, dark, and blackstrap molasses.
We recommend always buying an unsulphured molasses if you can. Which means it is made from mature/ripe sugar cane.
Sulphured molasses is made from green, under ripe sugar cane and a sulphur is added during the refining.
Step by Step Picture Instructions
This recipe does not start with preheating your oven because before you bake the cookies you pop the dough in the fridge to chill for 1 hour.
Start by whisking together the dry ingredients: all purpose flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, clove, and ginger and set aside.
Now cream the butter and sugar together for 2 minutes.
Add the egg and vanilla.
Pour in the molasses and mix in. Scrape down the sides as necessary.
Slowly mix in the flour mixture, just until combined. The dough will be thick!
Pop in the fridge to chill for 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 375, line a baking sheet with parchment paper or reusable silpat.
Roll a 2 inch dough ball, dip in sugar and place sugar side up on the baking sheet. (for extra crinkles and sugar, read through to the next section)
Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet.
Then move to a cooling rack. Enjoy your chewy molasses cookies!
Extra Crinkles & Sugar
There are two options to get the crinkles on top of your Old Fashioned Molasses Cookies. Both work, so choose the one that suits your taste! See the photo below for the difference:
- Regular sugar and crinkles: After forming the cookie balls dip the top in sugar. Then before baking sprinkle a little water over the top of the cookies.
- Lots of sugar and crinkles: After forming the cookie balls dip the tops in water and then dip in sugar.
Storing
Store the leftover cookies at room temp in a covered container for up a week. Or you can keep longer in the fridge for up to 10 days.
Freezing
Molasses Cookies will also freeze. Keep them in the freezer in a sealed container for up to 3 months.
Recipe Tips
- Don’t skip chilling the dough. It solidifies the fats, giving you a nice soft and chewy cookie.
- Choose the sugar application that is best for you
- Don’t skimp on the spices!! It adds such a nice warm flavor.
- Make sure your butter is softened completely, but not melted.
- If you are baking in batches, pop the extra dough in the fridge while the first batch bakes.
More Yummy Old Fashioned Cookie Recipes
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Old Fashioned Molasses Crinkle Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- ¾ cup softened butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ⅓ cup unsulphured molasses I like Grandma's brand
- 2 ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground clove
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
Topping
- ½ cup sugar
- water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°, line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a reusable silpat.
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, clove and ginger. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer or hand held mixer cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed for 2 minutes.
- Add the egg and vanilla and mix for another 20 seconds.
- Slow the mixer down and drizzle in the molasses. Scrape the sides down as necessary.Tip: spray your measuring cup with non-stick spray before measuring the molasses!
- Slowly add in the flour mixture, just until the dough comes together.The dough will be very thick.
- Pop the dough in the fridge for 1 hour up to 4 hours to chill. If the dough is in the fridge for more than 4 hours you may need to leave it at room temp for 30 minutes to take the chill off before baking.
- Roll the dough into 2 inch balls. There are two options for sugaring the cookies at this point.1. Lots of sugar, lots of crinkles: Dip the tops of the dough ball in water, then dip in sugar. Place on the baking sheet sugar side up.2. Regular sugar, regular crinkles: Dip the top of the dough ball in sugar, place them on the baking sheet sugar side up. With clean hands sprinkle a little water over the cookies.
- Bake 375 for 10-12 minutes until set, but not hard.If baking the cookies in batches place the dough back in the fridge while the first batch bakes.
- Cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet and then move to a cooling rack.
Storing
- Store at room temp in a covered container for up to a week, or keep in the fridge for up to 10 days.
Freezing
- Molasses Crinkle Cookies will also freeze well. Keep them in a freezer safe, sealed, container for up to 3 months.
Notes:
- Don’t skip chilling the dough. It solidifies the fats, giving you a nice soft and chewy cookie.
- Choose the sugar application that is best for you
- Don’t skimp on the spices!! It adds such a nice warm flavor.
- Make sure your butter is softened completely, but not melted.
- If you are baking in batches, pop the extra dough in the fridge while the first batch bakes.
If nutrition facts are provided they are calculated as an estimate to the best of our knowledge.
Jacqueline Bolda
My name is Jacqueline Bolda. I’d love to get your newsletter with recipes. I tried to sign up on your page but the check mark you had to accept newsletter would not check. Thanks! I am writing your
Molasses crinkle Cookie Recipe to be included in my cookie batches. I will let you know how it goes when I make them. Thanks for the recipe. Jackie
Susie Weinrich
Hi Jacqueline! I added you to my newsletter! Sorry that sign up wasn’t working. I took your email out of the comment above. I hope you loved the molasses cookies.