Sometimes recipes make the rounds on the internet and then disappear. This molasses cookie recipe is one that made the rounds a couple of years ago. That’s when it caught my attention. They come from Christina Tosi of Momofuku Milk Bar fame. Since I discovered it back then, I have been making these Molasses Cookies regularly and felt it was maybe due to be resurrected, for anyone who may have forgotten about it or maybe missed it the first time around.
This spicy molasses cookies recipe won’t make cookies that will win any beauty contests, but they’re one seriously addicting cookie!
These cookies aren’t real lookers. In fact, they might even be a touch on the homely side. In their store, Milk dresses them up with a royal icing drizzle. I’ve never found that necessary though. I don’t care that they aren’t pretty. I don’t care that they aren’t puffy and thick. I don’t care that they aren’t filled with chocolate or nuts. I just love their sweet/spicy taste and their combination of crispy outer edges and chewy centres. And mostly, I love the way the butter and sugar in these cookies caramelizes as they cook into something that just keeps me coming back to these cookies again and again.
When it comes to baking, the thing to know about these cookies is that they are going to bake up really flat and really big. And they spread a lot. On a half sheet pan, I cook only 6 at a time. And since this recipe make a lot of cookies, that’s a lot of batches. I look at it this way – the dozen or so times I get up and go in to the kitchen to take the sheets in and out of the oven burns enough calories to enjoy an extra cookie ;) Seriously though, if you’re not up for a bunch of batches, you might want to halve the recipe and make fewer.
As for the baking time, you’ll need to experiment a bit with the first few batches. It will vary depending on your baking sheet, oven accuracy and how you like your cookies. The original recipe suggested 18 minutes. I’ve never left mine in the oven quite that long. I cook them anywhere from 14-17 minutes. I like these cookies a little chewier, so I cook some at the lower end of the time. My husband loves them dark with more crisp, so I bake a few sheets longer.
I bake on a fairly heavy baking sheet with a Silpat. A Silpat isn’t necessary though, as a parchment lined baking sheet will work as well. That said, the baking time may also vary with a lighter pan or baking on parchment as opposed to a Silpat, so watch them closely for the first few batches. They are really soft right out of the oven, so they need to sit on the baking sheet for a couple of minutes before you can move them to a cooling rack. They’ll continue cooking a wee bit as they site on the baking sheet, so bear that in mind. They will crisp up as they cool though.
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 cups white sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup molasses (not blackstrap)
- 3 1/3 cups plus 1 tablespoon (14.5 ounces) all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp. baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
- 1 tsp. salt (reduce to 3/4 tsp. if you used salted butter)
- 1/4 ground cloves
- Heat the oven to 325° F. with rack in centre of oven and prepare a baking sheet with parchment or a Silpat.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl using a hand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until thoroughly incorporated. Beat in the molasses.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ground ginger, salt and ground cloves. With the mixer running, slowly add the dry ingredients to the mixture until completely incorporated.
- Spoon the batter into mounds (about 2 Tablespoons each) and place on prepared cookie sheet. Space the cookies at least 3 to 4 inches apart, as they will spread! I bake only 6 at a time on a half sheet pan.
- Baking time will vary depending on your oven, weight of your baking sheet and how you like your cookies (more crispy or more chewy). Check cookies regularly starting at 12 minutes and watch carefully. Cookies will puff up as they bake and then deflate in to a flat cookie. You want to leave them in the oven at least until they deflate. How much longer you bake after that will determine how crispy they'll be. Somewhere between 14-17 minutes is in the right range. If you like, you can rotate the pan front to back halfway through for even colouring.
- Allow cookies to sit on the baking sheet until they firm up enough to move to a cooling rack (about a minute or two). Cookies will firm up as they cool.
Adapted from Christina Tosi/Milk
I’d take these cookies over fancy-schmancy macarons any day! And you photograph them so beautifully, they definitely don’t look homely!
Thanks so much, Katie :)
Couldn’t be happier that you brought these back. I love a good molasses cookie!
Me too! Thanks Katrina :)
This rationalizing over number of calories burned sounds like something I say to myself all the time. Cooking is work, right? Love me a good molasses cookie!
Thanks Liz. I have at least a dozen rationalizations for more cookies (if you ever need a few more ;)
I once made molasses cookies with the children at the youth centre I volunteered at. We used a recipe from one of the other volunteers, whose French Canadian grandmother used to bake these cookies every weekend. After all the kids proceeded to make faces at how big and homely these cookies looked, how they spread out on the pans, and how brown they were, they all helped themselves to a taste… And then came back for seconds. By the ingredients and the look of these cookies, I am certain they will be no less of a hit!
Yes, these are not cookies to take to a bake sale ;) They’re definitely cookies that are hard to eat just one though, for sure!
I think your cookies look just lovely, I want one and a big mug of tea to curl up with :).
Thanks Laura and these would be perfect with tea :)
These cookies have me so excited for the holidays! They look perfect to me!
Thanks Teighan! Me too. I love all these spices :)
These are probably the best looking cookies I have ever seen Jennifer! I have never baked with molasses before.. so this recipe is definitely something that I must try to make. Hopefully i have some success. Pinned!
Thanks Thalia. I love baking with molasses. Such great flavour. Look for “fancy” molasses (not blackstrap or baking molasses). It has a less harsh flavour.
I love when baking with molasses begins for the year! These cookies look delicious Jennifer! They definitely don’t need to look fancy to taste fantastic :-)
Thanks Karen and so true!
Sometimes it just doesn’t matter what a cookie looks like. If it tastes amazing, all power to it. That being said, these DO look beautiful! I love what you did with the loaf pan.
Very true, Sarah. And thanks … a loaf pan is the only vessel big enough to hold these cookies ;)
I think you’re totally wrong – these cookies are lookers for me! They sound delicious, perfect for fall and your photography is stunning!
Thanks so much, Jessica :)
Yay! I needed a good cookie recipe this week :) I love molasses cookies and I can’t wait to see my husband’s face when I bake these up… he’s a true cookie-lover! YUM
Enjoy Sophie!
These cookies made me all kinds of popular! My husband is definitely the cookie-master in the house, yet I am usually the only one that bakes any. And I get a little nervous about how they will turn out because honestly cookies are not my forte! My husband just raved about these… he was like….. “oh my gosh these taste like candy. Oh my gosh the crispy edges and chewy middles. Oh my gosh I love these cookies!” and I looked all professional, thanks to you :) I love them too. Delicious! Simple to make and yielded a nice big batch, perfection.
Glad they were a hit, Sophie and they do taste like candy! (Love that description :)
Hi Jennifer – fabulous recipe. I made a batch of the dough last weekend and made 4 cookies to start but flash froze the remainder of the cookie dough balls and stored in a ziploc bag. The batch of 4 were great. I defrosted 2 dough balls from the stash and baked these last night. They were also great. The frozen dough did not compromise the taste or texture. Glad to have these in rotation. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
So glad you enjoyed them Susan. Great idea to freeze the dough and good to know that they’re just as nice after. I’m going to do that next time!