Every year when Fall comes around, when the days are cloudy and the nights are cool, I start craving my favorite Fall cookies. There’s just something about these soft and chewy ginger molasses cookies that makes Fall ever better! Not to mention they will make your house smell AMAZING!
- ½ cup, plus ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup, plus ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1½ tsp cinnamon
- 1½ tsp cinnamon
- 1½ tsp ginger
- 1½ tsp ginger
- 1/2 tsp cloves
- 1/2 tsp cloves
- ¼ tsp allspice
- ¼ tsp allspice
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1½ sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 1½ sticks unsalted butter, softened
- ⅓ cup packed dark brown sugar
- ⅓ cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup dark molasses
- Adjust oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 375 degrees. Spread ½ cup of the sugar in a shallow dish for coating and set aside.
- Whisk together in a large bowl, the flour, baking soda, spices, pepper, and salt. Set aside.
- Beat the butter, brown sugar, and the remaining ⅓ cup sugar together in a large bowl using an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3-6 minutes.
- Beat in the egg yolk and vanilla until combined, about 30 seconds.
- Beat in the molasses until incorporated, about 30 seconds, scraping down the bowl and beaters as needed.
- Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly mix in the flour mixture until combined, about 30 seconds (the dough will be soft). Give the dough a final stir with a rubber spatula to make sure it is combined.
- Using wet hands (dip them in water to prevent the dough from sticking to them), roll 2 TBS of dough at a time into balls, then roll in the sugar to coat and lay on two parchment-lined baking sheets, spaced about 2 inches apart.
- Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, until the edges are set and the tops are cracked but the centers are still soft and underdone, about 10-12 minutes.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for an additional 10 minutes. Serve warm or transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
I can’t take credit for this perfect cookie recipe, I found it in my America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, but I promise you, if you like your ginger molasses cookies soft and chewy, this is the best recipe you’ll ever find.
I try really hard to let them cook the additional 10 minutes on the cookie sheet, because it makes the bottoms nice and crispy, but in my house they rarely make it that long because everyone in my house loves them so much! Usually as soon as I pull them out of the oven I have people begging for them. 🙂
I can’t wait to hear how much your family loves them too!
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Thank you for the recipe! I am trying them this week.
You’re welcome, you will LOVE them! 🙂
By far, the BEST spice-molasses cookie I have ever made. Made them this morning for an afternoon luncheon I had and they were a huge hit. Delicious and so chewy and moist.
Yay! I love hearing that. 🙂 My sister told me the same thing, she made them for her husband’s meeting, but none of them made it to the meeting…
The ingredients calls for one egg, then the directions say to beat in egg yolk. Do you use the whole egg or just the yolk?
Yikes! Thank you for catching that. 🙂 The recipe calls for 1 egg yolk, not the whole egg.
How many cookies does this recipe make?
Honestly it’s different every time because it depends on how large you make the cookie balls, however the original recipe says it makes 2 dozen. 🙂