About Molasses Crinkle Cookies
Crinkle cookies have quickly become my go-to baked good to cure a sweet craving, and these molasses crinkle cookies are my newest addition. I’ve had them countless times at bakeries before, but this was the first year I took the time to make them from scratch.
And, you guys, it was totally worth it.
Some may call these spiced crinkle cookies, and for good reason. They have a healthy dose of holiday spices (cinnamon and ginger) as well as a surprise dash of white pepper.
I’m normally not a fan of “spicy” food, so usually, the mere mention of pepper is enough to get me to pass. However, I first tried these cookies long before I knew the truth about their ingredients – and looking back, I’m so glad that was the case, because otherwise, I never would have given them a shot. If that had been the case, I’d now have one less cookie to bake this holiday season.
And wouldn’t that be a travesty.
As I’m sure you can agree, one can never have enough cookies during the holidays.
Spiced crinkle cookies are also not as common as their chocolate breathren, so if you’re in search of a rare-yet-easy cookie to bake up for this year’s cookie exchange, then look no further. These confections will bring the best flavors of the holiday season and still have the beautiful design only crackle cookies can achieve.
Do you need to chill the dough?
This particular recipe calls for chilling the cookie dough for one hour.
I know it can be frustrating to put your baking on hold, but when it comes to cookies, chilling the dough is totally worth the impact it as on your baking.
The short explanation for chilling has to do with the butter. The firmer the butter is at the time of baking, the slower it will melt, which makes cookies less likely to spread while baking. So, as a general rule of thumb, chilling the dough will lead to more dense, fluffy cookies while not chilling will lead to flatter, cheweir cookies. This is not always the case, though. Whether you need to chill depends largely on the amount of butter used AND the composition of the other ingredients.
If you’d like a more indepth explanation of chilling dough (with examples!) then check out this article: To Chill or not to Chill.
Can you freeze molasses cookies?
If you’d like to always have a batch of these cookies on hand, the easiest way is to freeze them for later. There are two ways you can do this.
To freeze the raw dough:
- Mix all ingredients, then scoop out about one tablespoon of dough and roll it into a ball (the same way you would before baking).
- Place cookie dough balls on a tray and freeze for at least two hours or until outside is no longer tacky. Once firm, transfer to a freezer bag or a storage container with a sealable lid.
- Cookie dough can be stored for up to six months. When ready to bake, thaw in the refrigerator overnight, then bake like normal.
To freeze the baked cookies:
- Bake and allow to cool completely.
- Store cookies in a single layer in a freezer bag or storage container. If you need to stack the cookies, separate each layer with a sheet of wax paper.
- Baked cookies and be stored for up to three months.
notes & tips for these molasses crackle cookies
- If you’re doing a lot of holiday baking, I highly recommend having some silicone baking mats or silicone baking mats on hand. Baking cookies takes enough time without having to cut or measure parchment paper.
- Plus, some quality baking sheets are a must for a cookie baking extravaganza!
- For this recipe, I highly recommend using a stand mixer or a hand mixer. This recipe would be difficult to make by hand with a whisk.
- If you follow this recipe as it’s written, it says to remove the dough from the mixing bowl and wrap it in plastic wrap. I’ve found this to be the best for chilling dough, and if you’re baking a lot of cookies, it also helps you save valuable space in your refrigerator. However, if you really don’t want to deal with the plastic wrap, you could just cover the mixing bowl and chill it that way.
More fun cookie recipes
Recipe Details
Molasses Crinkle Cookies
These classic spiced crinkle cookies have a dash of white pepper which makes for a perfect balance to the trademark powdered sugar coating.
Ingredients
Instructions
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In a medium bowl, sift together flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and white pepper, then set bowl aside.
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Using a stand mixer (or hand mixer + large bowl), cream together butter, sugar, and molasses on medium high speed until smooth, about 5-7 minutes.
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Reduce speed to low and add egg, mixing thoroughly until incorporated, about 1-2 minutes.
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Keeping speed on low, quickly add dry ingredients to mixer, scooping in about 1/3 to 1/2 cup at a time. Stop mixing once dough looks smooth and uniform. Be careful not to overmix.
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Turn off mixer and add crystalized ginger to bowl. Use a spoon or spatula to gently fold ginger into the dough.
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Remove dough from bowl and place on a piece of plastic wrap. Firmly wrap dough and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Place powdered sugar in a shallow bowl and keep it handy for the next step.
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Unwrap dough and use your fingers to pinch off 1-2 tablespoons, then roll dough into a ball. Drop ball in powdered sugar and toss to coat completely. Place sugar coated cookie ball on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat this step until all the cookie dough batter is used, spacing cookies 2 inches apart.
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Bake cookies for 10-13 minutes or until tops of cookies are lined with cracks (as pictured). If baking two cookie sheets at once, rotate baking sheets halfway through cooking time.
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Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
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Store cookies in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
These look like the perfect crinkle cookies! I have to give these a try!
Your cookies look more then perfect! I like the close up pictures, makes me want to prepare and bake a batch this season. If I get time I would enjoy molasses cookies with a hot cup of spiced chocolate milk. That would be the hit!
Such a great mashup of two of my favorite cookies!
These cookies are absolutely amazing. I used blackstrap molasses. Thank you so much for the recipe.