4.80 from 5 votes

Chewy Gingerbread Cookies! (Molasses Cookies)

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These soft and chewy gingerbread cookies are packed full of warm spices and flavors like cinnamon, ginger and molasses. They make a simple cookie that is extra delicious. We’ve even decorated these cookies extra cute for the holidays!

Close up of a molasses cookie dipped in white chocolate decorated with a Christmas tree with a bite missing.


 

Why We Love Christmas Gingerbread Cookies

  • Warm Cozy Spices– Molasses cookies are bursting with warm flavors that just feel cozy and make your taste buds sing. The molasses, ginger and cinnamon fit right in for Christmas, but is also a great recipe for fall.
  • Chewy Cookies– While some traditional gingerbread cookies are hard cookies, these big soft molasses cookies are a chewy yummy cookie. They have just the right texture! These may be a simple cookie to make, but it is one of my favorite Christmas cookies and is such a delicious gingerbread recipe to eat!
  • Great For Christmas Cookie Trays– We’ve decorated these ginger cookies for Christmas, giving them an extra special feel for holiday parties and cookie exchanges. While this isn’t the best dough for cookie cutters, gingerbread boys or gingerbread houses with, they are still a lot of fun to decorate with the kids. I find a chewy decorated cookie is a crowd pleaser.
  • Easy Gingerbread Cookies– This is such an easy gingerbread cookie recipe. If decorating isn’t your favorite part you can even leave the decorations off to make it easier, or just add a drizzle of white chocolate.

If you truly want all the cozy tastes the holidays in one bite, use my Pumpkin Pie Dip with these cookies for the perfect gingerbread cookie recipe. I like to take two cookies and use the pumpkin pie dip as a cream center to make a knock your socks off chewy cream-filled cookie! Simply delicious!

What’s The Difference Between Molasses Cookies And Gingerbread Cookies?

Most people think of gingerbread at the holidays and they think of a cookie that is hard, like a gingersnap or a gingerbread man.

Molasses cookies share the same warm and cozy spices that gingerbread also has. The main difference is molasses cookies make a soft and chewy cookie instead of a crunchy cookie, yum!

Ingredients For Molasses Cookies

Ingredients for molasses ginger cookies in bowls overhead labeled

Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements and directions below in the recipe card.

For The Cookie Dough

  • butter – unsalted, softened
  • granulated sugar
  • brown sugar– light brown sugar or dark brown sugar can be used
  • egg
  • light molasses– Use light molasses, Blackstrap molasses does not work to substitute in this recipe.
  • all purpose flour – Measure flour by spooning the flour into the cup and then leveling. Scooping the flour with the measuring cup can result in too much flour really easily in these cookies.
  • baking soda
  • cinnamon – ground
  • ginger – ground
  • cloves – ground
  • salt
  • milk

For The Decorations

  • white chocolate chips
  • candy melts optional- We used green, red and brown for the trees.

How To Make Chewy Christmas Gingerbread Cookies

Making The Cookies Dough

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or spray with cooking oil.
  2. In a large bowl with an electric hand mixer or the paddle attachment on medium, cream together butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar together until smooth and fluffy.
Butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar in a mixing bowl to cream with other ingredients in containers nearby.
  1. Add egg, molasses and milk to the butter and sugar. Mix all the wet ingredients on medium until combined.
  2. In a second mixing bowl add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves, and salt. Stir all ingredients together until well blended.
  3. Add the dry flour ingredients to the wet butter and sugar mixture. Mix on low speed, then medium with a mixer (or with a rubber spatula) until the dry ingredients are fully mixed and a dough forms. Be careful not to overmix the dough or it can become tough.
Mixing dry flour and other cookie ingredients into wet ingredients in a large mixing bowl from overhead

Baking The Cookies

  1. Scoop the cookie dough into about two tablespoon balls of dough. Using clean hands, roll the cookie dough into smooth balls.
Hand holding ball of cookie dough after rolling over mixing bowl
  1. Place cookie dough balls on a pan lined with parchment paper with at least two inches in between cookies.
Molasses cookie dough on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper
  1. Use the bottom of a glass and press down gently on each ball of cookie dough to flatten the cookies.
Side view of a glass pressing down on molasses cookie dough ball on a cookie sheet.
  1. Bake cookies for 11-12 minutes until cooked on the outside but still gooey in the middle.
  2. Remove the cookies from the oven and allow to sit for 2-3 minutes on the pan. Transfer cookies to a wire rack or clean kitchen towel to finish cooling.

Decorating The Cookies

  1. Place white chocolate in a medium-sized heat-safe bowl. (Taller works better, but it needs to be wide enough to dip the cookies.) Melt the white chocolate in the microwave on half power, stirring about every 60 seconds until fully melted.
  2. Once cookies are fully cool, dip each cookie halfway in white chocolate. Place on a sheet of parchment paper to harden.
Hand dipping a molasses cookie in white chocolate from the side
  1. Melt the candy melts each in a microwave safe bowl according to the directions. Fit the piping bag with a tip (we used Wilton tip #3 but another small tip like Wilton tip #2 works also.) If you don’t have a piping bag and tip you can fill a freezer zip-top plastic bag and snip the corner to pipe the trees onto the cookies. Fill piping bags or strong zip-top bag with different colors of melted candy melts. A dessert decorating kit like this Wilton kit will give you all the basic supplies you need to get started. I own this kit personally and it’s great for a beginner.
  2. Snip the tip of the bag with scissors and make green squiggles for trees. Add brown tree trunks and red ornaments. Let chocolate and candy melts fully cool and harden, then enjoy!
Molasses cookies dipped in white chocolate on a pan with green squiggle chocolate Christmas trees being added with a piping bag.

Variations And FAQ For Chewy Gingerbread Cookies

  • You could dip the entire cookie in white chocolate and decorate these cookies to look like a snowman face. Or skip the white chocolate and decorate them to look like gingerbread men faces.
  • Another idea would be to just add colorful drizzles across the entire cookie or just the half of the cookie dipped in white chocolate.
  • Sprinkles can be added to the Christmas trees before the chocolate cools to represent the Christmas ornaments instead of using candy melts. Add sprinkles directly after piping the Christmas tree for best results.

Can I Use Blackstrap Molasses In This Recipe?

Blackstrap molasses; the flavor is deeper, saltier, and much more bitter than light molasses. While blackstrap molasses has had a resurgence in the health community, it’s not really well suited for baked goods.

Sometimes local bottles of molasses don’t specify if they are light or blackstrap molasses. A quick taste test will tell you which type of molasses you have.

Molasses should have a pleasantly bitter taste but the bitterness shouldn’t knock your socks off. Last year was the first time I tried blackstrap molasses, and it’s not a flavor you forget! Check out this article about how to tell the difference between blackstrap molasses and true molasses if you are still unsure.

Can I Substitute Something Else For The Molasses?

Molasses has a very specific flavor, but it is an ingredient that most home cooks and bakers don’t use a ton of. That sometimes makes it hard to keep an entire bottle for just a few recipes. If you do buy a bottle of molasses for these cookies, try these Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies with your extra molasses.

Here are some ideas from Recipe Lion for what to substitute for Molasses. I have not tried any of these ideas in this specific recipe (If you try it, let me know in the comments how it went!) Know that the flavor will be different if you make a substitution, but the cookies will still be delicious.

Plate of molasses cookies decorated dipped in white chocolate and decorated with Christmas trees.

How Do I Store Soft Gingerbread Cookies?

These cookies can be stored in an airtight container on the counter for 3-4 days.

Can I Freeze These Cookies?

Yes, you can freeze these cookies already baked. I recommend freezing them without the chocolate decorations as the cold may cause some of the tree decorations to break.

You can also make these cookies into dough balls and freeze as cookie dough balls. Cookies may take a few extra minutes in the oven to cook from frozen.

The cookie dough does need to be pressed to spread properly but that’s harder to do when the dough is frozen. Instead, pull the cookies out halfway through the cooking time. Press each dough ball with a glass, then return the pan to the oven to finish cooking.

Close up of a molasses cookie dipped in white chocolate and decorated with a chocolate Christmas tree.
Recipe

Christmas Molasses Cookies (Chewy Gingerbread!)


Course Baking, Dessert, Desserts, Holidays
Cuisine American
Prep Time 32 minutes
Cook Time 11 minutes
Cooling 7 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 15 Cookies
These chewy gingerbread cookies are full of warm spices and flavors like cinnamon, ginger and molasses. They are perfect for Christmas parties, platters and cookie exchanges!

Ingredients  

For The Cookie Dough

  • ¾ cup butter unsalted, softened
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/4 cup molasses
  • 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon ground
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons ginger ground
  • 3/4 teaspoon cloves ground
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon milk

For The Decorations

  • 12 ounces white chocolate chips
  • candy melts optional- We used green, red and brown for the trees.

Instructions

Making The Cookie Dough

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or spray with cooking oil.
  • In a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium, cream together butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar together until smooth and fluffy.
  • Add egg, molasses and milk to the butter and sugar. Mix all the wet ingredients on medium until combined.
  • In a second mixing bowl add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves, and salt. Stir all ingredients together until well blended.
  • Add the dry flour ingredients to the wet butter and sugar mixture. Mix on low then medium with a mixer (or with a rubber spatula) until the dry ingredients are fully mixed and a dough forms. Be careful not to overmix the dough or it can become tough.

Baking The Cookies

  • Scoop the cookie dough into two tablespoon balls of dough. Using clean hands, roll the cookie dough into smooth balls.
  • Place cookie dough balls on a pan lined with parchment paper with at least two inches in between cookies.
  • Use the bottom of a glass and press down gently on each ball of cookie dough to flatten the cookies.
  • Bake cookies for 11-12 minutes until cooked on the outside but still gooey in the middle. Cookies will chewy once finished.
  • Remove the cookies from the oven and allow to sit for 2-3 minutes on the pan. Transfer cookies to a wire rack or clean kitchen towel to finish cooling.

Decorating The Cookies

  • Place white chocolate in a medium-sized heat-safe bowl. (Taller works better, but it needs to be wide enough to dip the cookies.) Melt the white chocolate in the microwave on half power, stirring about every 60 seconds until fully melted.
  • Once cookies are fully cool, dip each cookie halfway in white chocolate. Place on a sheet of parchment paper to harden.
  • Melt the candy melts each in a microwave safe bowl according to the directions. Fit the piping bag with a tip if you have it. Fill piping bags or strong zip-top bag with different colors of melted candy melts.
  • Snip the tip of the bag with scissors and make green squiggles for trees. Add brown tree trunks and red ornaments. Let chocolate and candy melts fully cool and harden, then enjoy!

Notes

  • To make the Christmas tree decorations we’ve used a Wilton tip #3 with a coupler fitted onto our piping bag. Other small writing tips like Wilton tip #2 also works just fine. You can use any small writing piping tip. If you don’t have any supplies for decorating, a small kit like this Wilton decorating kit is a great kit to start with. I own this kit personally.
  •  You can also simply snip a tiny hole in the corner of a piping bag or freezer zip-top bag. If just snipping a hole be careful not to make the hole too big! 
 
*Nutrition information is an estimate and does not include melted chocolate decorations.
 

Nutrition

Calories: 226kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 37mg | Sodium: 203mg | Potassium: 123mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 304IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 28mg | Iron: 1mg
Keyword Christmas, cookie recipes, cookies

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One Comment

  1. 5 stars
    I’d lost my favorite recipe and tried yours. Four got baked last night as an experiment in my new convection oven (w/some time & temp adjustments) and turned out to be delish–almost crispy edges and a lot of yummy chewiness. Thanks for the great recipe!

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