These are chewy ginger molasses cookies with cinnamon, molasses, and of course ginger, with icing on top that looks like snowflakes! They're simple, but so easy to make fancy with the icing on top.
It's a nice old fashioned ginger molasses cookie recipe with NO CHILLING or smashing required, definitely one of my fave easy holiday cookie recipes to make ahead and freeze, just like Maple Syrup Cookies or our all-time family favorite Classic Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies.
These taste similar to Grandma's molasses cookies and are super soft and chewy. You can make them thinner to fit the icing snowflakes better, or thicker and fluffier. They are one of my favorite cookies in the WORLD and so fun to make with kids or save for a holiday cookie swap.
They're beautiful but not difficult, and don't take a long time to make. Once you get the rhythm of icing the cookies, it goes pretty quickly.
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What To Expect
- Taste: Chewy molasses ginger cookies taste more like cinnamon and ginger, the molasses is a very mild flavor, but the molasses and brown sugar add the moisture needed to make a soft, chewy cookie.
- Ease: It's a simple cookie recipe to mix up, then you roll the cookie dough balls in sugar before baking, making sure to cool down before icing them. The snowflake pattern is optional, you can always just drizzle the icing over the cookies to be quicker if that works better for you.
- Time: It takes a 5-10 minutes to whip up the molasses cookie dough (NO chilling required), 8-10 minutes to bake, and after cooling the cookies about 20-30 minutes to ice the cookies, or faster if you're quick.
🛒 Key Ingredients
- Sugar - I use a combination of brown sugar and white granulated sugar for the perfect cookie texture, and powdered sugar for the icing.
- Molasses - the star of the show! This adds both moisture and flavor to the dough, making the cookies super soft. It's like using SUPER dark brown sugar. Lovely!
- Egg - a binder in the cookie dough, also makes the cookies soft and chewy.
- Flour - this recipe uses plain all-purpose flour; I have not tested other varieties.
- Spices - a mix of cinnamon, ginger, and smaller amounts of cloves and nutmeg because of their stronger flavors.
- Baking Soda - the leavening agent in the cookies, also helps them to spread and have the correct texture when baked.
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
✏️ Substitutions & Variations
- Sugar - you can use coconut sugar in place of the brown and granulated sugar in the cookie dough. I have used raw sugar or turbinado sugar (larger granules) to roll the cookies in before baking and it is amazing!
- Some have used pure maple syrup in place of the molasses and have said it's very delicious!
🧑🍳 Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 ℉ and prepare a baking sheet (or two) with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat. I like using baking mats because the cookies don't spread as much and are a little thicker.
- Step 1. In a stand mixer or electric hand mixer, cream together butter, white sugar and brown sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Step 2. Add egg, vanilla, and salt and mix well, about 1 minute until fluffy.
- Step 3. Add in all spices: cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg, and the molasses and mix together until the molasses is evenly distributed throughout the dough.
- Step 4. Add in the flour and baking soda, and mix it in until there are no flour pockets left, about 1 minute.
- Step 5. Scoop or roll into balls, (I use a 1.5 Tablespoon cookie scoop) and roll in white granulated sugar (above left image).
- Step 6. Arrange on prepared baking sheet and bake at 350 ℉ for 8-10 minutes. The sweet spot for me is 9 minutes.
- Step 7. In a bowl or small zip close bag combine the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla and mix until there are no lumps of powdered sugar left. Carefully snip a tiny hole in one corner (above images).
- Step 8. Pipe an "X" shape on the cookie, and then a line sideways or vertical to make a 6 branch star (above left image).
- Step 9. Add a small dot in the center of every triangle (above right image).
- Step 10. At the end of every branch of the star, pipe a small "V" going over the branch to form the end of the snowflakes (above left image).
- Step 11 - Optional: Before the icing dries, carefully dip the cookies in sugar to give the snowflakes a crystal snow effect. Make sure not to smash them into the sugar or the icing design will be squished!
Wait for the icing to harden about 30 minutes to 1 hour before stacking together or freezing. You can always drizzle the icing over each cookie instead of the snowflakes if that suits you. Enjoy!
📌 Top Tips & Hacks
- You can use less flour (3-¼ cups) for thinner, flatter cookies that are a little larger for easier snowflake piping. A little more flour will make thicker cookies.
- I use a zip close bag with a small hole cut into it for piping, but you can always use a very small piping tip and piping bag for neater snowflakes!
- Use 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice if you don't have all of the spices that go into the cookies. It will be a very similar spice mix.
❓Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, it will be more difficult to scoop and the cookies won't spread as much but you can do that.
I find it easier to make the dough, shape it into balls, and then freeze the individual dough balls if I am making them ahead.
Room Temperature: 3 days in an airtight container.
Frozen: up to 3 months raw or baked.
Yes! Follow the recipe to make the cookie dough, roll in granulated sugar, and then freeze on a tray so the balls are not touching for 30 minutes to flash freeze, then transfer to a freezer safe container or zip close bag to freeze for up to 3 months.
I bake for 12-14 minutes at 350 ℉ straight from the freezer on a prepared cookie sheet.
🎄 More Favorite Holiday Cookie Recipes
📝 Printable Recipe
Iced Molasses Cookies
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 1 cup salted butter, room temperature 226 g
- ¾ cup white granulated sugar 160 g
- ¾ cup brown sugar 160 g
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon salt 7 g
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 3 g
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger 1½ g
- ¼ teaspoon ground clove
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅓ cup molasses 105 g
- 3½ cups flour 485 g
- 1 teaspoon baking soda 6 g
- ½ cup extra granulated white sugar for rolling dough in 80 g
For the icing:
- 1½ cups powdered sugar 195 g
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-2 Tablespoons milk or more as needed
Instructions
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare a baking sheet with silicone baking mat or parchment paper.In a stand mixer or electric hand mixer, cream together butter, white sugar and brown sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes
- Add egg, vanilla, and salt and mix well, about 1 minute until fluffy.
- Add in all spices: cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg, and the molasses and mix together until the molasses is evenly distributed throughout the dough.
- Add in the flour and baking soda, and mix it in until there are no flour pockets left, about 1 minute.
- Scoop or roll into balls (I use a 1.5 Tablespoon cookie scoop) and roll in a shallow dish of white granulated sugar.
- Arrange on prepared baking sheet and bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.
- In a bowl or small zip close bag combine the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla and mix until there are no lumps of powdered sugar left. Carefully snip a tiny hole in one corner.
- Pipe an "X" shape on the cookie, and then a line sideways or vertical to make a 6 branch star.
- Add a small dot in the center of every triangle.
- At the end of every branch of the star, pipe a small "V" going over the branch to form the end of the snowflakes.
- Optional: Before the icing dries, dip the cookies in sugar to give the snowflakes a crystal snow effect. Wait for the icing to harden - 30 minutes to 1 hour before stacking together or freezing.
Kabe says
Mine domed a little more than yours did, so piping snowflakes looked a little funny, but a quick drip-and-drip icing and dip in sugar left them looking like perfect little snowdrifts. The cookies themselves are perfectly chewy and moist - a solid recipe and a perfect alternative to much more time consuming rolled gingerbread men in a busy holiday season. Thanks for the recipe!
Alexis says
So easy. So tasty and cute.
Sara says
It always makes my day to hear that. I’m so glad! ❤️
Shawn says
I love gingersnaps! These look so good Sara!
Sara says
Thanks Shawn <3