Old Fashioned Molasses Cookies are soft and moist; they are nostalgic and perfect for sharing, gift-giving, or just relaxing at home with an afternoon tea.
This is my version of an updated old-fashioned cookie. Where I grew up, molasses was a staple. In fact, when I was a kid, molasses was as common as almost any other ingredient. My mom would bake cookies, cakes, and breads with it. We used it as a spread on sliced-bread. (I loved to mix molasses with peanut butter!) It was used in baked beans and glazed ham; and even as a topping for fried bread dough (toutons).
DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME!
Did you know that molasses can be medicinal? A teaspoon of molasses, which as been slightly warmed by hovering the spoon over your stove’s burner, and carefully allowing the warm, sticky syrup to pour into your ear, and then gently stuffed with cotton, will relieve an ear ache. I’m sure there are many fellow Newfoundlander’s who know just what I’m talking about! It was an instant relief for an ear ache.
Molasses is always present in my pantry. I don’t get to use it as much as my mom did, even though I often make traditional Newfoundland recipes. However, it’s been many, many years since I’ve spread it on bread! It was delicious when I was younger, but my tastes have changed over the years.
In this Old Fashioned Molasses Cookie recipe, molasses is combined with other strong smelling and tasting ingredients such as cinnamon, ginger, and cloves to make a comforting, home-style, old-fashioned cookie. So, bake these up, make a cup of tea, and snuggle up on your couch with a good book. The cookies will make the reading so much more enjoyable – I swear!
MOLASSES 101
There are basically three types of molasses – light, dark, and blackstrap. If you boil cane sugar once, you will get light molasses. If you boil it twice, you’ll get dark molasses. So, boiling it three times, must mean that you’ll get blackstrap molasses. Remember, the darker the molasses (blackstrap) the less sweet and more bitter it is.
Never use blackstrap molasses in a recipe unless instructed to do so by the author of the recipe. You can use light or dark without changing the taste drastically. There’s also sulphured and unsulphured molasses. The difference between the two is that the sulphured molasses has been chemically treated with preservatives. Nearly 100% of the time, I use unsulphured light molasses.
EVERYONE LOVES OLD FASHIONED THINGS
As a take-along holiday treat, Old Fashioned Molasses Cookies are a winner. Not only are they easy to make, and use very inexpensive ingredients, there’s also no fussing about with sprinkles or icing of any kind. This, of course, make them very easy to pile high into a box; tie a big ribbon on it and you’ll be the cookie hero at this year’s Christmas parties and functions.
Everyone – at least everyone that I’ve ever met – loves the taste and aroma of molasses cookies. The addition of the cinnamon, ginger, and cloves simply heightens the flavour profile and adds depth and warmth to Christmas cozy and comforting treat.
And, if you’re feeling adventurous and you want you add some flare to these, you can certainly top them with a simple cream cheese icing. Just smear the icing liberally on top and add a little dash of festive candy sprinkles. Get the kids involved with this part – they’ll love it!
Old-Fashioned Molasses Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 3/4 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and be sure the rack is set to the middle position.
- Prepare a baking sheet by lining with a silicone pad or parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and molasses with a hand-held mixer.
- Add the egg and mix well on low speed.
- Add the dry ingredients and the milk.
- Once again, on low speed, use your mixer to incorporate all of the ingredients. Don’t over mix, just until the white of the flour disappears.
- Use a small cookie scoop to portion the cookie dough. Drop onto prepared baking sheet. Leave at least a 3 inch space between each for growth.
- Bake for 15 minutes.
- Allow cookies to cool for two minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to continue cooling.
Nutrition
WhitBit's Indian Kitchen says
I love molasses and these seem like the perfect Christmas cookies!
Daisy says
Great recipe!
Brian Jones says
Definitely rocking all of the required Christmas flavours in this recipe… Nice one!
byronethomas@gmail.com says
Thanks, Brian. Have I persuaded you to bake more? 🙂
Paige says
Delicious! I am thinking these cookies with a bit of Marscapone cheese on top might be pure heaven 🙂
byronethomas@gmail.com says
That would be great, Paige. I prefer a little smear of butter, but the cheese would be a nice spread too.
Whitney says
Now I’ve gotta try some molasses and peanut butter! haha 🙂 These cookie sound so yummy!
byronethomas@gmail.com says
Hahaha – it sounds none too pleasant, but I used to love the combination.
Hillary Reeves says
These are gorgeous. We did *not* use a lot of molasses growing up like you did, but I’ve been wanting to incorporate it more into my kitchen. Cookies, here I come!
byronethomas@gmail.com says
I love using molasses – it’s the sugar with so much more flavour.
Patty says
I made these and followed the directions exactly. Definitely a winner! Low fuss and hassle here-what I look for in my most fav recipes. 5 STAR RECIPE HERE!!!!
byronethomas@gmail.com says
Glad to hear it, Patty! 🙂
Evelyn says
First time …. in the oven …. smell delicious … no cloves put 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg (?). I’m not a baker but love to bake more than “cook”. I’m always mixing up a bowl of something to pop in oven… love the “”house a home””smell:)
Thank you for keeping it simple!
Mark says
We always made ours with raisins
byronethomas@gmail.com says
I’ve had them that way too. 🙂
Jill says
I found this recipe when I was trying to recreate some cookies my father lovingly reminisces about from his childhood. I searched for molasses drop cookies online and was trying to figure out which one was most like he described. As New Brunswickers ourselves, I figured a Newfoundland recipe would be just about what he had when he was young. Sure enough, he says these are just right. Thank you so much for sharing, he’s been craving these for about fifty years!
byronethomas@gmail.com says
Thank you, Jill! Knowing that makes me smile. I’m so happy for both you and your dad!
madeline hayward says
I made these so yummy…
Melanie says
Have made these a dozen times at least. I like that it uses a little less butter and sugar than some of the other recipes I’ve come across.
I’m wondering, can the dough be frozen to bake at a later date?
byronethomas@gmail.com says
Thank you, Melanie. I have not tried it that way, but I have certainly baked them, cooled them completely, and then froze them. They will thaw nicely and keep their texture if you lay them out in a single layer on a cooling rack so that air can circulate as they thaw.
Crystal says
This recipe is really good. Cookies were perfect. Thanks for sharing.