This is my favorite cookie this year. They are easy enough to make to qualify as something to make for cookie swaps, especially if you've, um, waited to long to make them to allow a roll of dough chill long enough to do slice and bake varieties. I modified this recipe ever so slightly from the Chewy Molasses-Spice Cookies at MarthaStewart.com.
I used sanding sugar to coat the balls of dough because it adds a nice bit of crunch. I didn't have white sanding sugar in the house so I used demerara sugar, which is a light brown sugar. I suspect a white sanding sugar would be prettier, but I do like the extra molasses boost the demerara gives.
Here are some balls of dough before being plunked down on a baking sheet:
Sparkling Chewy Molasses Cookies
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled, or 10 ounces)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup molasses, blackstrap works well here
- about 1/2 cup chunky sanding sugar
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
- Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until combined. Beat in the egg, and then the molasses until just combined. Put mixer on low and slowly add the flour mixture just until dough forms.
- Spoon 1 tablespoon of dough at a time, roll into a ball between your palms, then roll in sanding sugar to cover all sides.
- Place on cookie sheets spaced three inches apart (cookies will spread while baking).
- Bake one sheet at a time until edges of cookies are just firming up, 10 to 15 minutes. I found 11 minutes to be perfect in my oven which runs slightly too hot no matter what you do.
- update: If you freeze the balls you can bake them by taking them out of the freezer and putting them right in the oven. It'll take about 15 minutes at 350. The cookies will spread a little less, and crack a bit.
- Allow to cool on baking sheet for a moment then transfer cookies to racks to cool down.
- Will keep for four days in an airtight container.
Makes three dozen cookies, more or less.
19 responses so far ↓
1 Mox Rogers // Dec 21, 2008 at 2:54 pm
I made a very similar recipe a couple weeks ago for my husband's poker night guys group. I got one I think, and the rest got scarfed. They were VERY popular. Like a gingersnap but friendlier.
2 Liz J in Central Illinois // Dec 21, 2008 at 6:34 pm
I found a recipe for Molasses Sugar Cookies a few years ago - - I think in a Southern Living Cookie Cookbook. It's very similar to this recipe, and one of our favorites!
3 Nell // Dec 21, 2008 at 10:51 pm
Yum! Thanks for the recipe!
4 dana mccauley // Dec 22, 2008 at 6:08 am
Looks like you and I are kindred spirits when it comes to cookies! I made a similar recipe for my own sweet tray:
http://danamccauley.wordpress.com/2008/12/15/perfectionista-free-baking
5 adrienne // Dec 22, 2008 at 6:12 am
Those are my favorite molasses cookies ever. I'm actually planning on making a double batch today for giving away! Yum...
6 greta // Dec 22, 2008 at 9:15 am
mmm, i love these cookies. i've been using a similar recipe for about 10 yrs and have always been so pleased with how simple and pretty and incredibly delicious they are. for the record, i've always just used regular granulated sugar for the outside, and they come out just fine. yum!
7 michelle // Dec 22, 2008 at 9:15 am
Those look delicious! And they are very fitting for the season, like a grown-up gingerbread.
8 Seanna Lea // Dec 22, 2008 at 9:30 am
Those look really good.
I have to ask (even though I know google can tell me) what is the difference between sanding sugar and regular granulated sugar?
9 megan // Dec 22, 2008 at 10:27 am
Seanna - Sanding sugar has large crystals which are decorative. You can absolutely use regular granulated sugar for the outside, the original recipe does.
10 Nightfall // Dec 22, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Yum! My 11 year old son devoured these things. I accidentally stuck in two whole sticks of butter instead of the 1 1/2 and they came out just fine.
11 Diane // Dec 22, 2008 at 7:11 pm
Just made them - delish! Thanks much!
12 Kristen // Dec 23, 2008 at 9:34 am
I made a similar recipe this weekend. It included black pepper in the dough, and I love a little hit of salt with my sweets so I added a few pinches of sea salt to the demerara sugar. It was very good.
13 Mia // Dec 24, 2008 at 6:13 pm
They're in the oven right now. They look great! Thanks for the recipe.
14 Tina // Dec 28, 2008 at 11:11 am
I have made very similar cookies(and made dozens for this Christmas, of course)to these--called Molasses Crinkles in the old 1967 edition Fannie Farmer cookbook I have. My recipe calls for Crisco, instead of butter, which is actually a good thing because I am normally a cookie dough eater, but dough with Crisco instead of butter in it doesn't tempt me. I love how they miraculously turn out almost perfectly round when they are done, and they are so easy and tasty. I *might* have to try your/the Martha Stewart recipe sometime, though.
15 Charm // Jan 1, 2009 at 11:54 pm
am making these today to take to a friends house tomorrow... they are so delicious!!
16 chrissy // Jan 2, 2009 at 7:28 am
Just wanted to let you know that I made these last night and they were so easy and turned out perfect! Must be a pretty foolproof recipe, I'm a very amateur baker. Definitely a keeper. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
17 Salty // Jan 8, 2009 at 11:10 am
I made these in the kitchenaid while I had two processes going (pasta making and ice cream making) and with all the on and off mixing, sporatic adding, and eventual scopping- they came out great. Sooo good. And if a recipe can make it through my all-at-once kitchen process, it's a keeper.
18 Ruth M // Jan 16, 2009 at 8:25 am
When we lived in Maine, near Bangor, the women made a large soft molasses cookie to go with the pot of baked beans always hot on the stove. My father affectionately called these cookies "bootheels" cause that was about the size and shape and during mud season... the right color as well.
Any idea where I could find this recipe?
19 Pransellknit » Blog Archive » Madness, part one // Jun 12, 2010 at 10:27 pm
[...] used the Sparkling Chewy Molasses Cookies recipe from Not Martha. If you are even vaguely interested in molasses biscuits, I recommend giving [...]
Leave a Comment