Christmas Gingerbread Molasses Cookies
These oh-so delicious, yet easy to make Gingerbread Molasses Cookies are the perfect holiday cookie. Made with double the gingerbread spice, molasses, AND brown sugar to create the ultimate festive treat, these cookies are thick and chewy, yet crispy on the edges, while being totally delicious! Every bite is the perfect combination of sweet, yet spicy, buttery, with hints of molasses throughout. What’s not to love?! Fun to make and even easier to decorate. These gingerbread molasses crinkle cookies are the perfect homemade gift to give this holiday season!
The holidays aren’t complete until a batch of Gingerbread Cookies, Ginger Molasses Cookies, or Gingersnaps are made. This year, though, we opted to combine all of our favorite holiday cookies to create these gingerbread crinkle cookies!
It has the delicious spiciness of gingerbread, the crinkly chewy goodness of the molasses cookies, and finally some crispy edges to be similar to the classic gingersnap.
All together, it creates the perfect holiday cookie!
What Makes These Gingerbread Molasses Cookies SO Good?
- Just the right amount of spice. These cookies are made with the perfect blend of spices to warm you up this holiday season!
- Chewy and crunchy goodness. The textures in these cookies are mouth-watering! Crispy edges, chewy centers…what more could you want?
- The icing!!! I am definitely an icing girlie, and the icing on these cookies balance out the spiciness to add an extra bit of sweetness and creaminess.
- We know gingerbread. My mom and I have been making all things gingerbread – from our No Bake Gingerbread Cheesecake and Gingerbread Ice Cream. to our Gingerbread Cupcakes for YEARS. We know how to give you the most delicious gingerbread spiced dessert!
- No refrigeration. Yep! These cookies need zero refrigeration time…which means, these cookies are ready in LESS than an hour.
Ingredients Needed To Make These Gingerbread Molasses Crinkle Cookies
Full ingredient amounts and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
For The Cookies:
- Unsalted Butter – Adding richness, tenderness, and structure, unsalted butter also has a bright, fresh flavor while allowing us to control the amount of salt.
- Brown Sugar – Creating moist, chewy cookies, brown sugar both sweetens and helps them spread.
- Egg Yolk – The binder for the dough, egg yolk also adds richness and tenderness.
- Molasses – A key component in gingerbread, molasses adds depth and complexity as well as a bit of sweetness. It gives these cookies their classic color and helps to keep them moist.
- All-Purpose Flour – Using plain all purpose flour is the way to go here. The protein content gives the dough the structure it needs.
- Baking Powder – Not only does baking powder help give these cookies that soft, chewy center, it’s what causes the “crinkle” appearance.
- Salt – Just a little bit of salt enhances the flavor and cuts some of the sweetness.
- Gingerbread Spice – A blend of ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and cloves, gingerbread spice gives these cookies warmth and complexity, as well their distinct flavor.
- Granulated Sugar – Rolling the balls of cookie dough in granulated sugar enhances the crinkled appearance of these cookies, as well as contributing to the texture and flavor of the baked cookie.
For The Icing:
- Powdered Sugar – Because it melts easily, powdered sugar ensures a smooth icing.
- Gingerbread Spice – Using a small amount of gingerbread spice enhances the flavor of the icing.
- Whole Milk – The liquid component that turns powdered sugar into icing, we used whole milk because we wanted just a tiny bit of richness without adding additional flavor.
- Vanilla Extract – Just a bit of vanilla extract enhances the flavor of the icing.
How To Make These Gingerbread Molasses Cookies (Step-by-Step!)
Step 1: Prepare cookie dough
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and gingerbread spice.
Beat butter and sugar until creamy, about 1-2 minutes.
Beat in egg yolk.
Mix in molasses.
Stir in flour mixture.
Step 2: Roll and bake
Use a 1½ Tablespoon scoop to portion dough. Roll each scoop into a ball and coat in granulated sugar.
Place on prepared pans. Bake for 12 minutes, or until done.
Step 3: Make icing
In a small bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, gingerbread spice, milk, and vanilla.
Step 4: Dip
Dip ⅓-½ of each cooled cookie in icing.
Set aside to dry.
FAQ’s and Troubleshooting
Of course! Once the cookie dough is mixed, you can portion the dough, place on a lined sheet pan, and freeze until hardened. Once the cookie dough balls are frozen solid, place in a freezer safe zip-top bag and freeze for 1-2 months.
This could be caused by two things! Either the cookies were over-baked or the flour was over-measured. Both of these can cause your cookies can cause your cookies to be dry.
You may have over mixed the dough, your oven may not be at the right temperature, the cookies weren’t rolled in granulated sugar, or you decided to make smaller cookies instead of the size called for. All of these things contribute to the spread of the cookie.
If your cookies are burned on the bottom, you could be baking on a dark colored pan (we always recommend baking cookies on light colored sheet pans!), you baked on the bottom rack, or your oven temperature was too hot. Check your oven temperature with an oven thermometer to ensure that it’s accurate!
Decorating Ideas
I love to decorate these cookies with assorted Christmas Sprinkles! It keeps them oh-so festive while still being super simple. But, here are a few more ways to decorate these cookies.
- Cover the tops with icing and place half of a jumbo marshmallow on top. Fromt here, you can decorate it to look like a melting snowman!
- Color the icing red and green! That way, after dipping, you can have red and green dipped cookies to make them extra festive. Or, if you’re a grinch fan, only color your icing green and place a red heart sprinkle on each cookie.
- Create little holly buds on each cookie by using holly sprinkles!
Looking for more cookies? Here are a few recipes you may like:
Christmas Gingerbread Molasses Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- ⅜ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ⅝ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
- 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
- ¼ cup molasses
- 1½ cups all purpose flour*
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ⅜ teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon gingerbread spice
- ¼ cup granulated sugar, for coating
Icing
- 1½ cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 teaspoon gingerbread spice
- 2 Tablespoons whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Cookies
- Heat oven to 375℉.
- Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and gingerbread spice.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a bowl with a hand mixer, beat butter and sugar until creamy, about 1-2 minutes.
- Beat in egg yolk.
- Mix in molasses.
- Stir in flour mixture.
- Use a 1½ Tablespoon scoop to portion dough.
- Roll each scoop into a ball and coat in granulated sugar.
- Place on prepared pans.
- Bake for 12 minutes, or until done.
- Allow to cool on pan.
Icing
- In a small bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, gingerbread spice, milk, and vanilla.
- Dip ⅓-½ of each cooled cookie in icing.
- Place on cooling rack or parchment paper to dry.
- Top with Christmas jimmies while icing is still wet, if desired.
Notes + Tips!
- If you can’t find a gingerbread spice blend, you can make your own! Whisk together 2 Tbsp ground ginger, 4 tsps ground cinnamon, 2 ½ tsps ground allspice, 1 ⅛ tsps ground nutmeg, and 2 ¼ tsps ground cloves. This will make more than you need for this recipe. Store any unused spice in a airtight container and keep at room temperature.
- Don’t forget to preheat your oven and line your pans.
- For this recipe, it’s best to bake on light colored sheet pans.
- Be careful to not over-work the dough!
- When scooping, it’s best to roll the dough ball between your palms before rolling it in the granulated sugar.
- To ensure these cookies are all the same size, it’s best to use a cookie scoop!
Tools You May Need (affiliate links)
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
– Still Hungry? –
Here are a few recipes may like!
I can’t believe I’m just now finding this recipe!!! I’m defintely saving it to make next Christmas. They’re so cute!!!
We all agreed that these are some of the best gingerbread cookies we’ve had. Soft, chewy and the perfect amount of spice!
Hi Kristin! Thank you for making our recipe. We’re so happy to hear that everyone enjoyed it! I hope you find more recipes to love on our blog! x, Caylie