These soft, cozy, spice-filled Ginger Molasses Cookies are the ultimate holiday cookies that you will want to make year round! Made with sweet and spicy ground ginger along with a blend of warm holiday spices, each bite is rich, fragrant, and deeply comforting. Little bursts of chewy candied ginger are tucked throughout the dough, adding pops of sweetness and a gentle heat that keeps things interesting.
Every year for as long as I can remember, with the exception of the year I had my baby right around the holidays, I’ve always baked a kitchen full of cookies to give out to friends and family. A few years back, I made these molasses ginger cookies with crystallized ginger as part of a virtual Christmas cookie swap since I won’t be able to hand deliver cookies to all the lovely friends I’ve made through this wonderful blogging community.
While it’s really hard to pick a favorite from my big list of holiday cookies, I have to admit these special candied ginger cookies are definitely at the top of the list. They are not quite the typical ginger molasses cookies, which is part of the reason why I’m drawn to them. I hope you’ll enjoy them too!
Key ingredients and substitution notes
As always, you’ll find the complete list of ingredients and quantities in the recipe card at the end of this post. Below are some notes and substitution tips:
- Candied ginger – or crystallized ginger, you can get these in bulk or prepackaged at most grocery store. We usually get ours at Sprouts whenever Thanksgiving comes around and Ryan’s getting ready to make his roast turkey. He uses it in the turkey brine.
- Brown sugar – light or dark both work. In a pinch you can also use granulated sugar, just because we’ll add molasses as well in this recipe so it doesn’t make too much of a difference. Readers have also used muscovado as well.
- Molasses – use regular molasses, not blackstrap molasses. For those of you in the UK or Europe, I believe treacle is a good substitute even if not exactly the same.
- Spices – there are lots of spices in these candied ginger cookies: ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and cloves. The main spices are ginger and cinnamon, you just need a pinch of the other 3 spices. And if you don’t have one of the supporting spices, you may omit them. Or use a pinch of pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice instead. The purpose is to layer the flavors to add complexity to these cookies
Let’s make molasses ginger cookies with candied ginger
The following instructions, step-by-step photos, and tips are here to help you visualize how to make the recipe. You can always skip straight to the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
This cookie dough is extremely simple to make. Start by creaming soften butter with brown sugar. Then add the molasses, followed by egg and vanilla extract. Stir in the flour mixture until just combined.
Then add in the diced candied ginger. Always give it a last quick stir with a spatula to scrape down the side and bottom of the bowl and ensure everything is well mixed without overmixing the dough.
This dough is soft but should be pretty easy to handle. I use large cookie scoop (3-tablespoon size) to portion the dough. This batch will yield about 13 portions. Roll each portion into a ball, then roll the balls in raw sugar.
Tip: If the dough seems sticky, you can pop them in the fridge to chill for 10-15 minutes just so they are easier to handle.
Flatten the dough balls before baking, this will help them spread evenly and yield perfectly round cookies.
Baker’s tips straight from our wonderful readers
- Make them smaller – some readers found these cookies too large so you can use a smaller cookie scoop to make smaller size cookies. Just be sure to reduce baking time as well.
- Modify for your elevation or oven temperature – a reader wrote in to say that her cookies came out dry at higher elevation. She suggested dropping the oven temperature and bake time by a minute. And if your oven temperature runs hot, you may want to reduce bake time or adjust the set temperature as well.
FAQs from our readers
No, this candied ginger cookie dough is very soft and will spread. It is more akin to a snickerdoodle cookie dough rather than a shortbread cookie dough so it is not suitable for rolling and cutting.
My friend Marie at Sugar Salt Magic has a recipe for ginger shortbread that might work for cutting.
Hungry for more?
Ginger Molasses Cookies with Candied Ginger
Equipment
Ingredients
- ¼ cup diced candied ginger
- 4 oz unsalted butter, room temperature, 113 g
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar, 66 g
- ¼ cup molasses, 84 g
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour, 203 g
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- A pinch of ground allspice
- A pinch of ground nutmeg
- A pinch of ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅓ cup raw cane sugar or turbinado sugar for rolling
Instructions
- Dice the candied ginger (or crystallized ginger) into small pieces, measure out ¼ cup and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 or 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Cream soften butter and sugar in a mixing bowl with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Add molasses and beat to combine. Add egg and vanilla extract and beat until combined.
- Add flour, spices, salt, baking powder and baking soda to a small bowl and mix with a whisk to distribute evenly. With the mixer on the lowest speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the stand mixer bowl and mix until just combined.
- Stir in the chopped candied ginger set aside earlier. Use a spatula to scrape the side and bottom of the bowl to ensure everything is incorporated.
- Spread raw sugar on a shallow dish or plate. Use a large cookie scoops to divide the dough into 13 portions, about 1.5 oz each. Roll each portion of dough into balls, then roll the balls in raw sugar. Place them on the prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart.
- Just before baking, use the bottom of a measuring cup to flatten the dough balls. Bake one baking sheet at a time for 12 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, let cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 – 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- To chill or not to chill: This dough is soft but should be easy to handle. However, if you find it sticky, you can chill it in the fridge for 15 minutes or so before rolling it into ball. Chill it after you have portioned it out with a cookie scoop.
- Storage: Store at room temperature in an airtight container. They will last 3-5 days.
- Freezing the dough: The dough freezes well and will last 3-6 months. First, freeze them in one layer on a baking sheet until solid, then transfer to a freezer bag for longer storage.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!
Soft and full bodied spice flavor. Mmmmm! Thanks!
Can’t get enough of these cookies. This is truly a fabulous recipe. I make these cookies every season not just for holidays. Thank you so much.
Thank you Julie! So glad to hear you’re enjoying these year round!!!
This is an awesome recipe! I make molasses ginger cookies often and particularly in the wintertime, during the holidays they make the whole house smell so good! Not sure if anyone has already stated this, but the dough freezes well so you can have this cookie anytime you crave it!
Excellent cookie! The bits of crystallized ginger are a real treat. I used dark muscovado sugar instead of light brown sugar. I would certainly make them again.
The flavor is great, mine came out a little dry. It’s likely my elevation – but I’ll drop the temp and the cook time by a minute the next time I make them.