This recipe for my grandma’s molasses cookies makes the perfect classic, spicy cookie. One cookie for each hand!
This recipe for molasses cookies is one of my favorite cookie recipes ever, for a few different reasons. First of all, they are just great cookies, rich with the flavors of molasses and ginger and cinnamon and sugar. Second, they are a snap to make, and they turn out perfectly every time. But most importantly, I make them from a recipe card handwritten by my grandmother, one of the most amazing people I have ever known. Warm, wonderful and just the right amount of spicy, they are cookie perfection. Let’s make them!
My grandmother didn’t do a lot of cooking, but what she made, she made well. I have a crystal-clear memory of being sent outside to play in the mornings on her beautiful Vermont farm with two slices of hot buttered cinnamon toast – one for each hand — and I have never been able to replicate the particular taste of that toast.
She made fantastic pancakes (with Vermont maple syrup of course), and always said she would make as many as we could eat, even if it was HUNDREDS, which my brother and I thought was one of the best things we had ever heard of.
She also made these perfect molasses cookies, and luckily for me at some point she wrote out the recipe for me, in her handwriting that I remember so well right to this day, and every once in a while something reminds me of them and I just have to have them.
For example, every time I am in Sissy’s Kitchen, which is fittingly in my grandmother’s Vermont town of Middletown Springs, I am reminded. Sissy has a jar of something labeled “Gingersnaps.” 25 cents each. The first time I saw this jar I bought — well, never mind how many.
There they are in that jar on the left. And while Sissy may think they are gingersnaps, they tasted very much like my grandma’s molasses cookies, and to be eating them right in the middle of Middletown Springs…well, let’s just say it took me back a little.
And so here I am back in New Jersey, and after that first time with Sissy’s gingersnaps one of the first things I wanted to do was find that recipe and make those molasses cookies.
Sure enough and just like always, they were as sweet and spicy and dependable and wonderful as ever. Just like my Grandma. Print
My Grandma’s Molasses Cookies
Prep Time: 20 minutes- Cook Time: 16 minutes
- Total Time: 36 minutes
Yield: about 36 cookies 1x
Category: Dessert
Method: Oven
Cuisine: American
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeIngredients
- 3/4 cup melted butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1 egg
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon each of ground cloves, ginger and salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- Extra sugar for rolling
Instructions
- Line cookie sheets with parchment or silicone baking sheets.
- Combine butter, sugar, molasses and egg in large mixing bowl
- Combine flour, baking soda and spices in medium bowl
- Add flour mixture to butter mixture and stir until well combined
- Put in refrigerator until dough has hardened at least one hour.
- When you are ready to bake, preheat oven to 350.
- Scoop out dough (I find an ice cream scoop works well for this) and roll into 1 inch balls
- Roll balls in sugar and place on cookie sheet, well-spaced apart
- Press down slightly on cookie dough with the bottom of a glass or jar
- Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cool for about five minutes and then continue cooling on rack.
Updated from an earlier Framed Cooks post
Hi there! I’m Kate, and I’m a recipe writer, food photographer and devoted bacon lover. I started Framed Cooks in 2009, and my mission is to create and share family-friendly recipes that make cooking both easy and fun…yes, I said FUN! My kitchen is my happy place, and I want yours to be that place too. Let’s cook together!
Isn't it wonderful when good recipes can be passed from generation to generation?! I'm inspired to try those cookies. If you don't mind I'd love to direct our Foodista readers to your blog. Just add your choice of widget to this post and you're all set!
I'd love to see the recipe card. :)
xo
Just found you smugmug site and checked out your blog…These all make me sooo want to get in the kitchen, everything looks so good. The photo of the food look so good! Whats in your camera bag? I can't wait to try some of your recipes… thanks for sharing! I love photography and cooking too!
Thanks so much! I shoot with a Nikon D700, usually with a 105mm lens, and either natural light or with my Impact cool lights, which give off a great daylight look. Glad you like the cookies!
Your photos are beyond STUNNING!!!! I am in awe!
Thanks Jennifer! I have a lot of fun shooting them. :-)
i think everyone has a grandma's molasses cookie recipe. your's is just like mine =) i love them. and i love your photos, too!
I love molasses cookies with a passion… and these might be the best ones I've ever had.
Kate,
I was just searching for a molasses cookie recipe. I am at a friend's and don't have my grandmother's (!) recipe with me. How delightful to have found not only your recipe but this fantastic blog. Can't wait to explore! Have a great day and thanks for sharing…
Thanks so much for all these comments! It makes me so happy that my grandma's cookies are finding their way to so many great folks. :-)
Oh Yay! My grandma's molasses sugar cookie recipe uses Crisco which I am moving away from. These are almost identical, so look like a fabulous alternative. Thank you!
Wonderful wonderful photos too.
I've been trying out different molasses cookies for 3 years now. I've never been 100% satisfied. I am 99.9% satisfied with these fantastic cookies. Only a little disappointed in how flat they baked, maybe ill add less butter next time. Every person who tried the cookies said more than "love" they wanted to know when I was making again…the flatness and everything. WOW thank you for the great recipe.
This is amazingly the same exact recipe and instructions that are on the back of the Golding Farms Molasses bottle…
I stumbled onto your blog while looking for a molasses cookie recipe to make for my son. Great blog you have here! :)
Thank you so much — I hope you come back and visit often!
I made the Grandma's Molasses cookies and they are so delicious! There are so many wonderful recipes on this site and the photography is very nice also.Thank you for sharing.:-) Angela
I LOVE THIS! This is the exact recipe that my mother-in-law gave my husb, hand written. It is ALSO the very same recipe on the molasses bottle (not the bunny one). Nonetheless, EVERYONE raves about these cookies!!! They are just perfect!
PS we always add more spices..
PPS we also don't flatten them, they do it themselves, and they are a LITTLE bit chewier rather than crispier. MMMMMMM I want to make some NOW!
This is not the cookie my grandmother made. They were smooth on top and very chewey. Think she used blackstrap molasses. Put in refrigerator over night until cold. Used crisco. Have tried many different recipes all have cracks on the top. Hers were shiney and smooth. can you make any suggestions
Ok, so your backstory on the handwritten recipe card got me! I made these cookies and stuck to the recipe to the letter out of respect to you and your grandmother! I took the cookies to a pool part at a friend's house. A seventy year old man told me he hadn't had cookies that delicious since his mother died. I made him his own batch the next day. Thank you, and thanks to your grandmother!
Greg Smith
I'm in love with Framed! I've never baked molasses cookies before, a friend requested them. After baking the Believe Cake 5 times now (requested constintly)I came here for a molasses cookie recipe. My husband who thinks the cookies are chocolate chip cookies. . . until he had Grandma's Molasses Cookies. He now requests these too. Thanks for all your great pictures, stories and recipes!
I have been looking for a molasses cookie recipe like the kind I remember from my childhood. I remember them as being really dark. Would you use salted or unsalted butter in this? Have seen other recipes calling for oil. Your website is very attractive.
I would use unsalted butter if you have it, although there is so little salt in the salted kind that it really won't make that much of a difference. Happy cooking!
Hello. I love the recipe and the jars in your picture. Can you tell me where you got them?
Thank you so much for a great recipe!
The jars are actually at a store that I visited, so I'm not sure where she got them – but I have similar ones that I found at the Container Store. They have a great website, so give them a try!
I just salivate over every recipe you post and look forward in anticipation
To your next blog to see what recipe we will get. I also just think those
Cookie jars are so elegant, do you know were to purchase them ?
How many cookies does this recipe make?
You know, these are the only cookies that I ever make now, because I've become famous for them. They are seriously the best. Thanks!
I just wanted to let you know… I just made these cookies (literally, they're still on the cooling racks) and I think I just discovered the true meaning of Christmas :) Thank you!
Oh! And I'm going to feature these in my 12 Days of Christmas Cookies over at maryweise.com, if that's ok! I'll definitely be crediting you and linking back :)
@Anonymous: they make about 24 cookies, depending on how big or small you make the dough balls
@Mary: I think they smell like Christmas too! Happy to have you feature them.
@Alex: This is a great cookie to be famous for, and love the hat!
@ Everyone who asks about the cookie jars: The Container Store.
Sorry, but my batch of cookies turned out like pralines. Too much butter, not enough flour. Like my cookies a little thicker.
I wanted to make molasses cookies because I had molasses and I don't like molasses cookies, so Christmas was the perfect excuse to bake a bunch and give them away. Unfortunately, I found these cookies to be way too yummy to give them ALL away. Your Grandma did good. Thanks for passing along! -Martha
I'm about to make these cookies, or some variation of them, for my hubby who out of the blue requested molasses cookies. Not sure where that came from, as he's never asked for them before, but yours look devine. If I get a minute I'll be sure to blog about it at sweettooththerapy.blogspot.com Thanks for sharing such a great blog post.
Love the pics and cookies!
I wanted to thank you for sharing this delicious recipe! My husband always talks about the molasses cookies that his grandma used to make, so I wanted to find a grandma's recipe! He loved them! Thank you!
I'm so glad that everyone is continuing to love these cookies! I might have to make another batch this weekend…it will be my millionth one, but who's counting?? :)
So, I made these cookies before, and they turned out awesome. Everyone raved! But the second time I made them, they got seriously flat and basically like a crisp. I did the same thing both time, triple checked my measurements.. what went wrong!
awesome cookies. I added some crystalized ginger as well as the other spices. Result was very soft and buttery. yum.
i had a HUGE craving for molasses cookies last night and wanted to make them for my Bible study– so I googled "molasses cookies" and read several different recipes but liked your sweet grandma's the best—– I was NOT disappointed! THEY ARE AMAZING!!!!!!!! and i'm SO GLAD i had leftovers!!!!! THANKS for sharing such a treasure of a recipe. :)
Ella and Yolanda: I'm so glad – and I know my grandma would be too!
Anon: Oh dear…the only thing I can think of is that maybe the dough didn't get hard enough? I hope you'll try them again!
These are the best molasses cookies ever! Thank you for sharing the recipe.
One good trick from my mom's molasses recipes that can be applied here too:
Instead of putting the mixture in the fridge in a bowl, split the mix in two and wrap them in foil, forming them like a sausage…this way, when it hardens, you can cut them with a butter knife and have a perfect shape. You can keep the second "sausage" for another day…these cookies are soooo good warm out of the oven I like to always eat fresh batches. Thanks so much for sharing…
LOVE the "sausage" idea – I'm definitely trying that next time!
Oh, my, I can't wait to make these. My tastebuds believe that molasses cookies are some of the most underrated cookie ever and would enjoy finding them in more glass jars around town. I love how you liken these cookies to your grandmother with the last sentence. :)
Today is my grandma Millie's 91st birthday, so this post resonants with me greatly. I can envision the recipe card I have in her handwriting for Petits Choux (straight outta Betty Crocker, btw), something we make together every Christmas.
my husband asked for molasses there his favorite i make cookies all the time but never molasses. but after reading your blog tomorrow will be the day. i'll get back and let you know how it went
I made a batch to send to my Dad and they disappeared before I got the chance to package them up! Just made another one tonight and am guarding it :)
The family's favorite recipe of the season. Thanks for sharing!
which flour do you recommend using – all purpose or self rising?
Definitely all-purpose. :)
About how many cookies does 1 recipe make?
It usually makes about 30 or so for me.
My grandma used to make something very similar to this but they were chewy and smooth on the top. I have the "recipe" but i do not think it is complete. Ot inam doing it wrong. I have tried many different times and have not been able to get them right. Does anyone have any suggestions or recipes. We just called them night cookies. I am not a great baker so any suggesstions would be great.
I can alos email the recipe
I can’t wait to try this recipe. I love recipes that have been passed down through generations. Thank you for sharing your grandmothers recipe.
You are so welcome – I hope you love it as much as I do!
At 8500 ft where we live most cookies spread too much. To remedy that problem we reduce the amount of sugar and fat.
Thanks TaosRob…and wow, that is high up there! Must be beautiful.
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!! Just made these and these very fantastic!!
Tarah, I’m so glad! They are my favorite cookies in the whole wide world. :)
Thank you for these wonderful cookies and simplistic recipe. I look for this EVERY year…I really should write this down :)
Or you can just keep coming back to Framed Cooks to visit! :) :)
Oh my, I just wanted to reach into that picture and grab a couple of those! Your Grandma sounded just like mine with the pancakes!
Aren’t our grandmas the best? :)
Those are the best kind of recipes Kate! These sound just wonderful. My son Sean loves molasses cookies. I suspect a few of these will be in his next care package!
Don’t you just love making care packages for our chickies? :)
Grandma’s cookies are the best! Love that you made this based off of your grandma’s recipe. Just looking at that stack makes me drool! Hope you’re having an awesome weekend Kate! :)
Grandma’s cookies ARE the best! :)
So glad that you shared your Grandma’s recipe, Kate! Grandmas make the BEST food! Wish I had the entire stack of these babies!
Grandmas DO make the best food!
i know why they’re so good–SO much butter! i’d eat these like it was my job. :)
everything is better with butter!
Oh goodness, I ate too many Molasses Cookies over the Christmas Holiday, because I made a few batches and then my husband told me he doesn’t like molasses cookies anymore. Ummmm… since when?! ;) Needless I say I was forced to eat them all. hahaha. I’m adding your cookies to my list of must make as soon as I’m craving cookies again! Yours look wonderful, Kate!! Cheers!
It is our solemn duty to eat All The Cookies. :)
Recipes that have been passed down generations are always the best!
Aren’t they? Extra sweetness.
Isn’t it wonderful when we have a little bit of our family history available through recipes like your grandmother’s cookies that you enjoyed so much. I bet they are delicious.
They are the best! :)
Thank you so for sharing your grandmother’ s recipe with us. These cookies look wonderful. Old family recipes are the best, can’t wait to try this recipe.
Thank you – they are my faves!
I knew you’d want to “fix” it, continue cooling on rack (not “cooking”) My grandma would somehow have to re-soften her molasses cookies when we came to visit as they had gone a bit stale in the cookie jar, also the best potato chips were her “warmed on a cookie sheet” stale potato chips from our last visit, ah the memories one cookie can bring to mind. Love your blog.
Oh my goodness, thanks for the catch – all fixed! And yes, grandma treats memories are some of the best. :)