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Molasses Ginger Cookies with Sparkling Sugar

Molasses Ginger Cookies with Sparkling Sugar

Updated October 28, 2026

Soft, chewy spiced molasses cookies with crackly tops, rolled in coarse sparkling sugar for crunch.

Before you start: soften the butter until it dents easily but isn't greasy; bring the egg to room temperature; line 2 sheet pans with parchment; have a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop ready. Like them crisp? Bake 2 minutes longer.

Store in an airtight container up to 5 days. A slice of bread in the tin keeps them soft. Blackstrap molasses is too bitter here; use regular unsulfured molasses.

Cook time
1 hr 17 min
Rating
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Ingredients

Scale
Measurement units
  • ¾ cup unsalted butter (softened)
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg (room temperature)
  • ¼ cup unsulfured molasses (not blackstrap)
  • 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp ground cloves
  • ½ tsp kosher salt
  • ½ cup coarse sparkling sugar (for rolling)

Instructions

Cream the butter and sugar
Beat softened butter (¾ cup) and sugar (1 cup) until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Beat in egg, then molasses (¼ cup), until smooth.
Equipment: stand mixer or hand mixer
Whisk the dry ingredients
In another bowl, whisk flour (2 ¼ cups), baking soda (2 tsp), ginger (2 tsp), cinnamon (1 tsp), cloves (¼ tsp) and salt (½ tsp).
Combine
Add the dry ingredients and mix on low just until no streaks of flour remain.
Equipment: stand mixer or hand mixer
Chill
Cover and refrigerate until the dough is firm enough to roll, about 30 minutes. Heat the oven to 350°F with racks in the upper and lower thirds.
Shape
Scoop the dough into 2-tablespoon balls, roll each between your palms, then roll in sparkling sugar (½ cup) to coat.
Set them 2 inches apart on the lined pans, 12 per pan.
Equipment: 2-tablespoon cookie scoop, 2 rimmed sheet pans, parchment paper
Bake
Bake, swapping the pans between racks halfway through, until the tops are crackled, the edges are set and the centers still look soft and slightly underdone, about 10 minutes.
Equipment: 2 rimmed sheet pans
Cool
Let the cookies set on the pans for about 5 minutes, then move them to a rack to cool completely.
Equipment: wire rack

Tomorrow's Meal

Ginger Cookie Skillet Apples

Apples sauteed in butter and brown sugar until tender, served warm with yogurt and crumbled leftover molasses cookies.

You'll need to pick up:

2 apples, sliced1 tbsp butter1 tbsp brown sugarplain or vanilla yogurt

Quick overview:

  1. 1.Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat
  2. 2.Add the apples and brown sugar and cook 6 to 8 minutes, stirring now and then, until tender and glazed
  3. 3.Spoon into bowls over yogurt
  4. 4.Crumble 2 or 3 leftover cookies over the top

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