Move over, chocolate chip. For me, there are few things better than a soft ginger molasses cookie. There, I said it! Come fall, baking a batch of these cookies is the perfect way to make a kitchen feel festive. This is perhaps the easiest cookie recipe on earth and yields incredibly good results every single time. Soft and gingery inside with a light coating of coarse sugar on the outside — it really cannot get any better than this. These cookies are otherworldly when they are fresh out of the oven and still a bit warm, but they keep really well in an airtight container for a few days. Have with tea, coffee, in the morning, in the evening… you get the idea.
Be sure to make a double batch so there are plenty of extras, but be sure to keep an eye on them… these cookies have a habit of disappearing whenever there are leftovers!
Notes: The dough for these cookies likes to be kept on the cool side, so if you are baking in batches be sure to keep the dough chilled. Warm dough will cause the butter to melt, leading to uneven baking and spreading.
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Ingredients:
- ¾ cup unsalted butter (1 ½ sticks), softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp. ground ginger
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- ¾ tsp. ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp. ground cloves
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup molasses
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup coarse sugar, for rolling
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 30 seconds. Add the 1 cup granulated sugar, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, and cloves. Beat until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the egg and molasses and beat until combined.
- Working little by little, beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer and stir in any remaining flour if needed. The dough will have the consistency of play-doh, and this is perfect!
- Shape dough into 1½-inch balls and roll in coarse sugar to coat. Place balls about 2½ inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until light brown but still puffed (do NOT overbake!)
- Once cookies are removed from oven, let stand on cookie sheet for about 2 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool (truthfully, though, these cookies are so good when they are just out of the oven and still a bit warm).
Sophie in the Kitchen 