Molasses Ginger Cookies are spicy and light and delicious.
About Ginger Molasses Cookies
I’ve learned to love gingerbread from making houses to making ginger cookies.
My staple from year to year is Ginger Crinkle Cookies, but this year wanted to change it up a bit with these Molasses Ginger Cookies which are much softer and have incredible flavor.
Plus they really remind me of visiting the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina.
At Christmas time, the chefs of Biltmore get busy and create an exact replica of the Biltmore House in gingerbread for all the visitors to see.
This huge gingerbread house covers the entire pastry counter and the fabulous smell of gingerbread is everywhere.
The Biltmore Estate is wonderful to visit any time of the year, but at Christmas it’s magical.
First opened to the public in 1930, this 175,000 square foot “private house” built by George Vanderbilt between 1889-1895, is decorated from top to bottom with garlands, ribbon and lights, with gorgeously decorated Christmas trees in every room – some of them so large that they hold full sized presents on their boughs.
But being a foodie, I was naturally drawn to the kitchens when I visited there.
Maybe because of the history of the house itself, or maybe because of Downton Abby, the TV series. That series reminded me so much of Biltmore Estate.
Like Downton Abby many guests came to visit the Biltmore Estate and that meant a massive amount of food prep.
But unlike Downton Abby, Biltmore was built with several pantries and 3 kitchens.
Today you can visit the main kitchen which provided meals for the family, the guests and the servants as well as the Rotisserie Kitchen, for all the meats and finally the Pastry Kitchen, for all the desserts.
Since that visit I’ve learned to love gingerbread from making houses to making theses wonderful Molasses Ginger Cookies.
Ingredients of Molasses Ginger Cookies
- Flour
- Baking soda
- Cinnamon
- Ginger
- Cloves
- Allspice
- Butter
- Brown Sugar
- Molasses
- White Vinegar
- Egg
- Sugar
How to Make Molasses Ginger Cookies
These Molasses Ginger Cookies are so simple to make. Just 5 minutes for prep and 12 minutes for baking.
First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
To make for an easy clean up, begin by covering two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Then sift flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves in a bowl and set it aside.
Then add butter and brown sugar to a larger bowl and beat until it’s well blended. Finally add in molasses, egg and white vinegar. (The vinegar not adds flavor but it also creates the cracks on the cookies as they bake). Then add in the flour mixture a little at a time and mix to incorporate between additions until all the flour mixture is used.
Add granulated sugar to a bowl. Roll walnut sized balls in your hands and then roll the balls in the sugar and place them on the baking sheets about 2″ apart.
Optional: If you’d like to have another variation, you can add powdered sugar to a separate bowl to roll the balls in…as I did in the photo below. Either way is fine.
Then place the cookies in the oven and bake 11-12 minutes until the tops begin to crack. Then remove them to a wire rack to cool.
Thought I’d test them out with my chief taster, George. I gave him the whole batch to take to work. He said they were a such a hit that they were all gone within an hour.
This is has been his favorite cookie of all time and he said it isn’t Christmas without them.
Molasses Ginger Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 Cups Flour
- 1 3/4 Tsp Baking Soda
- 1 Tsp Cinnamon Ground
- 2 Tsp Ginger Ground
- 1/2 Tsp Cloves Ground
- 1/4 Tsp Allspice Ground
- 3/4 Cup Butter Cubed
- 1 Cup Brown Sugar
- 1/4 Cup Molasses
- 1/4 Tsp White Vinegar
- 1 Egg
- 1/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 1/4 Cup Powdered Sugar Optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
- Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Sift flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and allspice in a bowl.
- To a larger bowl add butter and brown sugar and beat well until mixture is well blended. Add in molasses, egg and vinegar and continue mixing until blended.
- Add flour mixture a little at a time and mix with each addition until all is incorporated.
- Add granulated sugar in a bowl and powdered sugar in separate bowl.
- Roll dough into walnut size balls, then roll in granulated sugar and place on baking sheet. Continue placing sugar coated rolls on sheet 2” apart.
- Optional: Roll second half of dough in powdered sugar and again place on second baking pan 2” apart.
- Bake 11-12 minutes until tops of cookies crack. Remove to a wire rack and cool.
Nutrition
If you liked this recipe please pin it on Pinterest and be sure and leave a comment below!
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