Have you ever tried ginger molasses cookies made with five spice? If not, you're in for a treat! This chewy ginger molasses cookies recipe is easy to make and creates soft cookies with a hint of five-spice and vanilla flavor. They are fantastic on their own, and absolutely to die for when paired up with ice cream and made into an ice cream sandwich!
Table of Contents
- What are Five Spice Ginger Molasses Cookies?
- Why You’ll Love This Ginger Molasses Cookies Recipe
- Ingredients for Ginger Molasses Cookies
- How to Make Ginger Molasses Cookies (Step by Step)
- Troubleshooting the Cookie
- Heat and Overcooking the Cookies
- Joyce’s Tips For Making the Best Ginger Molasses Cookies
- Serving Suggestions
- Recipe Variation Ideas for Ginger Molasses Cookies
- Frequently Asked Questions
- How to Store Leftover Ginger Molasses Cookies
- Recipes To Use Up Leftover Five Spice
- More Sweets and Deserts You May Like
- Recipe Card
Flat and chewy. Those are my only two requirements for a good cookie. If it has crispy edges it's a bonus (a really big bonus), but for this cookie recipe, we won't be trying to get the crispy edges because, to me, ginger molasses cookies are meant to be soft and chewy and crazy comforting, and they are definitely not limited to just Christmas time.
These five-spice cookies have that classic flavor and perfect texture, but what's even better is that they're easy to make too! This recipe will prove to you that you don't need any complicated ingredients or steps to get the best ginger molasses cookies ever!
Read on to learn exactly how to make this delicious ginger molasses cookie recipe today!
What are Five Spice Ginger Molasses Cookies?
Ginger molasses cookies are classic holiday cookies with a sweet and spicy flavor that are crispy, soft, chewy, and absolutely delicious. The flavor comes from molasses and ginger, but this recipe takes it to the next level with some Chinese five-spice powder.
Unlike ginger snap cookies, which are meant to be thin and crisp, these have those crispy edges, but they're thick and chewy (and so tasty!). They're my go-to holiday cookie and the ones everyone gravitates towards!
And if you've ever tried the ones from Starbucks, then trust me, these are better any day! They have the perfect flavor and texture and are so easy to make. You'll enjoy making them even if you don't have much experience baking cookies.
Why You’ll Love This Ginger Molasses Cookies Recipe
- Easy to Make: With clear, simple instructions and common ingredients, this recipe takes the guesswork out of baking. Even if you're a beginner, you'll find these cookies are easy to whip up.
- A Twist on a Classic Flavor: Each bite of these cookies is packed with classic ginger molasses flavors but with an additional flavor of five spice. The combination of sweet molasses, warming spices, and a hint of vanilla extract creates a cookie that's incredibly delicious and satisfying.
- Perfect Texture: These cookies are perfectly chewy and soft on the inside with a slight crisp outside for the best combination of textures.
- Holiday Ready: If you've been trying to find the best recipe for some Christmas cookies, then this one is the one for you! They're delicious, festive, and perfect for not just Christmas but any time of the year.
Ingredients for Ginger Molasses Cookies
- Butter - I use unsalted butter as the fat in the recipe, which gives it a rich, buttery flavor to your chewy ginger molasses cookies. Creaming the butter with sugar helps the cookies rise and gives them a light, fluffy texture.
- Sugar - I use cane sugar for this recipe, but white sugar will work as well. Rolling the cookie dough in extra sugar before baking will give your ginger cookies a delightful crunch on the outside, contrasting beautifully with their chewy insides..
- Eggs - These are crucial for binding the ingredients together. When at room temperature, they incorporate more easily into the batter.
- Molasses - Use fancy molasses and not blackstrap molasses for this recipe. Fancy molasses is higher in sugar so it tastes sweeter - blackstrap molasses has a bitter undertone to it. Fancy molasses is also a lot runnier and easier to work with, whereas blackstrap molasses is very thick and harder to mix into the flour.
- Vanilla Extract: This adds a hint of warm, sweet vanilla flavor that compliments the spices in the cookies.
- All Purpose Flour: This is the main dry ingredient that provides structure to your cookies. Remember to level off your measuring cup to avoid adding too much.
- Baking Soda: This leavening agent helps your cookies rise.
- Salt: Just a bit of this enhances the flavors and balances out the sweetness in the cookies.
- Ground Ginger and Cinnamon: These spices are the heart of the flavor in your ginger cookies, giving them a warm, spicy kick.
- Five-Spice - For this recipe, I like to use Chinese five-spice, but you can use any kind that you can find. Make sure not to buy allspice, it is a very different flavor and spice.
How to Make Ginger Molasses Cookies (Step by Step)
Making this incredible ginger molasses cookies recipe at home is super easy and will give you great results every single time. Here's how to make it step by step:
Making the Cookie Dough
Prepare the Butter: Allow the butter to reach room temperature by leaving it out for a few hours until it softens.
Cream the Butter and Sugar: Use a stand mixer or hand mixer to mix the butter and granulated sugar together until they turn into a pale yellow color and have a fluffy texture. Remember, the butter should be soft before you begin this step.
Add Eggs: Incorporate the eggs one at a time, continuing to mix.
Blend in Molasses and Vanilla extract: Continue mixing as you add the cup molasses and vanilla extract until everything is well combined and fluffy. Don't forget to scrape down the bowl's sides to guarantee that all ingredients are evenly mixed.
Mix Dry Ingredients: In a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients, including purpose flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, salt, and ground ginger, and mix well. Make sure to break apart any clumps in your baking soda before adding it to the dry mixture.
Combine Wet and Dry mixtures: Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet mixture in a few batches, mixing on low speed to prevent the flour from flying everywhere. Remember to occasionally scrape down the bowl to mix the dough evenly.
Prepare Sugar for Rolling: In a bowl, add in a half cup of sugar. This will be used to roll the cookie dough balls in after they are formed. If it doesn't seem like enough sugar, feel free to add more later.
Baking the Ginger Cookies
Preheat the Oven: Before you begin baking, preheat the oven to a temperature of 350 F (176C) and position your oven rack in the middle.
Prepare Baking Sheets: Line your cookie trays with parchment paper and set them aside.
Form Cookie Dough Balls: Scoop out three tablespoons of cookie dough and roll it into a ball slightly larger than a golf ball. This dough is very soft, so if your hands are warm, try cooling your hands by running cold water over your wrists to cool them down before rolling them into balls.
Bake the Cookies: Bake each tray of cookies for around nine to eleven minutes. Keep a close eye on the cook time, as every oven is different. The cookies should start to puff up around the eight-minute mark. To prevent overcooking, remove the cookies at the eleven-minute mark. If you have a gas oven, you may need to bake for a bit longer as they tend to run cooler than electric ovens.
Rest the Cookies: It is crucial to let the cookies rest on the baking sheets for at least ten minutes without moving them. They continue to cook from the residual heat, which will slowly deflate and flatten the cookies. It is a good idea to have two baking sheets so you can bake one batch while the other batch cools.
Transfer Cookies to a Cooling Rack: After ten to fifteen minutes of cooling, move the cookies to a cooling rack.
Enjoy your Cookies: You can now enjoy your chewy ginger molasses cookies as they are, or make them even more delicious by pairing them with some vanilla ice cream!
Troubleshooting the Cookie
Baking is finicky. There are so many factors to it - it literally is science and a lot of different things may impact how your cookies turn out. I like to use my first cookie tray to gauge how the rest of my cookies turn out so you may need to do the same if they don't turn out the way they should.
- If your first tray of ginger molasses cookies are SUPER flat - try to add 3-5 more tablespoons of flour into the dough and chill the dough before rolling it into the sugar. In this case, even making the cookie balls smaller might help because it will look the dough faster and won't allow the cookie to 'melt'.
- If your first tray of ginger molasses cookies is super puffy and cake-like - try adding more butter. Add approximately ¼ cup of melted butter and remix your dough again. Another thing I found was that skimping on sugar will produce a puffier cookie as well. I like to cut sugars in all my baked goods from time to time as well but in some cases, you can't if you want to achieve a certain consistency. Another thing to keep in mind as well is the measurement of your ingredients. Make sure you are not using a heaping cup of flour, use a knife to scrape off excess flour from the measuring cup. Lastly, make sure your cookie dough balls are not too small, they will cook too fast, which will make them puffier.
Heat and Overcooking the Cookies
It is SUPER IMPORTANT not to overcook these cookies. When you take these little guys out of the oven, they will feel SUPER soft and some might even look slightly puffy in the middle.
It's okay! Just make sure you leave them on the cookie sheet to cool. No touchy, no moving it to a cookie rack - just let it be for approximately 10 minutes on the cookie sheet, it's still cooking with the residual heat from it.
In that 10 minutes, your cookie will start to harden a bit and the middles should deflate and come down flatter in size. For the sake of speed, I like to have 2 cookie sheets on the go, so that when one tray is in the oven the other tray can sit outside and cool.
Joyce’s Tips For Making the Best Ginger Molasses Cookies
- Make Sure the Butter is at Room Temperature: To make the perfect chewy ginger molasses cookies, it is important to leave the butter out for a few hours until it softens. This makes it easier to cream with the sugar, contributing to a light and fluffy texture in your cookies.
- Use a Mixer for Creaming: A stand mixer or hand mixer will help you achieve a creamy and fluffy texture when mixing butter and sugar. It is doable by hand, but using a mixer saves you time and effort.
- For the Signature Flatter Ginger Molasses Cookie Shape, Don't Overcook the Cookies: This is paramount for achieving the right texture. Even if they look puffy and feel soft when they come out of the oven, let them cool on the baking sheet for about ten minutes. They'll continue to cook with the residual heat and will deflate to a flatter size.
- Let The Cookies Cool For 10 Minutes: It's very important not to touch the cookies after you pull them out of the oven. Don't transfer them to a rack or plate, let them sit on the cookie sheet for the whole 10 minutes. This is when the cookie will slowly deflate to it's flat shape, and the residual heat will continue to cook it. You may need two separate cookie sheets to keep a baking rotation of letting one rack cool and one rack bake.
- Don't Make the Cookies Too Small: Each dough ball should be approximately 3 tablespoons, and they should look slightly larger than a golf ball. If you make the cookie dough balls too small, they will not flatten properly and they may stay puffy because they would fully cook in the oven, and it won't have a chance to deflate when it cools afterwards.
- Work Quickly and Don't Handle the Dough for Too Long: The dough for these cookies are very soft. Work fast when rolling it into balls and use the bowl of sugar to coat them. If your hands are too warm and the dough starts to melt, cool your hands by running some cold water on your wrists.
- Be Precise with Your Flour Measurements: When measuring out your flour, make sure to level off the cup. Too much flour can make your cookies dry, so avoid the temptation to use a heaping cup.
- Give the Cookies Room: When placing your cookie dough balls on the baking sheet, make sure they have about two inches of space between them. This will allow them to spread out properly as they bake.
Serving Suggestions
- For a delicious morning treat, pair your chewy ginger molasses cookies with a steaming cup of coffee. The rich flavors of the cookies compliment the bitter notes of the coffee, making for a perfect start to your day!
- Want to impress your guests at a dinner party? Serve these ginger cookies with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert. The creamy sweetness of the ice cream beautifully balances the spicy warmth of the cookies.
- For a cozy afternoon tea, serve these ginger molasses cookies with your favorite herbal tea. The robust spices in the cookies pair wonderfully with a calming chamomile or a zesty lemon ginger tea.
- Looking for a festive treat? Include these ginger cookies in your Christmas cookies recipes. Their warm spices and rich molasses flavor make them a holiday favorite.
- If you're making these in the summer, make an ice cream sandwich with them with vanilla ice cream!
Recipe Variation Ideas for Ginger Molasses Cookies
This delicious ginger molasses cookies recipe is so flavorful and easy to make, you'll want to try out some of these delicious variations! Here are some great ideas:
- Add a Cream Cheese Frosting: For an extra decadent treat, top your cooled cookies with a dollop of cream cheese frosting. The tangy and sweet frosting pairs perfectly with the rich molasses and spicy ginger flavors.
- Double the Spices: If you're a fan of bold flavors, consider doubling the amount of ground ginger, cinnamon, and cloves in this recipe. This will result in ginger cookies that pack a powerful punch of warm, aromatic spices.
- Use Coarse Sugar: For an extra layer of texture, trying using the coarse sugar to roll the cookies in! It will give it a crunchier texture which go great with the chewiness of these cookies!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can use salted butter for this recipe. However, you might want to reduce the amount of salt in the dry ingredients to balance the flavors.
Rolling the cookie dough balls in sugar adds an extra layer of sweetness and gives the cookies a beautiful, sparkly look. But if you prefer less sweet, you can skip this step.
If your cookies are too flat, try adding a bit more flour to the dough and chill it before baking. If they're too puffy, make the cookie balls larger, or consider adding more butter and make sure you're not skimping on sugar and don't overcook it.
Absolutely! While a stand mixer does make the process easier, you can certainly make these cookies with a hand mixer or even by hand. Just make sure that you cream the butter and sugar until they are light and fluffy.
When measuring flour, use a knife to level off the cup. This guarantees that you're using exactly one cup, not a heaping cup, which could affect the texture of your cookies.
How to Store Leftover Ginger Molasses Cookies
Ginger molasses cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. Be sure to let the cookies cool completely on the baking sheet before transferring them to the container. This will prevent them from sticking together and maintain their chewy texture.
If you want to keep your cookies fresh for longer, you can store them in the fridge. Place the cookies in a ziplock bag or an airtight container with a piece of parchment paper between each layer to prevent sticking. They can last for up to two weeks in the refrigerator.
To enjoy your chilled cookies, you can either eat them cold or let them come to room temperature. If you prefer them warm, you can reheat them in the oven at a low temperature for a few minutes. Be careful not to overheat them, as this can dry out the cookies and affect their texture.
Freezing ginger molasses cookies is also an option. To do this, place the cooled cookies in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and freeze until solid. Once frozen, transfer the cookies to a freezer-safe bag or container. They can be stored in the freezer for up to three months.
To thaw frozen cookies, simply leave them at room temperature for a few hours or overnight. If you're in a hurry, you can defrost them in the microwave for a few seconds. Just make sure to watch them closely to prevent them from becoming too soft or mushy.
Recipes To Use Up Leftover Five Spice
More Sweets and Deserts You May Like
- Black Sesame Chocolate Ruffled Milk Pie
- Roasted Banana Banana Bread
- Black Sesame Cheesecake
- Mini Butter Mochi Muffins
- Candy Cane Chocolate Crepe Cake
- Black Sesame Creme Brulee
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Recipe Card
Chewy Five Spice Ginger Molasses Cookies
Joyce's Recipe Notes
- The dough for this cookie is very soft but it is intentionally to create a soft and chewy cookie. Try to work fast when rolling them into balls use the bowl of sugar to coat the cookie dough balls by swirling it around so you don't need to touch it too much. If your hands are too warm to handle the dough (gets very soft and melty on you) cool your hands by running some cold water on your wrists.
- Give the Cookies Room: When placing your cookie dough balls on the baking sheet, make sure they have about two inches of space between them. This will allow them to spread out properly as they bake.
- Be Precise with Your Flour Measurements: When measuring out your flour, make sure to level off the cup. Too much flour can make your cookies dry, so avoid the temptation to use a heaping cup.
- Don't Make the Cookies Too Small: Each dough ball should be approximately 2-3 tablespoons, and they should look slightly larger than a golf ball. If you make the cookie dough balls too small, they will not flatten properly and they may stay puffy because they would fully cook in the oven, and it won't have a chance to deflate when it cools afterwards.
- Let The Cookies Cool For 10 Minutes: It's very important not to touch the cookies after you pull them out of the oven. Don't transfer them to a rack or plate, let them sit on the cookie sheet for the whole 10 minutes. This is when the cookie will slowly deflate to it's flat shape, and the residual heat will continue to cook it. You may need two separate cookie sheets to keep a baking rotation of letting one rack cool and one rack bake.
- For the Signature Flatter Ginger Molasses Cookie Shape, Don't Overcook the Cookies: This is paramount for achieving the right texture. Even if they look puffy and feel soft when they come out of the oven, let them cool on the baking sheet for about ten minutes. They'll continue to cook with the residual heat and will deflate to a flatter size.
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup butter (unsalted and soften)
- 1 ½ cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup fancy molasses
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Dry Ingredients
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 4 teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
- ½ cup coarse sugar (or regular sugar) (for rolling)
Instructions
Preparation
- Leave 1 ¼ cup butter in room temperature for a few hours until it is soft.
Making the Cookie Dough
- Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, cream together 1 ¼ cup butter and 1 ½ cup sugar until it is a pale yellow color and fluffy. It is important the butter is soft before starting this step.
- Add in 2 large eggs, one at a time and continue to mix
- Add in ½ cup fancy molasses and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract and continue to mix until everything is well incorporated and fluffy. Make sure you are also scraping down the sides of the bowl so that everything is evenly mixed.
- In a separate bowl, combine 4 cups all purpose flour, 4 teaspoons baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons ground ginger, 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon, and 1 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder and mix well. If your baking soda is clumpy, make sure to break apart the clumps with your fingers before adding it to the dry mixture.
- Slowly add in the dry mixture in a few batches into the wet mixture and mix on low speed (so the flour doesn't fly everywhere). Remember to occasionally scrape down the bowl so you mix the dough evenly.
- In a bowl, add in ½ cup coarse sugar (or regular sugar). We are going to use this to roll the cookie dough balls in, after they have been formed. Don't worry if it doesn't seem like enough sugar, you can add more later if you run out.
Baking the Cookies
- Pre-heat the oven to 350F (176C) and set your oven rack to the middle of the oven.
- Line your cookie trays with parchment paper and set aside.
- Scoop out 3 tablespoons of cookie dough and roll it into a ball (It should be slightly larger than a golf ball). If your hands are super warm and are finding the dough tough to work with since it is very soft, try cooling your hands down by running cold water on your wrists.
- Roll the cookie ball in the sugar and add them to the cookie sheet with 2 inches of space between them. No need to press down the dough, keep them as balls. You will need to bake these in a few batches. I can fit about 6 cookies on each cookie sheet.
- Bake the cookies, 1 tray at a time for 9-11 minutes. Since every oven is different, start with baking it for 9 minutes and watch it. It should start to get puffy at around 8 minutes or so. It is very important not to overcook the cookies, else they will not flatten during the cooling stage. I remove the cookies at 11 minutes but my gas oven runs a bit cooler than an electric oven.
- *IMPORTANT* Do not remove the cookies from the cookie sheets for at least 10 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet and don't move it. It is still cooking from the residual heat. During this time the cookie will slowly deflate and flatten itself down. I like to have 2 cookie sheets on the go so that I can have one batch in the oven while the other batch is cooling on the cookie sheet.
- Once the cookie has cooled for 10-15 minutes, transfer them to a cooking rack.
- Enjoy them as is or sandwich them with some vanilla ice cream!
Nutrition
*Nutritional information is calculated using online tools and is an estimate*
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Home Cook says
I was expecting something either more gingerbread-y or with a more pronounced 5-spice flavor, but this was a surprisingly gentle-yet-fragrant spice cookie (and I'd never have guessed it had 5-spice!). So it's a good recipe for folks trying to use up the 5-spice hiding in the back of the cabinet, but don't care for the licorice notes. Personally, I could've doubled it, but my spices are always a bit old, LOL! I really enjoyed this fresh take on spice cookies, which are definitely my favorite of cookie types.
Joyce Lee says
Hi!
Yay! I'm so glad you like it! I am definitely known to always have old spices in my pantry, so I know exactly how you feel! haha! I'm always trying to find odd ways to use them up!
Kristen says
I loved the spices in this recipe and the texture was perfect, chewy but a little cakey, but the baking soda was too much for us. The cookies had such a strong baking soda taste, I had to double the recipe to dilute it. Our baking sofa was new from the store so all I can think is that the amount in the recipe needs to be cut, but not sure by how much.
Rosetta says
We loved these cookies!
Joyce Lee says
Hi Rosetta!
Yay I'm so happy you liked them! Thank you for sharing this with me!