The Ultimate Molasses Cookies Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why didn t my molasses cookies crack? ›

Why don't my molasses cookies crack? Molasses cookie dough won't have those signature cracks on top if the dough is too wet. The cracks happen when the surface of the dough dries up. Rolling in sugar really helps this because the sugar binds the moisture and dries out the dough.

“Light molasses is the sweetest and mildest out of the bunch because it is made from the first boiling cycle,” she said. “I like to use this type of molasses because it adds moisture to cookies, resulting in a soft and chewy texture.”

Form balls and roll in sugar: Just like snickerdoodles these cookies are rolled in granulated sugar before baking. Bake soft molasses cookies on a cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes. It's very important to not over bake the cookies or they will be hard and dry instead of soft and chewy.

Issues with cracking usually derive from the sugar coating, not enough or expired baking powder or baking soda, or the oven temperature isn't hot enough. Solution: Granulated sugar is more effective at drying the surface than powdered sugar.

Add more fat

If your cookie dough is too dry and crumbly, you can try adding more fat to it. This could mean adding more butter, shortening, or oil to the dough. If you're using a recipe that calls for melted butter, you could also try using cold butter and grating it into the dough.

Chilling the cookie dough will prevent the cookies from spreading and it will make them chewier and more flavorful. I recommend chilling for at least one hour, but you can chill the dough for up to 48 hours. You can chill all of the dough in a disk or you can go ahead and roll out the dough balls and chill.

Molasses is a thick, goopy ingredient, so it wasn't a surprise that my dough came out on the stickier end of the texture spectrum when I used too much molasses.

When cookie dough is too sticky, you may have an imbalance of wet and dry ingredients. You can fix this by adding a teaspoon of flour or cornstarch at a time until your dough is just how you want. The added flour or cornstarch will absorb the excess liquid and reduce the dough's overall stickiness.

Usulphured vs.

Sulphured molasses is molasses that has been treated with sulphur dioxide as a preservative. However, since the sulphuring process can leave the molasses with a strong pronounced chemical flavor and is less sweet, most commercial molasses is unsulphured.

Unsulphured molasses can be light, dark or blackstrap, as long as it hasn't been treated with sulphur dioxide. Most commercially produced molasses is unsulphured.

Why are my molasses cookies cakey? ›

Baking powder or flour in excess will cause cookies to rise more, making them more fluffy and cakey. Increased sugar will make them caramelize more and increased fat will make the dough heavier and richer, all increasing retention of water in the dough- these all add up to chewier cookies.

Light, mild, or baking molasses ($11; Amazon) is what you get after the first boiling process. It's the sweetest of all types of molasses, because it has the most sugar left in it. It's most commonly used for desserts like molasses cookies, cakes, and gingerbread.

Avoid blackstrap molasses–it's too strong for this recipe and will make the cookies bitter.

Chill the dough.

I know — the extra chilling time is substantial, and very tempting to skip. But this particular dough, with all of its butter and molasses, really does need a thorough chilling to prevent the cookies from spreading.

You have a few things that can go wrong: The oven isn't hot enough. (it needs to set the top before the middle's fully risen) Not enough leavening (it needs to be strong enough to crack the top once it's set)

OVEN IS TOO HOT

Oven temperatures are a crucial factor in baking. If your cookies consistently come out flat, you may have selected the wrong baking temperature. If you bake cookies using too much heat, the fats in the dough begin to melt before the other ingredients can cook together and form your cookie's rise.

Dry – “Dry” or “Crumbly” dough is a product of over-mixing or using too much of any ingredient during the mixing process. This can be reversed by adding one to two tablespoons of liquid (water, milk or softened butter) to your mix.