Spicy Ginger and Molasses Cookies

Ginger and Molasses Cookies – Star Players:

When I set out to create this recipe, I wanted strong ginger flavor, warm spice, and wonderful texture. I’ll break down how those goals were achieved.

Ginger: The ground ginger adds a lovely warmth to the cookies. To up the flavor even more, you can use grated ginger in place of ground. Just add the grated near the end of mixing the dough to preserve the potency.

Cayenne: The pinch of cayenne powder (along with a little black pepper) adds a great kick to the taste of the cookie. The heat pairs perfectly with the spice of the ginger.

Molasses: Molasses is what gives brown sugar its color and moistness. It does the same in baking! Molasses serves as the acid in this recipe to activate the baking soda to get the perfect thickness too!

Turbinado Sugar: Rolling the dough in turbinado sugar adds an extra crunch to the delectable cookies.

Hot Tip to Achieve Uniformly Shaped Cookies

Curious how I got the cookies so uniform in diameter and thickness? To get the uniform shape, I placed the dough in muffin liners in muffin tins. By using the muffin tin method, you’re guaranteed the perfect, chewy, and round cookie with great thickness. The muffin liners add ridges so you can omit, if preferred, and place the dough directly in the cups with either parchment rounds or a little bit of cooking spray to avoid sticking.

Making Molasses Cookies

Materials Needed:

• Stand mixer with paddle attachment
• Medium mixing bowl
• Whisk
• Rubber spatula
• Measuring spoons
• Measuring cups
• Small, shallow bowl
• Muffin tins
• Muffin liners
• Cookie dough scoop – 1 inch
• Wire cooling rack

Ingredients:

1. Unsalted butter at room temperature – 3/4 cup
2. Lightly packed light brown sugar – 2/3 cup
3. 1 large egg yolk
4. Molasses – 1/4 cup
5. Ground ginger – 1 tablespoon
6. Ground cinnamon – 1 teaspoon
7. Black pepper – 1/4 teaspoon
8. Pinch of cayenne pepper
9. Baking soda – 2 teaspoons
10. Fine Sea Salt – 1/4 teaspoon
11. All purpose flour – 2 cups
12. Turbinado Sugar – 1/4 cup

Process:

In the bowl of a stand mixer, with the paddle attachment, mix the butter and sugar until fluffy – about 2-3 minutes. Add the egg yolk and molasses and mix until yolk is combined. Use spatula to scrape down sides as needed.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, black pepper, and pinch of cayenne. Add the dry ingredients to the stand mixer in two parts, and beat until just combined. Refrigerate the dough for 1 to 2 hours.

If using muffin liners, line 20 muffin cups with liners. If not using liners, add parchment rounds or lightly spray non-stick spray in 20 muffin cups. Preheat the oven to 350F and make sure rack is in the middle of oven.

Place turbinado sugar in shallow bowl. Use cookie dough scoop to form 1 inch balls of dough and roll through sugar to fully coat. Place dough balls in each muffin cup. Press down gently on each dough ball to flatten.

Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes until sides are set. The middles will still be soft. Cool in pan for about 5 minutes before moving to wire cooling rack. Remove cookies from muffin liners and flip over so that flat side is top. Serve and enjoy!

Store in airtight container for 2-3 days.

Looking for other festive cookies? Check out my vegan peppermint and chocolate crinkle cookies!