Soft and perfectly spiced, these cookies will soon become one of your favorite! These cookies are soft and chewy, with that classic dark molasses flavor!
My Thanksgiving recipe extravaganza got me in the baking mood, so I scoured my cupboards to see what I had to work with… and alas… no vanilla extract. Ugh!!! Then I remembered my great grandmother’s recipe for Spiced Soft Molasses Cookies… uses no vanilla extract 😀
Off to my recipe binder I went, and I got right to it 🙂
For me, I find it easier to buy the shortening in rectangular packages instead of the tubs. The rectangular packages are marked for easy measuring and you don’t need to deal with a measuring cup.
I also spray the inside of my measuring cup with cooking spray before measuring the molasses. It makes it a lot easier to get the molasses out of the cup.
I used my stand mixer because, well I had it, so why not… but you could easily use a hand mixer or even stir by hand 🙂 Once you cream together your shortening, brown sugar, egg and molasses, when adding your dry ingredients, add them a little at a time. They blend in a lot easier that way.
Now comes the fun part… rolling the dough into balls and tossing them in sugar. If you have kids, this is a great part that they can help you with. It’s like playing with play-doh, that you bake, then get to eat 🙂
These cookies make your house smell fantastic! So make some, curl up on the couch with your favorite Netflix show, a glass of milk and a couple of cookies… and enjoy!! 🙂
These molasses cookies are one of my kids’ favorites 🙂
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!
Ingredients
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 3/4 cup vegetable shortening
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1 egg
- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- In a large bowl, beat brown sugar, shortening, molasses, and egg until combined. Stir in remaining ingredients.
- Shape dough into rounded balls, about 1” in diameter. Place some granulated sugar in a small bowl and roll balls in the sugar.
- Place the cookie balls onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet, about 2” apart.
- Bake for 13-16 minutes until just set and cookies appear dry and cracked.
- Remove from baking sheet to cooling rack
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Nutrition Disclaimer
The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Sharon says
can you use butter crisco sticks?
The Chunky Chef says
I’ve only tested this recipe as written. So without testing and retesting it myself, I can’t say for certain if that would work. If you do some experimenting, I’d love to know how it turns out!
Janet says
This is probably a stupid question, but do you measure the molasses with a pyrex glass liquid measuring cup or with a dry 1/4 cup measure? Thank you!
Amanda says
Not a stupid question at all 🙂 I normally use my dry measuring cup, mostly since it’s easier to scoop the molasses out of 🙂
Tricia Baier says
Can I use butter instead of shortening?
The Chunky Chef says
I’ve only tested this recipe as written. So without testing and retesting it myself, I can’t say for certain if that would work. If you try it, I’d love to know how it turns out!
Shannon says
Can I use butter instead of shortening?
The Chunky Chef says
Hi Shannon 🙂 I’ve always followed my great Grandmother’s recipe, but I think using butter instead would work just fine 🙂
Christinna says
These look fabulous! My daughter and I will be making them for Thanksgiving this year. FYI, my browser (Chrome and Edge, both) wouldn’t show the fractions. The only way I could get the full ingredients list was to print the recipe. This is what I see, “tsp / ground cloves” I’m not sure what the problem is, but my computer nerd husband said to let you know. Thanks for the wonderful recipe.
The Chunky Chef says
Hi Christina 🙂 I hope you LOVE the cookies as much as we do! Oh thank you for letting me know! Looks like there was a recipe card coding issue, but I’ve fixed it now 🙂
Christinna says
As expected, these cookies are to absolutely wonderful. Thanks again for the recipe!
Jhuls says
Haven’t tried spiced cookies, but they always look good to me. And these cookies definitely sound awesome. 🙂
MyAdventuresInDinnerTime says
Thank you very much! They’re yummy 🙂
breakfastdramaqueen says
Wow, these look and sound AMAZING!
MyAdventuresInDinnerTime says
Thank you!! They’re a different type of cookie, but definitely delicious 😀
Arl's World says
I am going to have to buy some Molasses. I see all these wonderful recipes calling for Molasses and I never have it. Your cookies look and sound wonderful! 🙂
MyAdventuresInDinnerTime says
Until last year, I’d never used it before 🙂 Thank you!!
Nancy says
By the looks of those happy faces your cookies MUST be delicious. 🙂 I remember my grandma making a similar cookie…but I had no recipe until now…thanks for sharing yours!
MyAdventuresInDinnerTime says
Thank you!!! And you’re welcome, I hope they taste similar to your grandma’s 🙂
Steve says
My mom used to make lumberjack cookies… I’d forgotten about them until now. Thanks for stirring up good memories. And sure looks like the kiddies love them!
MyAdventuresInDinnerTime says
They’re one of those classic cookies that lots of people had, but tend to get overlooked. I’m glad it brought up good memories 🙂 They definitely loved snacking on them!
Julie is HostessAtHeart says
Your little boy is cheering for your cookies! I would too. I love making molasses cookies, but only do it for Christmas. These look delicious and so moist!
MyAdventuresInDinnerTime says
He gets really excited about food lol
TheLifeJolie says
These look SO delicious!
MyAdventuresInDinnerTime says
Thank you!!! They definitely hit the spot 🙂