Chewy and spicy, these ginger molasses cookies are made with shortening instead of butter for a lighter, softer spice cookie. A crowd favourite, they're great for winter baking or any time of year! This recipe is from Earth to Table Bakes with just a small change to the baking time.
For a similar cookie made without eggs, try these chewy vegan ginger cookies. If you need some more ideas for spicy cookie recipes, try our soft mincemeat cookies and cinnamon sugar cookies.
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Ingredients
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Shortening: use anything labeled as shortening. Refined coconut oil is a good substitute.
- Molasses: be sure to use fancy molasses, and definitely not blackstrap. Fancy is the sweetest and other types will result in more bitter cookies.
- Sugar: when rolling the cookies in sugar, you could use vanilla sugar to add a little extra something. You could also roll the cookies in a coarser sugar rather than the plain sugar used in the cookie dough.
- Spices: adjust the spices to suit your personal preference. You could use a blend like pumpkin spice too (about a tablespoon).
Method
Step 1: beat the shortening, sugar, and molasses until light and fluffy.
Step 2: add the egg and beat again, then mix in the spices.
Step 3: mix in the dry ingredients.
Step 4: roll the dough into balls and coat in sugar.
Step 5: place the cookie dough balls on lined baking sheets.
Step 6: bake for about 14 minutes and cool before serving.
Top Tips
- Mix the spices as directed: don’t be tempted to mix the spices in with the flour and call it a day! Fat acts as a carrier for flavour, so by adding the dry spices to the shortening mixture, you’re ensuring a stronger, more well-rounded flavour in the cookies.
- Cream that shortening: be sure to cream the shortening and sugar for the time directed. If it's under-mixed, the cookies won't spread as well and can be dense.
- Don't reduce the sugar: it acts as liquid in baking, so if you reduce sugar in recipes without understanding how to replace it, you'll end up with dry, dense cookies. It's better to choose lower-sugar recipes from the start.
Recipe Notes
Because these cookies are quite dark, determining when they are done can be tricky. In addition to the edges starting to brown, the cookies should be slightly puffed and the tops should be cracked.
If the cookies aren't crackled like you see in the pictures, it'll be down to a couple of issues: reducing the sugar or fat, not beating long enough, or oven temperature being off. The first two are easily fixed by carefully following the recipe. Oven temperature is a bit trickier but we swear by having extra oven thermometers in our ovens to ensure accurate baking temperatures (they're cheap and easy to find).
We prefer these cookies with a shorter baking time, and have instructed that in the recipe card. The original recipe calls for the cookies to be baked for up to 20 minutes, which results in rather hard cookies – if you want something very crisp and harder, bake the cookies a couple minutes longer.
This recipe doesn't include weight measurements because they aren't provided in the cookbook. While we usually prefer to use weights for more accurate baking, it should be fine for these cookies.
How to Store
Storage: keep the cookies in a sealed container at room temperature for at least a week. After that they might start to go stale.
Freezing: transfer fully cooled cookies into an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature. These freeze very well.
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Ginger Molasses Cookies
Equipment
- 2 baking sheets
- 2 Mixing bowls
- Stand mixer or electric hand mixer
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Spatula or wooden spoon
- Wire rack
Ingredients
- 1 cup vegetable shortening
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar, divided
- ¼ cup fancy molasses
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with an electric hand mixer, beat the shortening, 1 cup of the sugar, and the molasses on high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.1 cup vegetable shortening, 1 ½ cups granulated sugar, ¼ cup fancy molasses
- Reduce the speed to medium. Add the egg and increase the speed to high and mix for about 3 more minutes to increase the volume. Reduce the speed to medium again.1 large egg
- Add the baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and allspice. Mix to combine.2 teaspoons baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon nutmeg, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves, ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- Turn off the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Add the flour and mix on low speed until just combined.2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- Remove the bowl from the stand mixer. Stir the dough with a spatula or wooden spoon to be sure the ingredients are well combined.
- Place the remaining 1⁄2 cup of sugar in a medium bowl. Roll the cookie dough into 1 inch (2.5 cm) balls, the equivalent of about 2 tablespoons of dough. Drop each dough ball into the sugar and turn it to coat completely.1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- Arrange the cookies on the prepared baking sheets about 2 inches (5 cm) apart.
- Bake for 14-16 minutes, until the edges of the cookies start to turn golden brown. Because these cookies are quite dark, determining when they are done can be tricky. In addition to the edges starting to brown, the cookies should be slightly puffed and the tops cracked.
- Cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before carefully transferring the cookies to a wire rack to cool fully.
- These cookies can be stored in a sealed container at room temperature for up to a week and freezer well.
Notes
- If the cookies aren't crackled like you see in the pictures, it'll be down to a couple of issues: reducing the sugar or fat, not beating long enough, or oven temperature being off. The first two are easily fixed by carefully following the recipe. Oven temperature is a bit trickier but we swear by having extra oven thermometers in our ovens to ensure accurate baking temperatures (they're cheap and easy to find).
- We prefer these cookies with a shorter baking time, and have instructed that in the recipe card. The original recipe calls for the cookies to be baked for up to 20 minutes, which results in rather hard cookies – if you want something very crisp and harder, bake the cookies a couple minutes longer.
- This recipe doesn't include weight measurements because they aren't provided in the cookbook. While we usually prefer to use weights for more accurate baking, it should be fine for these cookies.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is an estimate and is provided as a courtesy. For precise nutritional data, please calculate it independently using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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