Flavored with warm spices and rich molasses, these whole wheat molasses cookies are the perfect holiday cookie, or anytime cookie around here. They are soft and chewy and smell amazing.
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Everyone needs a good whole wheat molasses cookie recipe, this is the one we have been making forever.
We adapted our gingersnaps or molasses cookies, what ever you call them, from a recipe out of a Taste of Home book we use all the time, the ragged and spattered pages will tell :).
Check out more whole wheat cookie recipes in our cookie series below:
- Chocolate chip cookies
- Snickerdoodle cookies
- Soft molasses cookies (this recipe)
- Oatmeal cookies
- Orange coconut cookies
- Cut out sugar cookies
- Double chocolate cookies
- Peanut butter cookies
What's Cool About This Recipe
- Soft and chewy: This recipe makes a cookie that is soft and chewy. If you prefer thin and crispy cookies see our variations section below.
- Flavor: We use the classic molasses and ginger in these cookies but we also add cinnamon which amps up those warm and cozy flavors.
- Healthier: These cookies are made with 100% whole wheat flour, using fresh ground flour is the trick for getting amazing taste and texture in your whole wheat cookies.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Whole wheat flour: We like to use whole wheat flour milled from soft white wheat or hard white wheat.
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Cinnamon: Just use regular ground cinnamon. This one from Anthony’s is really good.
- Ginger: We use dried, powdered/ground ginger. We have never tried these cookies with fresh ginger.
- Butter: We usually use unsalted butter but salted will also work (reduce the salt in the recipe).
- Brown sugar: We like to use raw cane sugar, Florida Crystals is one of our favorite brands. You can also use regular raw granulated cane sugar, if you can’t get brown.
- Molasses: We like to use black strap molasses because you get more molasses flavor with less, and it is less sweet than old fashioned molasses. You can use regular/old fashioned molasses, or even sorghum, the taste will vary slightly. We have made these cookies with all of the above and they are always yummy.
- Egg: We use large chicken eggs. A large egg weighs about 50-55 grams with out the shell.
See recipe card for quantities.
Variations
- If you prefer thin and crispy gingersnaps you can use a little less flour and bake them a few minutes longer.
Instruction Photos
Overview of instructions with photos. See recipe card for quantities and full instructions.
Step 1: Cream the butter and sugar together until well combined.
Step 2: Add the egg and beat until lightened in color and fluffy.
Step 3: Stir in the molasses.
Step 4: Add the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger and mix until combined.
Step 5: Scoop out the cookies using a 1½ tablespoon cookie scoop or about 30 grams. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet 2-3 inches apart. We recommend baking 1 cookie first to see if you have enough flour in the dough, if the cookie spreads too much you need more flour.
Step 6: Bake at 325°F for 10-12 minutes or until the tops are no longer shiny.
Serving Suggestions
These molasses cookies go great with these things:
- Milk
- Coffee
- Tea
- Hot cocoa
- Apple cider
- Vanilla Ice cream
Storage
Store completely cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 4-5 days.
How to Freeze
To freeze baked cookies: place the cookies into a freezer safe bag or container, label and freeze for up to 3 months (if the cookies are soft, freeze them in a single layer, on a tray before placing into the bag).
To freeze cookie dough: Arrange scoops of cookie dough close, but not touching on a parchment paper lined tray or plate, freeze for 1-2 hours or until the cookie dough balls are firm. Place the cookie dough into a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
To bake frozen cookie dough: remove however many cookie dough balls you want to bake. Place onto a cookie sheet and bake according to recipe instructions (you may need to bake them 1-2 minutes longer to account for the frozen dough).
Tips From Our Kitchen
Our biggest tip for making cookies is to do a test bake: after you mix up the dough, bake 1 cookie to see if it spreads too much or too little. That way you can adjust the dough if needed before you bake the whole batch of cookies.
Cookies that spread too much and are thin need more flour.
Cookies that don’t spread and stay in a rounded shape have too much flour and need some liquid such as milk to thin it out.
We like to err on the side of not enough flour at first, because it is easier to add more flour than to add liquid to the dough.
This recipe can be made with hard white wheat flour, but you will need less flour than the recipe calls for.
When using fresh ground/milled flour, be sure to let it cool off before using in your cookie dough.
FAQ
Molasses cookies and ginger snaps are made from the same base ingredients. Molasses cookies are generally soft and chewy while ginger snaps are usually thinner and crispy.
Related Recipes
📖 Recipe
Whole Wheat Molasses Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter softened
- ¾ cup packed (157 g) brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup (84 g) black strap or dark molasses
- 2¼ cups (270 g) soft white wheat flour whole wheat pastry flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F with the rack in the center, or upper third position.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer, beat ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter and ¾ cup packed (157 g) brown sugar together until fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.
- Add 1 large egg and beat until lightened in color and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.
- Add ¼ cup (84 g) black strap or dark molasses and mix until combined.
- Add 2¼ cups (270 g) soft white wheat flour, 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground ginger, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and ¼ teaspoon sea salt, mix until well combined.
- We recommend doing a trial bake before baking the whole batch of cookies, see the note section below.
- Using a 1½ tablespoon cookie scoop, or two spoons, scoop out the cookie dough. Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies are set and the tops are no longer shiny.
- Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack.
Notes
Nutrition
We calculate these nutritional facts using an estimate and they can vary drastically between ingredients used and measuring technique. So, they are not intended for medical use.
Cris
These were excellent but I did have to bump the oven to 350.
WholeWheatKitchen
Awesome! Thanks for letting us know 🙂
Rebecca
So easy and delicious! I think I need to add a bit of regular pre-ground flour next time to help it bind better. My stone ground is quite coarse so my cookies were very tender.
WholeWheatKitchen
I’m so glad you liked them! You could also try sifting out the larger pieces of bran.