Blackstrap Molasses Cookies
This recipe was submitted by Margaret Hanes from Davisburg, MI during our March Recipe Contest. These are delicious old-fashioned molasses cookies that Margaret swears are made even tastier when Golden Barrel Blackstrap Molasses is used. We couldn’t agree more. 🙂
Margaret has lots of experience baking these molasses cookies–over 50 years, to be exact! They’re her “signature cookie” and ever since discovering Golden Barrel blackstrap molasses years ago when her sister lived in PA, she’s sold on the robust taste of this Lancaster County staple. After a fruitless search in her local Michigan grocery stores, she’s thrilled that she can now order the same tasty products online. (<–her words, not mine!) So yay for modern technology!
One thing I did differently from Margaret was I swapped out the canola oil (originally called for in this recipe) with Golden Barrel coconut oil. I’ve experimented in the past with making molasses cookies with three different fats–butter, shortening, and coconut oil and while I’m a butter girl through and through, the cookies made with coconut oil were my favorite. These cookies are delightfully chewy and have incredible flavor. Plus by making them this way, you receive the healthful benefits of coconut oil! (And don’t forget all the benefits of blackstrap!) That’s a win/win right there in my book.
I also used Golden Barrel organic cane sugar. This type of sugar is courser and a bit darker than refined white sugar. It makes the perfect sugar to dip the cookies into for that crunchy sugary coating.
I used a cookie scoop to keep the cookies uniform in size. If there’s one thing I can’t stand is wonky-shaped cookies–a giant one next to a dinky one. And of course this is a big deal when you have three little boys who always search for the biggest cookie. 😉 Momma’s got this covered. All the same size, baby!
Perfectly crinkly, crunchy on the outside, chewy in the middle…I mean, you just have to make these, guys. You don’t even have to break out the mixer. Grab a bowl and your wooden spoon and you’ll feel like Betty Crocker, all old school-like. You may even don an apron if you feel so inclined. 🙂
Here is a picture that Margaret sent us of her husband enjoying her tasty blackstrap molasses cookies. Now that’s a plate of cookies! Thanks, Margaret, for sharing your recipe with us. Just like your husband, we love these cookies! 😉
- 2/3 cup Golden Barrel Coconut Oil, melted or Canola Oil
- 1 cup Golden Barrel organic cane sugar or white sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup Golden Barrel Blackstap Molasses
- 2 cups, 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/3 cup Golden Barrel organic cane sugar, for dipping
- Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine oil and sugar and stir well. Add egg and stir well. Add molasses and stir well. Add flour, baking soda, ginger, and cinnamon. Stir until mixed.
- Cover cookie sheets with parchment paper (I used a baking stone, so no parchment was needed). Using cookie scoop for uniform size, scoop out dough and roll into walnut-sized balls. Dip tops in reserved sugar and press lightly onto cookie sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes until set and done. Do NOT over bake or cookies will be hard. The tops should crackle with sugar. Remove from oven and let cool.
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can i substitute honey for the cane sugar?
thanks
Sucanaut is good
Hello, I made this recipe 2 times, first with coconut oil, 2nd time with canola oil…both times the cookies have turned out very cakey…I did some research and it would seem there is not enough fat/oil to the flour ratio plus too much baking soda, I also have a friend that made this recipe and her cookies were very cakey and not good. I was very sad that both times were a flop as I was really looking forward to some delicious cookies and ran out of molasses 🙁
Hi, Ashley. Sorry they did not turn out for you. I just made these for my Dad for his 92nd birthday. I used a different brand of molasses and baked for 10 minutes. I switched the pans around from top shelf to bottom at the 5 minutes mark. I also let them cool for 3 to 4 minutes on the cookie sheet before removing them to a wire rack. I spaced out and missed the part about sugaring the top of the ball and rolled the entire ball in turbinado sugar. It is a coarser sugar and leaves nice little crunchy sugar specks on the cookie. I find regular sugar sort of disappears. Next time I do plan to use about 2/3 regular molasses and 1/3 black strap molasses as I like the stronger flavor of black strap.
Folks loved them and a few recognized the faint coconut flavor from the oil. They ended up slightly soft and chewy. I plan to make more for Dad for Christmas. Hope you try them again. Oh, and I spooned the flour into the measuring cups rather than scoop it out with the measuring cup. I think that makes a difference in how much flour you end up with.
Like the recipe, I use your products the oil and coconut oil.
I just made these according to instructions. They were very soft and fell apart easily, and I even baked them at 350 for 12 minutes. Maybe I need to get my oven checked? I wasn’t a big fan of the molasses taste. Maybe next time I will add a lot more ginger and reduce the molasses.
I cook often. I made these cookies last night. Followed the recipe as it is written. I thought these tasted Great! Taste just as good this AM. Not sure why folks think this recipe doesn’t work. My whole family approved.
I followed your recipe exactly and the dough all ran together like bars. Grrrrrr
Blackstrap cookies were grrrrrreat. I added ginger and raisins.
Wish I had read the comments before making them. These were a very good favor but much too soft. They fall apart and you can’t pick them up to eat them. They are also quite greasy. Odd for cookies. I used coconut oil as suggested and baked them for 9 minutes. Disappointed to have wasted my ingredients.
Don’t know what you all are doing wrong. Mine are perfect every time. Maybe try a little more flour and less oil.
My recipe is a little different. When I make my molasses cookies I do not melt the shortening and I use brown sugar not white sugar (except for rolling the cookie in). The Golden Barrell blackstrap enhances the flavor of the cookies.
It took me a long time to tweak recipes until I go it the way I like it. My family loves molasses cookies.
Made the recipe as directed with no substitutions. Cookies turned out perfect, I live a Mile hi in Denver. Oh yeah, I have never baked these cookies in my life. I look at recipes like a formula follow the measurements exactly.
I made these and they were great, they were a little soft but I was able to pick them up without them crumbling. I will tell everyone I know about these. THANK YOU for this recipe
I was a little short on coconut oil so I used vegetable oil to top it up to 2/3 c. I made them about the size of a walnut – while baking they did spread out and puff up. They were in a 350 oven for maybe 8 1/2 mins. I pulled them out …. like a souffle – they fell and we LOVE these cookies. So happy I bought blackstrap molasses by mistake and found the recipe!
So glad you liked them, Jill! Thanks for the comment!
Absolutely perfect and delicious cookies! Made exactly as requested and love them! Thanks so much!
Just made these and they are awesome. I did a substitution, one for one gluten free flour for the flour because of gluten allergies. 👌
I made these as directed with canola oil instead of coconut oil. I was skeptical about the consistency when mixing and then rolling them, but the consistency came out great baking for 8 minutes. The blackstrap molasses is much stronger than regular molasses and you could definitely taste that with these, but I was looking for a recipe specifically using blackstrap and this was perfect for that!
Great! Glad you liked them!
I see some of the cookies recipies ask for Blackstrap molasses and not the Supreme Blackstrap molasses. Does it make a difference to which one is used??
I am confused to the two difference selections
Thanks
Hi Kath, typically if a recipe calls for “Molasses” you will want to use a Supreme Baking Molasses. If it specifically calls for Blackstrap Molasses then that is when you would use that. Blackstrap Molasses has a much stronger flavor than Baking Molasses so experimentation would be needed as it could significantly change the flavor of the cookie.
I am wondering if I could use another ingredient in place of part of the molasses? The flavor is a bit too strong for my liking. Thank you.
You can use Golden Barrel Baking Molasses–it’s a lighter, sweeter molasses than blackstrap.
Wonderful cookies! I have made them several times with no problems except for the whining when the last delicious one is gone.
I am looking for a mole added cookie recipe. My boyfriend’s gramma had a recipe where the cookies were very dark and hard. He loved them but I can’t find a recipe any where for a hard dark moleasses cookie. Any suggestions would be great!
Bake for another couple of minutes they will be hard and tasty
My Gramma made blackstrap molasses cookies for me as a child. That was on the milk farm in the early 50s. Her cookies came out like tiddlywinks, very hard. They would break if struck. I remember that they were about 1/8″ thick or less. The blackstrap molasses was something used for the cows. Still looking for the recipe.
I might can help, I couldn’t find this particular recipe to make them for Dad’s birthday this year. I used another recipe from a wonderful young woman that blogs (Food Charlatan – she is so funny). Her recipe called for shortening which I never use for health reasons. I used 3 parts butter to 1 part coconut oil (not melted) and black strap molasses. I rolled them in sugar and pressed the tops lightly with a glass. Baked for about 8 minutes and took them out. They absolutely did not look cooked enough. Let them cool for several minutes before removing to a rack. They were mostly crisp (I wasn’t consistent on my timing so a few were chewy which I liked). My cousin who was visiting pronounced them the second best molasses snaps she’d ever had. First being my Mom’s which she had frosted. You could try this recipe with that 3/4 butter and 1/4 coconut oil ratio and see if you get crisps.
Ginger snaps.
These cookies are always a hit with my whole family, so good!
These cookies are a hit at my house! We used flax egg instead of regular egg and it works well other than no crackle. The flavor is great!
First time making very good. If you leave in another few minutes become crunchy and tasty
People finding this recipe ‘cakey’ may want to make sure that they followed the instruction to “press” the cookies onto the baking sheet. While this may not be the problem for everyone, I had a similar experience in the past due to neglecting this important step.
These cookies turned out perfectly! I used canola oil and topped them with white sugar, baked for exactly 9 minutes, delicious!! Chewy, not at all cake like, awesome!
Excellent cookie! Used coconut oil. Did not over cook. I put them in the freezer to keep from eating all of them, lol.
These turned out beautiful! The only thing I altered was half the sugar as were a low sugar household and my daughter goes crazy if she has too much and hubby always complains I use too much, he definitely can’t with these! It’s still enough that I get the sweet that I’m craving and not overpowering for him.
I have low iron so was trying to find another way of getting molasses into my body as I’ve been eating it straight and it’s pretty intense to say the least.
Only some of my cookies got the crackle on top, but that’s my oven! I meant to turn the tray, but got distracted by my kiddo. They are slightly soft. I went just over 10 minutes cuz hubby likes a crunchy biscuit-like cookie. Honestly, I might use a bit more molasses next time, but that’s just me 😉
Also, I rolled them in light muscovado which is really nice 😊
I bought molasses cookies at farmer’ s market and they were wonderful. Very dark but no spicy taste and sugar on top. Can I eliminate spices or would that take taste away..
If you want a spicier taste, instead of eliminating spices, up them. Put a whole tablespoon ginger, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, one quarter each nutmeg, allspice and cloves. That will do it!
Molasses. Cookies. Dark and delicious with sugar on top. No spicy taste. Do I need the spices. I can buy ginger cookies but rarely the good plain molasses cookies and these came from a farmers market in Lancaster Pa.
Hi, I am to make these cockies. Reading all the comments and reviewing the collected problem I have always found that using fixed ingredient weights rather than cups , spoons etc. will produce products that are consent every time. Another reason that spoons, cups etc. causes problems is the simple fact that the selected measuring item is a volume and not a weight and that leads to the next problem , simply they can and usually different physical sizes, unless you have exactly made measuring equipment you will always have a different end product. Alternatively you could used the baker’s standard and have all ingredients as a weight percentage of the total flour weight. This would make it easy to expand or reduce the recipe by simply changing the weight of flour.
My only regret is I didn’t double this recipe
These cookies are toooooo good I was looking for a finger snap cookie recipe had all these ingredients and made them best coffee ever I’ll get a tooth ache eating these cookies lol I used a teaspoon for uniform shape and size pressed a little they only spread a little bit perfectly though crisp edges chewy center🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎 I’ll be making these forever thank you for sharing
Surely you can read outside the typos I was eating as I was typing lol🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎
I thought they were great. I subbed flax egg for egg and used gluten free baking flour.
GREAT recipe! Easy to follow instructions, and the dough was very easy to work with. I doubled the ginger in that we like it spicy. Many thanks — this will surely become a family favorite!
My grandmother used to make molasses cookies for me when I was small and they were the greatest. She would make the dough and put it in the refrigerator (I would sneak into the refrigerator and eat the dough…
it was so good). Anyway, she didn’t have access to coconut oil, so, what do you recommend to replace the coconut oil and do you have any idea why she put the dough in the refrigerator?
Personally I plan to use room temp, not melted butter for the same exact reason people refrigerate them; so they don’t flatten and spread too much.
I’m guessing your grandma used melted butter in her recipe, which makes the resulting dough very soft. Chilling it allows the dough to firm up enough to roll into balls before sugaring and baking the cookies. I’ve made literally thousands of these for various community events (and my children and grandchildren😉) over the years. Getting ready to make over 600 this week. My recipe calls for cloves as well as the cinnamon and ginger. We like them soft and spicy!
A friend gave me a jar of black strap molasses. Decided to look for a cookie recipe and came across this. It is awesome! I followed the recipe exactly except I had to use granulated sugar for the tops of the cookies. I started cooking at 9 minutes and found that 9 minutes and 22 seconds was perfect. None of my cookies tasted cakey. They were absolutely delicious. The recipe came together quickly. I wondered why my dough was a little more crumbly than I thought it should be but in the end it just didn’t matter. It was a large jar so I will be making them again! Thanks for a great recipe.
My family loves these! I have made them 10 times this year. I make three times the receipt and they are always gone in few days. The grandchildren eat them up. I use the solid coconut oil let it melt then cool a bit before mixing. One time I forgot to melt it and I just mixed the solid up enough and they were perfect!
Made these because I am pregnant and I read blackstrap is great for Iron and magnesium. These are probably my fave new cookies. Admittedly I did not have access to this brand so I substituted some things.
Some people are saying theres were cakey in the comments when mine came out of the oven I slammed the tray down a couple of times so they flattened and sprinkled more sugar on top they were great! I also mixed all of the wet ingredients first and then added the dry. I also rolled the cookies into balls and then rolled them in the cane sugar before baking for 8 minutes.
Thank you for posting this! I will make these often!