Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why are my ginger molasses cookies not cracking? ›

Why don't my molasses cookies crack? Molasses cookie dough won't have those signature cracks on top if the dough is too wet. The cracks happen when the surface of the dough dries up. Rolling in sugar really helps this because the sugar binds the moisture and dries out the dough.

Cornstarch helps product soft and thick cookies. Using more brown sugar than white sugar results in a moister, softer cookie. An extra egg yolk increases chewiness. Rolling the cookie dough balls to be tall and lumpy instead of wide and smooth gives the cookies a bakery-style textured thickness.

If your cookies repeatedly turn out flat, no matter the recipe, chances are your oven is too hot. Here's what's happening. The butter melts super quickly in a too-hot oven before the other ingredients have firmed up into a cookie structure. Therefore, as the butter spreads so does the whole liquidy cookie.

Medium Or Dark Molasses

“This is ultimately my first choice of molasses,” Bourdon said. “It adds enough bold flavor and sweet notes with a hint of bitterness to any recipe, which is exactly what you want for making gingerbread cookies.”

The best way to get crinkles on the top is to take the cookies out of the oven when cooked. While they are still soft, use a fork and flatten them slightly. Perfect crinkles every time.

Use fresh baking soda.

The baking soda causes the cookies to rise in the oven, then deflate slightly as they cool. This is what causes the cracks to form. If the baking soda is too old, it won't serve that purpose.

Rest the Dough A secret baker's trick is to rest your cookie dough in the fridge. You can rest it for at least an hour, which will evaporate some of the water and increase the sugar content, helping to keep your baked cookies chewy.

The ingredients you use and how you shape your cookies both play an important role in whether your cookies turn out crispy or chewy. The type of flour and sugar you use, if your cookie dough contains eggs, and whether you use melted or softened butter all factor into the crispy-chewy equation, too.

Keep Them Sealed

The key to keeping cookies fresh and soft is to seal them in an airtight container, like a resealable freezer bag. And here's a nifty little trick: add a piece of bread to the bag.

Doubling up on molasses softened the cookies significantly.

Molasses is also extremely dark in color, so this batch of cookies turned out to be a deep brown.

What is the secret ingredient to keep cookies soft? ›

Light corn syrup is another ingredient that you can add to cookie dough that will help it stay softer longer. The corn syrup you buy at the grocery store is not the high-fructose corn syrup that soft drinks are made with; it's a sugar that is liquid at room temperature and helps other sugars say liquid at high heat.

“There are some gingerbread recipes that are hard right after baking and need to sit for a few days to soften. Molasses and honey hardens gingerbread, but as the sugar absorbs moisture, it will get softer.”

Molasses makes these cookies from Dorie Greenspan delightfully chewy, so you'll want to replace it with another liquid sweetener who could accomplish a similar feat. Try honey or sorghum, a combo of dark corn syrup and brown sugar, or a combo of dark corn syrup and maple syrup.

Form balls and roll in sugar: Just like snickerdoodles these cookies are rolled in granulated sugar before baking. Bake soft molasses cookies on a cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes. It's very important to not over bake the cookies or they will be hard and dry instead of soft and chewy.

First, if the dough is too wet, the cracks won't appear because the cracks occur as the surface of the dough dries out. Make sure to measure all the ingredients accurately. The other possible reason for no cracking is if the dough is too warm. You want the dough to be chilled when it goes into the oven to bake.

The cookies were placed in an oven that was not pre-heated. Preheating is very important. If the temperature was fluctuating as the cookies were baking, they may not crack on the top. The butter and sugar may not have been blended well enough.

Issues with cracking usually derive from the sugar coating, not enough or expired baking powder or baking soda, or the oven temperature isn't hot enough. Solution: Granulated sugar is more effective at drying the surface than powdered sugar.