You won’t be able to resist these sweet and spicy Ginger Molasses Cookies. Made in under 25 minutes (+ chill time) for the perfect fall treat. But beware, these cookies are highly addictive!
This post contains affiliate links. For more information read my privacy policy.
This fall I’m taking some time to go back through some of my favorite My Darling Vegan recipes from the archives and give them some MUCH NEEDED love. Over the next couple of months, I’ll be re-sharing some of YOUR favorite recipes new and improved. Oh, don’t you worry. I will also have NEW recipes for each week.
Make sure never to miss a recipe by signing up for my newsletter.
To start us off, I am re-sharing one of my VERY FIRST recipes today.
Ginger Molasses Cookies!
I love these Ginger Molasses Cookies and I think you will too.
What are Ginger Molasses Cookies, exactly?
Imagine a chewy molasses cookie meets a ginger snap and you’ve got yourself a ginger molasses cookie. It’s a soft, slightly chewy, slightly cakey, sweet and spicy cookie that is perfect to pair with your afternoon matcha lattes or herbal teas. In other words, the perfect fall cookie.
How to make a Ginger Molasses Cookie:
Do you remember those vegan snickerdoodles from the other week? The process is very similar.
To recap:
- Mix together your dry ingredients.
- In a stand up mixer, cream the butter and sugar.
- Add liquids (oil and molasses) and beat until combined.
- Add dry ingredients and mix until dough just starts coming together.
- Chill dough for 1 hour
- Roll into balls and coat in sugar
- Bake and enjoy!
Look at those beautiful cracked tops!
Similar to the snickerdoodles, you will want to pull these Ginger Molasses Cookies out of the oven when they are slightly underdone. Allow them to continue to cook on the baking sheet outside of the oven for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire cooling rack.
Chewy Cookies v. Cakey Cookies
By pulling out the cookies when they are slightly underdone, you are giving the cookie that delicious chewy inside.
As I’ve mentioned before, I LOVE chewy cookies, but if you are looking for a more cakey texture, you can alter this recipe in a few ways.
- Add an extra 1/4 cup of flour
- Substitute granulated sugar for brown sugar
- Bake the cookies for a few minutes longer. Closer to the 13 minute mark.
I’ve tried both, and despite me affinity to chewy cookies, I love them either way. And, more importantly, I think you will, too.
These Ginger Molasses Cookies are the epitome of fall. Sweet, spicy, warm, comforting, and 100% satisfying.
But beware. They are also highly addictive.
You won’t be able to resist these sweet and spicy Ginger Molasses Cookies. Made in under 25 minutes (+ chill time) for the perfect fall treat. But beware, these cookies are highly addictive!
- 2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup vegan butter, I use Earth Balance
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1/4 cup blackstrap molasses
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar, for coating
- In a small bowl combine flour, baking soda and powder, spices, and salt. In a separate bowl or stand up mixer beat vegan butter and and sugar until light and fluffy. Add oil and molasses and mix to combine. In several batches add the dry ingredients until a dough begins to form. Be careful not to over-mix.
Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least one hour.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Place rolling sugar in a small bowl. Spoon out 1 rounded tablespoon of dough and roll into a ball. Coat with sugar and place the the prepared baking sheets. Repeat with remaining dough, leaving about two inches between cookies.
Bake for 10-13 minutes until the edges begin to firm. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 2-3 minutes. They will continue to harden as they cool. Transfer to cooling rack and allow to cookies to cool completely.
Recipe Video
Store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Alternatively, you could freeze the dough according to this method.
If you give this recipe a try, let us know what you think in the comments below. Or snap a photo and share it on Instagram. Make sure to tag @mydarlingvegan so I can see your creations!
Has anyone successfully used whole wheat flour? Ive made these with all purpose and they are amazing. Do you think whole wheat would change the taste and texture?
They would change the taste and texture. I would recommend starting with 1/2 all-purpose and 1/2 whole wheat and see how that tastes.
can i sub margarine for the earth balance?
Hi, I have used the same molasses cookie recipe for probably 25 years. They were my son’s favorite. Well he eats vegan now so I have been looking for a replacement. I added ground cloves and ground ginger since those were in my old recipe. Just took them out of the oven, they are a hit! We will have an inter-denominational Christmas meal, 3 Keto, 2 Vegan and 4 Omnivores. We are a very non judgemental family. Thanks for helping.
Where do I click to print your recipes?
I just added a recipe card plugin so you can print it. It should work now!
Made these for a vegan friend and I subbed ~ 1/3 cup pumpkin puree for the vegan butter since I didn’t have any and they are perfect! Puffed up, soft on the inside, pumpkin flavor is not overwhelming.
I used coconut oil (an equal amount) instead of Earth Balance and they turned out marvelous!!! I used extra virgin, so it does have a coconut flavor, which reminds me of butter. But, I’m sure you can use refined, if you don’t want the slight coconut flavor. Thanks so much for this recipe! I like to make vegan versions of all the non-vegan cookies I crave at the grocery store. These more than satisfied my fall cookie craving!
I was just wondering if I could make this with normal butter?
These were fantastic. Much better than I expected considering how quick and easy they are. Thank you for this great recipe!
These were awesomely perfect!! Thanks!!
Thank you, Jennifer.
Yum!! I just made these and they came out v soft and chewy. I substituted vegan butter for 2 tablespoons of pumpkin puree and 2 tablespoons of coconut oil. I didn’t have canola oil so instead used olive oil. Did not affect taste.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing your substitution. Good to know.
Made these this afternoon – yum! The dough was a bit dry for sugar to stick to once I’d rolled it into balls so I skipped that step. I had to hide them in the top cupboard so my son would stop eating them. This recipe will definitely be a keeper 🙂
I just made these and they are delicious! I baked these for exactly 10 minutes and immediately moved them onto a wire rack. I got fifteen cookies out of one batch (using a cookie scoop for uniformity), and they aren’t as puffy as the pictures on here, they are quite flat. Should I make them larger next time or add an extra 1/4 tsp of baking powder?
Still, they might not make it to tomorrow!
I’m glad you liked them so much! I’m going to have to go back and look at this recipe – it’s been a long time. But I would suggest keeping them mostly round (only slightly flattening them) before baking and if that still doesn’t work out for you, it wouldn’t hurt to put in an extra 1/4 tsp of baking powder, that little amount wouldn’t affect the taste.
Do you flatten the cookies before baking, for leave them as balls?
Yes, I slightly flattened them (not much!) before baking. I’ll make sure to note that in the recipe. Thanks!
If I were to make these ahead of time and freeze them, would they be hard once I thaw them out or stay chewy? Have you tried freezing a batch?
I would suggest making the dough and freezing that. Then you can bake off as many as you like, whenever you like, and they will be fresh and chewy every time. To make it even easier, pre-scoop them, let them freeze on a cookie sheet, then once they are frozen solid you can put them in a plastic bag. that way you don’t have to try and scoop frozen cookie dough.
I made these today for a vegan friend, and I was in disbelief at how good they turned out to be. I used applesauce in place of the vegan butter, and I subbed in soy flour because she’s also gluten-free (I know… I know) and seriously, they were perfect. Huge and chewy with soft, sweet interiors and beautiful tawny color. I cannot thank you enough for this recipe, it is smashing!
I’m glad they were such a hit! I will try it with the applesauce next time for a healthier alternative!
Hi! I’m new at vegan baking, so I subbed the oil with coconut oil- only as they were baking, did I start to worry that they would harden. And they did, like a molasses biscuit – but they were delicious! I will try them again with some other kind of oil (sunflower or corn ok?) as we don’t have canola here. My only problem was that the dough was never doughy- it was more crumbly. I still managed to press them together and they held fine, but I may have overcooked them a bit because they weren’t getting flat as in your picture. I will definitely be making these again with the right oil and without over baking- what a great way to eat my molasses 😀
I’m glad you tried them. Corn or vegetable oil would work fine next time. Enjoy!
Could you use coconut oil as a ‘vegan butter’? Or do you think that’d make them too solid, since the oil is harder at room temperature than butter?
Coconut oil would, like you said, probably make them no longer “chewy” molasses cookies. You could try Coconut Butter, which you can find at most health food stores or well stocked grocery stores. The consistency is much more like butter and I believe it would work quite well.
Hi! I made a double batch of these yesterday, and while they look great and taste super yummy, they are crunchy, not chewy! I thought maybe after sitting a day, they’d soften, but no such luck. Any idea why that would happen? Could I have baked them too long? I might try my mom’s old trick of putting a slice of apple in the container with them!
I’m sorry, how disappointing! My best guess is that they were over-baked, but without seeing them I can only guess. I took a quick look at the recipe and I can’t think of another reason they would have turned out that way unless there was a substitution of ingredients.
If you rolled your cookies smaller than mine, they would have taken less time. Or if your oven is not accurate, you might also have run a problem of over-baked. I hope this helps.
I made these for Thanksgiving dessert to go with a pumpkin pie spread, and they were absolutely amazing! My entire non-vegan family has been begging me to make them again ever since! I had been craving gingerbread-type baked goods for months, and with Thanksgiving I finally had an excuse to make some- so seasonal! I’ve already made two more batches since Thanksgiving, and I’m planning on using these as part of holiday gifts- as well as making them for Christmas! Thank you so much for the recipe- SO delicious!!!
Interesting. 🙂
Would it work if subbed 1/2 cup of dark brown sugar for the white sugar and molasses? Would there be enough molasses in that sugar?
I don’t have molasses, but I do have an unopened package of dark brown sugar that I never got around to using.
There isn’t enough molasses in brown sugar for that to work, sadly. I’m not sure how it would taste. Good, probably, but certainly different.
Do you think I could replace the Earth Balance with veggie oil? These look AMAZING!
You can sub if you’re having a hard time getting Earth Balance overseas. The texture will be different (a little flatter and denser) but it shouldn’t affect the flavor much and I believe they would still be delicious! Let me know how they turn out.
Awesome, thanks Sarah! Can’t wait to try these 🙂
YUM. You have me craving some sweet spiced cookies now! And yay for fiesta dishes! I have the same mugs:)
these sound beauuutiful! can’t wait to try them out..my housemates will love these. am always inspired by your creative blog posts..thanks for sharing 🙂 x
Thank you!
It’s the cracks that get me – they just beg to be eaten!
Thank you so much for joining the Potluck!