Spiced Molasses Cookies

A twist on traditional molasses cookies, infused with warm black pepper and bright, citrusy orange juice and zest, these cookies offer a delightful balance of sweet and spice.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword black pepper, Christmas, cinnamon, cloves, cookie, ginger, goodie tray, holiday, holiday tray, molasses, nut free, nutmeg, spice

Category Cookies

Baking Ambition Confident

Prep Time 45

Cook Time 8

Resting Time 1

Total Time 1 53

Servings

Calories 72kcal

Equipment

electric mixer (hand held or stand)
mixing bowls
measuring cups (or kitchen scale)
measuring spoons
cookie scoop

Ingredients

12 tablespoon butter unsalted
½ cup sugar plus more for rolling
½ cup brown sugar
1 egg
¼ cup molasses
2 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
⅛ - ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper according to taste
2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
⅛ teaspoon cloves

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Cream butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer.
12 tablespoon butter, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar
Add egg and molasses, beat until smooth.
1 egg, 1/4 cup molasses
In a smaller bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, pepper, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, 2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/8 teaspoon cloves
Slowly add dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture and stir until just combined.
Cover tightly and refrigerate for at least an hour.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper. Put extra sugar in a shallow dish or bowl.
1/2 cup sugar
Scoop the cookie dough with 2 tsp cookie scoop, form into balls and roll each ball in sugar until completely coated.
Place the balls about 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets.
Bake for 7-9 minutes, the cookies will puff up and the edges will crack but the center should be just set. The cookies will fall as they cool resulting in the cracked surface.
Let the cookies cool on the pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

Optional variation: add 1 tbsp orange juice and 1 tbsp orange zest when adding molasses and egg. I use this variation when I bake these for my holiday goodie trays.

Note on ingredient measurement units: the recipe is presented in US customary units, but starting about 5 years ago, I made the effort of converting all of my holiday recipes to metric units. This has allowed me to have very consistent results every time I bake these recipes. I would recommend switching the recipe to the included metric option and using a kitchen scale for measurements.

Note on cookies size: The 2 teaspoon cookie scoop recommended in the recipe makes the small cookies I usually put on my goodie trays. For a more standard sized cookie, use 1 1/2 tablespoon cookie scoop and increase the baking time to 10-12 minutes. This will yield somewhere in the 20-25 cookie range.

Nutrition