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Molasses Crinkle Cookies Recipe

Molasses Crinkle Cookies
Difficulty: Easy | Total Time: | Makes: About 40 cookies

This old-school recipe from Betty Crocker is an easy, ideal holiday cookie. It has the classic wintry flavors of molasses, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves, and is virtually self-decorating: As the balls of dough bake, they flatten and crack open on their own, making a pretty exterior without the need for icing or cookie cutters.

What to buy: There are various intensities of molasses available, from light to blackstrap. Dark (sometimes marketed as robust) tastes best in this recipe.

Sanding sugar is sometimes labeled pearl sugar and can be found in gourmet grocery and cooking stores. It will give a bright sparkle to these cookies.

This recipe was featured as part of our Crazy-Easy Christmas Cookies.

INGREDIENTS
  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
  • 3/4 cup shortening, at room temperature
  • 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/4 cup dark molasses, such as Grandma’s Robust
  • 1/2 cup coarse-grained sugar, such as Demerara or turbinado, or white sanding sugar
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt together in a medium bowl to aerate and remove any lumps; set aside.
  2. Place the shortening, brown sugar, egg, and molasses in a large bowl and stir with a wooden spoon until combined and smooth. Add the flour mixture and stir until combined and a soft dough forms. Cover the bowl and refrigerate until the dough is well chilled, at least 3 hours or overnight.
  3. When the dough is ready, heat the oven to 375°F and arrange 2 racks to divide the oven into thirds. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
  4. Place the coarse-grained or sanding sugar in a large dish and spread it into an even layer. Form the chilled dough into 12 (1-inch) balls (about 1 tablespoon each) and place them in the sugar (do not roll them in the sugar though). Press gently on them so that the sugar adheres to the bottoms. Place the dough balls sugar-side up and 2 inches apart on 1 of the prepared baking sheets. Repeat to fill the second baking sheet. (Chill the remaining dough.)
  5. Bake for 6 minutes. Rotate the sheets from front to back and top to bottom. Continue baking until the edges of the cookies are set but the tops are still a little soft, about 5 to 6 minutes more.
  6. Place the baking sheets on wire racks and cool for 5 minutes. Using a flat spatula, transfer the cookies to the wire racks to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough (you can use the same baking sheets and parchment paper while still warm).
    Write a review | 3 Reviews
  • Molasses Crinkle Cookies Recipe
    1

    Do these work when made with butter? I cannot get past the idea of baking with shortening.

  • Molasses Crinkle Cookies Recipe
    5

    I LOVE these. My family loves these. The dough is great to work with, the cookies are rich and dense and delicious and pretty (just don't burn the cookies!), and the dough balls freeze well for future quickie-cookie-fixes. Fantastic. I replaced the ginger and cloves with cinnamon, and I can't remember if I used margarine or olive oil...either way, they turned out great. I only have one cookie sheet, so I did one sheet at a time on the middle rack (no rotation) and cook them between 6-8 minutes.

  • Molasses Crinkle Cookies Recipe
    5

    Wow ... These are probably the first thing I ever baked, helping my Mom many, many years ago. I went on to make them for MY kids, although I now live in Israel, where molasses is not so easy to find, so I turned them into Honey Crinkles instead.

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