Ginger Molasses Cookies [Lightened-Up]

A recipe for ginger molasses cookies, made with unrefined coconut sugar, light on the butter and a zesty spice mix. Sub gluten-free flour for a gluten-free alternative or keep regular for an equally delicious cookie recipe, lightened-up!

I am full on obsessed with these ginger molasses cookies. They might be my favorite Christmas cookie. They’re soft and chewy and perfectly cracked along the top. Love when that happens! Fun fact: one of my favorite cookies in the world is the Starbucks Ginger Molasses Cookies. Holy cow those are good. From time to time I might by one but it’s actually not that hard to make them at home – and even better you get to decide what goes into them! 

Cookie Troubleshooting

Are your cookies spreading like crazy during baking?

There are a few reasons this could be happening. If you melted your butter in the microwave instead of just allowing it to come to room temperature, your cookies could spread. You also could have too much liquid in your cookie dough. Your ratio of fat and flour might be off – make sure you have enough flour in your dough to absorb the melted fat. Lucky for you, I’ve tested and perfected all of the ratios in this recipe to ensure no spreading! I know it’s tempting to adjust the recipe…but don’t 😉

Are your cookies cracking too much? Or not cracking? 

I’m always aiming for the perfectly cracked ginger molasses cookie. Again, I’ve perfected the ratios, baking temperatures and baking times for this recipe but those are all things to look into if you’re having trouble with other recipes! Your oven might not be hot enough, you may have added too much flour or you may have mixed the dough too much. 

Ingredients in Ginger Molasses Cookies

• • butter – pick up unsalted butter and make sure it’s softened (aka left at room temperature). 
  • coconut sugar 
  • molasses – make sure you choose unsulphured molasses. Some molasses is processed with sulphur dioxide to help preserve it but leaves a chemical flavor so stick to unsulphured! 
  • egg
  • flour – I used gluten-free but you can use traditional all-purpose flour if you’d like. 
  • baking soda – necessary for the cookies to rise. 
  • seasonings and spices – sea salt, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, cracked black pepper. 

Lightened-Up Ginger Molasses Cookies

Like I said, the Starbucks Ginger Molasses Cookies are so insanely addictive! That’s why I decided to make some adjustments to the recipe to lighten it up. Here are some changes I made:

• I cut the butter in half – you can 100% get away with using a 1/4 cup instead of a 1/2 a cup of butter. If you’re not eating dairy you can sub room-temp coconut oil
• I cut the sugar in half – instead of a cup of sugar, I used 1/2 cup. Reserve a 1/4 cup for rolling the cookies but to be honest you won’t use a a full 1/4 cup for this
• I substituted coconut sugar for refined sugar – coconut sugar, while still sugar is unrefined so our bodies have less of a glycemic load while consuming it i.e. no sugar crash
• Try gluten-free– I’ve tested this recipe with a gluten-free flour blend and they still turn out great. Just make sure your blend doesn’t have coconut flour in it otherwise your mixture will be too dry

Ginger Molasses Cookies [Lightened-Up]

• Author: Davida Lederle
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Yield: 1 dozen cookies 1x

Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup coconut sugar (reserve 1/4 cup for rolling)
• 1/4 cup unsulfured molasses
• 1 large egg
• 1 3/4 cups regular white flour*
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• pinch of cracked black pepper

*feel free to sub gluten-free flour – they’ve been tested and work

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat.
3. Combine butter and 1/2 cup coconut sugar.
4. Add in molasses and egg and stir until well combined.
5. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking soda and spices.
6. Add wet ingredients to dry until well combined.
7. Add remaining 1/4 cup coconut sugar to a bowl.
8. Roll dough into 12 balls and roll each one in coconut sugar.
9. Place on baking sheet and flatten firmly with palm.
10. Bake for 14-16 minutes or until done to liking (14 for softer cookies and 16 for crispier)
11. Let cool on sheet for 5 mins before removing to cool on a wire rack.
12. Will keep for up to 5 days in an airtight container.

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