These healthier soft ginger molasses cookies are slightly crispy around the edges, with chewy, soft centers! Simple spices like ginger, cinnamon, and molasses give these cookies a classic flavor, while wholesome ingredients like white whole wheat flour & coconut sugar make them a healthier treat.
These healthier soft ginger molasses cookies are a must-try this holiday season!
Their slightly crispy edges and soft-baked, chewy centers, PLUS the gingery molasses flavors and OMG coarse sugar on the outside for a little crunch?? Basically, I die and go cookie heaven with every bite.
These ginger molasses cookies taste indulgent because they don't compromise on the cookie essentials... but with a nourishing flour and a little less sugar, they're perfect for balancing out all the holiday treats.
Ginger molasses cookies are a favorite that my grandma used to make so let's just say I'm pretty darn excited to share these with you. And yes, you know I said that with a mouthful of cookie.
If you love the ginger molasses flavor combo, you'll love this ginger molasses granola recipe! Perfect for a healthy yet sweet breakfast or snack around the holidays.
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Key Ingredients
- White whole wheat or spelt flour - Both will work! This surprised me at first, but I'm glad to know that spelt flour can be swapped in for all-purpose flour in cookies.
- Ground ginger & cinnamon - These cookies are heavily spiced and it's SO dang good. Ground ginger is best here (rather than fresh).
- Brown & coconut sugars - Brown sugar brings that classic flavor and texture while coconut sugar offers an unrefined alternative to cane sugar (which we still love in a cookie, no matter what). I LOVE the options available from Wholesome because they're unrefined and sustainably produced.
- Egg - Richness, moisture, and binding all our ingredients together.
- Coarse sugar - Many ginger molasses cookie recipes are rolled in sugar, which is delicious if that's what you have. But coarse sugar (I use the raw turbinado sugar) provides an unbeatable sweet crunch... the perfect complement to a chewy cookie! Plus, it makes them sparkle.
Substitutions & Variations
- Flour - Whole wheat pastry, spelt, and all-purpose flour are all great here!
- Coconut sugar - You can use all brown sugar instead of adding coconut sugar for a super moist and delicious cookie. Cane sugar would work, too!
- White chocolate - Fold in 1 cup of white chocolate chips into the batter before chilling, OR make a white chocolate coating! Melt 1 cup white chocolate chips with 1 tablespoon coconut oil and whisk it together until smooth. Drizzle it over these cookies or dip part of each cookie into the coating. Then, place on parchment paper until the coating is set.
If you're looking for more healthy cookie recipes, these flourless almond butter cookies are also so good!
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Step 1: Whisk all dry ingredients together in a bowl.
- Step 2: Using a stand mixer or a hand mixer & separate mixing bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and coconut sugar until combined and fluffy. Then, add in the molasses, egg, and vanilla extract, and beat on high until incorporated.
- Step 3: Next, add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined. Use a spatula as necessary to push the dough down the sides of the bowl. This will be a thick dough! Cover and chill the dough in the fridge for at least an hour, and up to three days.
- Step 4: When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Roll the dough into balls and roll in the coarse turbino sugar.
- Step 5: Place the cookie dough balls on the prepared baking sheet, at least two inches apart. Bake at 350 for 11-12 minutes.
- Step 6: Remove them from the oven and allow them to cool for five minutes on the baking sheet. They'll look puffy and soft when you take them out of the even, but trust: they'll solidify as they cool!
After five minutes of allowing them to cool on the pan, eat one! They are SO GOOD when warm. As for the rest, transfer them to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
Hint: Allowing the cookie dough to chill for a full day before baking the cookies will yield an incredible flavor! I learned this from putting into practice some of the Serious Eats Food Lab's chocolate chip cookie recipe tips, and after many times over, could not agree more. Essentially, when the dough is allowed to rest for longer (like overnight), the protein and starches have a chance to break down, yielding even more flavorful cookies.
Storage & Freezing
Storage Instructions: To store, place the fully cooled cookies in an airtight container and store at room temperature for up to a week.
Freezing Instructions: To freeze, place the fully cooled cookies in an airtight container or reusable freezer-friendly bag, and freeze for up to three months.
Ginger Molasses Cookies FAQs
These cookies will stay soft if stored in an airtight container at room temp! Expose them to air for a long period of time, and they will become crispy.
A few tips to avoid flat cookies. First, chill the dough for at least an hour (very important)! Second, when you roll the cookies, roll them into taller balls instead of perfectly round ones. And third, make sure the dough hasn't gotten too warm when you put the cookies in the oven. If you think the dough has gotten too warm, you can roll the dough balls, and then place the cookies in the freezer for 5-10 minutes right before baking.
Cookies are chewy when moisture content is present, dough is chilled, and cookies are not over-baked. For these ginger molasses cookies, the brown sugar, molasses, and egg help create chewy cookies. Also, we chill the dough so the cookies stay thick. Finally, we slightly under-bake the cookies and allow them to finish cooking on the baking sheet, resulting in soft-textured cookies.
Side note, if you're looking for more Christmas cookie inspiration, I submitted this post to the 2025 annual cookie round-up over at the Sweetest Season Cookie Exchange! Check it out for past cookie round-ups, and tons of festive cookies from bloggers around the internet.
More Holiday Recipes
Here are some other festive holiday recipes to make!
Did you make these soft ginger molasses cookies? I'd love to hear how they turned out! Leave a ⭐️ rating and comment below, and follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, and my newsletter for more everyday seasonal recipes.
📖 Recipe
Healthier Soft Ginger Molasses Cookies
- Total Time: 1 hour 32 minutes
- Yield: ~24 medium-sized cookies
Description
These healthier soft ginger molasses cookies have incredible flavor and the chewiest, soft texture! Each cookie dough ball is rolled in a little bit of coarse sugar for sparkle and crunch. Make sure to eat at least one while it's still warm!
Ingredients
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour (or spelt flour)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup butter (1 ½ sticks), softened to room temperature
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup coconut sugar
- ¼ cup molasses (unsulphured)
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- coarse sugar, for rolling
Instructions
- Mix dry ingredients. In a bowl, whisk together white whole wheat flour, baking soda, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, and salt.
- Mix wet ingredients. With a hand mixer & separate bowl or a stand mixer, cream the butter, brown sugar, coconut sugar, and molasses together at a medium speed until smooth (about two minutes). Add the egg and vanilla, and beat on high to combine (about 30 seconds). Scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula as necessary.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Pour the dry ingredients mixture into the bowl of wet ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined. This will be a thick dough!
- Chill the dough. Cover and chill the dough in an airtight container for at least 1 hour, and up to 3 days. The flavor really intensifies when chilled for a least a day, so it's worth the wait if you prepare in advance! Otherwise, 1 hour is the minimum required.
- Preheat & prep. When you're ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and line two baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Roll & sugar cookie dough balls. Roll the cookie dough into balls, 2 tablespoons each. Roll each ball in coarse sugar and place on the cookie sheets about 3 inches apart (I usually do about 12 per sheet).
- Bake. Bake for 9-11 minutes. Then, remove from the oven (cookies will look VERY soft, but they will harden up as they finish cooling) and allow the cookies to cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Dough: If you chill the dough for longer than 1 hour, you may need to let it sit out on the counter for up to 30 minutes if the dough is hard and difficult to roll.
- Oven times: If you have a convection oven, I recommend baking for less time (~9 minutes) than in a regular oven to prevent the cookies from becoming puffy and cakey.
- Prep Time: 80 min
- Cook Time: 12 min
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 133
- Sugar: 9.9 g
- Sodium: 84.7 mg
- Fat: 6.2 g
- Saturated Fat: 3.7 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 18.2 g
- Fiber: 1.3 g
- Protein: 1.8 g
- Cholesterol: 23 mg
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Linda says
Can you use all coconut sugar instead of using conventional brown sugar. I often substitute coconut sugar for brown sugar. I try not to use conventional brown or white sugar.
Tera Gigot says
Hey Linda! Yes, I've done this before and the cookies still turn out. The only thing is I don't love the texture as much because you lose a bit of moisture from the brown sugar. But it still works!
Erin Parker says
Tera, these Soft Ginger Molasses Cookies look absolutely wonderful. I love how you kept all the classic warm spice flavors while using wholesome ingredients, and that perfect combo of crisp edges with chewy centers makes them so inviting. Such a beautiful, healthier twist on a timeless cookie!
Thank you so much for participating in this year's Sweetest Season and bringing another delicious cookie recipe to the virtual celebration. I am so appreciative for you and everyone who joins me in this yearly and am always blown away with the generosity. I hope you and yours have the happiest holiday season!
Tera Gigot says
Thank you so much for your kind words, Erin! So grateful for the opportunity to participate and connect with other amazing creators 🙂 I hope you have an amazing holiday season as well!
Joanne Pittelkow says
Directions do not include the 1/4 c molasses
Tera Gigot says
Thanks for letting me know, Joanne! I just added it in.
Sylvia says
I just love this ginger molasses cookies recipe, I've been having problems with other recipe's, I used spelt flour, I ran out of ground ginger so instead I used, ginger honey tea, and chi tea, I also added nutmeg, they were delicious. This recipe is easy to follow, no fuss. Thank you Roots and Radishes ❤️
Tera says
I'm SO glad you loved this recipe and happy that your modifications worked out! Nutmeg sounds delish. It's that time of year... I need to make these again too! 🙂