Chewy Molasses Chocolate Chip Cookies — Amply flavored with molasses, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. Chocolate is used three times! Cocoa powder, chocolate chips, and chocolate chunks are used, making these perfect for chocolate lovers!!
Chewy Chocolate Molasses Cookies
Molasses cookies are some of my all-time favorites and normally I’m a purist with them, preferring just the robustly-flavored cookies as is.
But I threw caution to the wind and added chocolate. Three times.
At first, I was going to just going to add a bit of cocoa powder to the cookie batter to round out and complement the molasses, but my hands had a mind of their own and reached for the bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips.
After the addition of chocolate chips, a Trader Joe’s 72 percent Pound Plus bar was staring back at me and I just had to slice some chunks from it.
When I made these New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies, I learned that I could really pump up the quantity of chocolate-per-cookie ratio and that it will somehow all hold. I put that chocolate theory into a dark and dreamy reality.
The combination of both semi-sweet and bittersweet chocolate, in conjunction with the cocoa powder and molasses, gave the cookies such depth of flavor and the different types of chocolate created varied texture.
Chocolate chips are sweeter and tend to hold their shape better than the more bittersweet baking chocolate, which tends to melt and ooze.
These molasses chocolate chip cookies are soft and chewy, thanks in part to a higher brown to granulated sugar ratio, which renders cookies softer, moister, and more intensely flavored. I also added a couple tablespoons of canola oil to the batter to keep the cookies soft.
Moist and puffy cookies with soft centers, chewy edges, robustly-flavored with rich molasses, warm ginger, fragrant cinnamon; and a trifecta of chocolate. When I see puddles of chocolate, I can’t help but to dig in.
They’re a perfect holiday cookie exchange cookie. Or to exchange with just yourself.
What’s in Molasses Chocolate Chip Cookies?
To make these chewy molasses cookies loaded with chocolate chips and chunks, you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter
- Egg
- Brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Molasses
- Vegetable oil
- Vanilla extract
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Spices
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Bittersweet chocolate
How to Make Molasses Chocolate Chip Cookies
This recipe takes advantage of using melted butter, which means you don’t even need to dirty a mixer to make these.
Add the first 12 ingredients together, all at once to the bowl, many of which are spices, and stir. Then fold in flour, baking soda, chocolate chips and chocolate chunks, and refrigerate the dough for at least two hours, up to five days.
Because the butter is warm, and from stirring and working the dough, if you try to bake these without chilling the dough, chances are that the cookies will spread.
Before baking, I rolled each cookie through a cinnamon-sugar mixture, further boosting the spice quotient.
To achieve a crackled appearance on top of the cookies, and to expose some of the glorious chocolate that laid under the surface of these golden puffy nuggets, immediately after taking the cookies out of the oven, I firmly but gently tapped each cookie with the back of a spoon. Whack-whack.
Because my cookie dough was well-chilled, the cookies stayed quite domed while baking and the tap-tap-tapping flattened them a bit and easily broke their warm surfaces, exposing glistening, shiny, luscious chocolate.
Allow the cookies to cool and firm up on the baking sheets for about five minutes so you don’t have a literal hot chocolate mess on your hands.
What Type of Molasses Should I Use?
I use unsulphered molasses in all my cooking and baking. Blackstrap molasses is too bitter for me to enjoy in desserts, and I would caution against using it in this recipe unless you prefer a bitter and very pungent bite. I don’t, but to each her own.
How to Store Molasses Cookies
Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Tips for Making Chocolate Molasses Cookies
If you don’t keep all the spices on hand, you can mix-and-match a bit based on what you have.
The spices used, including cinnamon, ginger, and cloves, are all used in significant enough quantities to really stand up to the powerful punch of molasses, and not become lost. Too often ginger and molasses cookies are a little lackluster so I made sure these are well-spiced and robustly flavored.
If you’re like me and normally double the cinnamon and ginger in recipes, before doing so, taste the batter because I’ve been mindful of that, but of course, season to taste.
Taste preferences for warming spices like cinnamon, ginger, cloves, allspice, and nutmeg are highly personal and the oomph of the batter is also dependent on the quality of the spices used.
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Chewy Molasses Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed (either light or dark)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup unsulphered molasses (not blackstrap, it's much more pungent and bitter; I use Grandma's Original
- 2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 2 ¼ to 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour*, see note
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 6 ounces 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 5 ounces bittersweet baking chocolate or dark chocolate, roughly chopped into chunks (I use Trader Joe's 72% Pound Plus bar; use a favorite bold dark chocolate or chocolate bar)
For the Cinnamon-Sugar Coating for Rolling
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- In a large microwave-safe mixing bowl, melt the butter, about 1 minute on high power.
- To the slightly cooled butter (so you don't scramble the egg), add the egg, 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, molasses, oil, vanilla, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt and whisk vigorously to combine until batter is smooth and silky.
- Add the flour, baking, soda and stir to just incorporate; dough will be thick.
- Fold in the chocolate chips and chocolate baking chunks (I used nearly 6 ounces; using a total of 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips is okay if you don't have baking chocolate or a chocolate bar to chop).
- Cover mixing bowl or transfer batter to an airtight food storage container and refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours, up to 5 days, prior to baking.
- Preheat oven to 350F, line two baking trays with Silpat Non-Stick Baking Mats liners, parchment, or spray with cooking spray; set aside.
- Make the Cinnamon-Sugar Coating: In a small bowl, combine about 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and stir to combine.
- Using a cookie scoop, form 2-ounce mounds of dough and roll each ball through the cinnamon-sugar mixture and place on baking trays, spaced about 2 inches apart (I bake 8 to a tray).
- Allow cookies to bake in fairly domed-up, mounded, ball-like shapes. Bake for about 8 to 9 minutes, or until tops have just set, taking care not to overbake so they stay soft and chewy. Note - The cookies in the photos are baked for exactly 8 minutes, and they're soft with melted chocolate.
- Upon removing trays from oven, if cookies stayed domed while baking (likely they will) immediately give cookies a firm yet gentle tap or two with the back of a spoon to flatten them. This creates a crackled top appearance and exposes some of the melted chocolate chips and chunks.
- Allow cookies to cool on baking sheets for about 5 minutes before moving them to a rack to finish cooling.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Easy Christmas Cookies:
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Molasses Crinkle Cookies — The richness and depth of the dark molasses, coupled with dark brown sugar and spices, make them some of my favorite cookies ever!
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies — Between the molasses, pumpkin pie spice, and pumpkin pie spice extract that I used, these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies beautifully showcase the flavors of fall!
Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies— These pumpkin oatmeal cookies are bursting with chocolate chips in every bite! They’re thick, hearty, perfectly chewy, and not at all cakey.
Pumpkin White Chocolate Chip Cookies — Soft, chewy, loads of white chocolate, and so much pumpkin flavor!! A pinch of salt balances the sweet white chocolate for a salty-and-sweet treat!!
Chai Cookies — The chai spices give the cookies so much depth of flavor. Cozy, comfort-food cookies that warm you up inside!
Soft Butter Pecan Cookies — Buttery soft dough with big chunky pecans in every bite! Salty-and-sweet and so hard to resist!!
I did chill the dough (2 days) and used fresh baking soda. I think I may not have used enough flour, the dough was VERY sticky. I will try again, they certainly were delicious!
If it was VERY sticky and you had the spreading issue, then yes, an issue of not enough flour for sure – the dough will be sticky to a point, like all cookie dough is sticky, but just based on what you wrote and how I know molasses (or pumpkin – that’s another one) can be, yes increase your flour amount and you’ll be set.
Although tasty, my cookies came out of the oven very flat and not at all poofy and voluptuous like yours :(
I’ve had many people write to me about these and that they made them with plenty of puff and some have even blogged about them!
Troubleshooting would be — Did you chill the dough? Fresh baking soda? Mix in enough flour that the dough felt like cookie dough and wasn’t overly soft (I gave a range of 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 cups depending on humidity, etc.) Sorry they weren’t as puffy but at least they were tasty!
Just made! They’re yummy but the dough is even yummier! But I always love dough and batter more. I meant to sub in applesauce for the egg but I forgot. The texture with all the flour in was good so I rolled them at room temp and then cooked them. Then I put the rest of the dough in the fridge while the first batch cooked (I got 12 on my sheet which now has a silpat, thanks to your love of silpats – my husband was all “that was $25?” and I pointed out that I had a coupon and it was worth it). The chilled dough tried to fall apart so I sprinkled some sugar on top instead of rolling them and I left the rest of the dough out to warm up.
Next up – gluten freeing them! I’ll probably do mostly bob’s all purpose gluten free with some buckwheat flour cause buckwheat flour goes nicely with molasses.
I am glad you loved them and thanks for the feedback! I’m glad the texture at room temp was good and glad you like your Silpats! Sometimes molasses-based dough is very sticky and wet but in your case, sounds like it wasn’t so you could probably have skipped the chilling but sounds like it all worked out. And yes, buckwheat and molasses does sound like a great pairing!
My pleasure!
Actually, I made a no bake cookie dough bite type thing very loosely based on your no bake pb thumbprints and they have buckwheat and molasses – https://imnotstarving.blogspot.com/2012/07/xgfx-no-bake-cookie-dough-bites.html
They look dense and rich and just hearty and perfect!
These cookies are what my dreams are made of! I cannot wait to make them and eat them while they are warm and melty fresh out of the oven!
Seriously they were pretty phenomenal – they disappeared quicker than I would have liked! :)
I like molasses, ginger and ginger snap cookies! I always get excited about holiday baking, but I really shouldn’t do much of it since I don’t eat any of it. I do all baking that I do for other people.
I can’t believe you’re not much of goodie eater and that you just like to bake for others! Impressive :)