The 30-Minute Cookie Recipe I Make Every Holiday Season

For the month of December, I have one cookie recipe on repeat: my molasses cookies! These festive treats are delicious and SO easy to make.

Right now, my kitchen smells amazing. The rich, warm aroma of ginger, molasses, brown sugar, and cinnamon is wafting through the air. To me, it smells like Christmas.

This tantalizing scent comes courtesy of my chewy molasses cookies, which are currently baking in the oven. I first developed this recipe four years ago, and I’ve made it every holiday season since.

Here’s why I love this molasses cookies recipe:

1. It’s quick and easy. There’s a time and place for Christmas sugar cookies, but I love the simplicity of these molasses cookies for an everyday holiday treat. There’s no chilling, no rolling out the dough, and no decorating required. These cookies are ready in under 30 minutes.
2. The texture is AMAZING. These molasses cookies have crisp edges and soft, chewy, fudgy middles. A sugar crust gives the outsides a satisfying crunch.
3. The cookies taste delicious. Ground ginger, cinnamon, and cardamom give them a kick of warming flavor. The molasses adds rich, caramely undertones too.

If you’re looking for a festive—yet super simple—treat for the holiday season, try these cookies!

I think they’re some of the best Christmas cookies out there, but don’t just take my word for it. Over 200 readers have given this recipe a 5-star review! I think you’ll love it too.

Get the recipe:

Want to make these cookies? Here are a few tips:

1. The products you use can affect the results. I’ve made this recipe many, many times with different brands of molasses, sugar, flour, etc. The amount the cookies spread and crack can vary depending on the specific products used. If your cookies don’t spread as much as the ones in the photo, don’t worry! They’ll still taste delicious.
2. Don’t overbake them. The secret to perfect chewy molasses cookies is underbaking them slightly. Take them out of the oven when cracks have started to form on the tops of the cookies but they still look soft and underdone in the middle. As they cool, they’ll set up with an amazing fudgy texture.
3. They freeze perfectly. If your house is anything like mine, there are LOTS of treats around during the holiday season. Don’t feel pressure to finish all these cookies right away. They freeze perfectly, so you can enjoy some freshly baked and pop the rest in the freezer for a treat in a couple of weeks or days.

Get the recipe: