Peppermint Molasses Cookies
These Peppermint Molasses Cookies are bound to be the perfect ending to Sugar Rush.
My cousin Tami sent me the recipe in the middle of Sugar Rush and I have made them twice already.
The very name screams HOLIDAY, but when you combine the title with the taste, then you have a quintessentially perfect Christmas cookie.
These little morsels are a scrumptious mouthful of warm and spicy gingerbread flavor that outdoes itself with pockets of melted, crushed peppermint (read: candy canes) and the entire round of goodness is drizzled with sweet peppermint icing.
Peppermint and molasses have never tasted so good.
Recipe Source: adapted from Tami W.
Peppermint Molasses Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies:
- 6 tablespoons (85 g) butter, softened
- ¼ cup (53 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (53 g) firmly packed brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup molasses
- 1 ½ cup (213 g) flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 box candy canes, about 12 candy canes finely crushed, reserving 1 tablespoon for the icing
Icing:
- 1 cup (114 g) powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon crushed peppermint candy
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, mix flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Add the egg and molasses and beat until well blended.
- Stir the dry ingredients into the butter mixture and beat until the dough comes together and is well combined. Stir in peppermint candy. Shape the dough into 1-inch balls and place about two inches apart on parchment or silpat-lined baking sheets
- Place the cookie sheets in the refrigerator and let the dough chill for about 15-20 minutes (so the cookies don’t flatten during baking).
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake the cookies, one sheet at at time, until cracks being to appear on the top but the cookies are still soft, about 10-11 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool. When cool, drizzle with the peppermint icing.
- For the icing: in a bowl, mix all the icing ingredients until well blended and smooth. If the icing is too thick to drizzle, mix in more milk, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, until thin enough. Stir in 1 tablespoon finely crushed hard peppermint candy.
Serving: 1 Cookie, Calories: 134kcal, Carbohydrates: 26g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 3g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 15mg, Sodium: 78mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 18g
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Hi, what consistency is the batter supposed to be? My first round was sort of like pnut butter, so I thickened it with some flour for the second round. They taste marvelous even if a little on the thin side.
If the batter or baked cookies are too thin, you can refrigerate to firm up.
Can I make these a week anyway and freeze them? Will that make a difference in the end result?
Yes, that should work just fine!
Can I just say that I am not a blog-follower by nature and I sure don’t ever take the time to comment on them (I have 3 kids and a dog, so I have enough to do :), but I stumbled across your recipes on Pinterest and have spent a good half a day lost in their depths. No kidding, I’ve now printed out 40 of your dessert recipes. Yes, 40. I’m excited to try them and excited that they are all so original; I love to experiment with dessert recipes and these are things that are totally new takes on desserts I already love. So, thanks and keep ’em coming!
Janeil – please don’t feel badly about posting that a recipe didn’t work out. I think it’s extremely helpful for people to read those reviews, too, when deciding whether or not to make a recipe.
I’m not sure what happened with your cookies. I’m guessing based on your climate or altitude, etc, that even though you followed the recipe exactly, perhaps it still needed a 1/4 cup extra flour and extra chilling time.
To be honest, I don’t know if I would make them again if I were you – mostly because while they are delicious, there are so many other wonderful cookies out there that may set up better. Of course, if you do make them again, let me know how they turn out!
So I don’t know what went wrong. I hate to give a bad review because I love so many of your recipes but these did not turn out. They were so sticky I could not shape them into a ball I had to use two spoons and scrap blobs of dough onto the cookie sheet. I did let them sit in the fridge to set up but after cooking them they spread so thin it was all one giant cookie covering the entire pan. I used parchment paper on the bottom but they stuck to that like glue and I couldn’t even get a piece off to taste it and had to throw the whole thing out. I was really bummed because the dough tasted fantastic. I went over the recipe several times to make sure I did it right and I followed it exactly so I don’t know what happened. Should I have added more flour to make them thicker? I would like to try them again next Christmas but am a little scared.
Janeil
I made the gingerbread recipe last night and I LOVE it! I’m going to use it next week to make houses for FHE. Thank you for posting!
I made the peppermint molasses cookies today only I forgot to put the crushed candy cane IN the cookies. Oops. So I just made the icing more Pepperminty. They were still delish! I’m going to make another batch tonight the right way!
michele – glad you liked the crisp gingerbread recipe! Let me know how the houses turn out! What a fun project.
Alisha – I’ve been excited to hear what people think about these peppermint molasses cookies. I’m glad they turned out pretty well for you – I hope the second go-round is even better!
Am loving all of this! That pomegrante cheesecake is to die for. I loved it.
Now the caramels- I meant to compare them with the fleur de sel ones that Ina Garten makes. And then decide- I adore caramels. More than chocolate.
I have made lots of your recipes including the Thick and Chewy Gingerbread Men, next on my list is the cheesecake cookies. Thanks for testing them out. I know they’ll be good if you say so:)
you did so good! now, if only the fairies would come in and make them all for me! i think i’m going to use that last recipe for when i deliver to local businesses this year!
Melanie, you are spoiling us rotten; so grateful for the 12 recipes and then a BONUS – the icing on the cake. Again, thanks for your recipes and the stories behind some of them; you have a gifted family and friends who share their goodies with you (and us). Merry Christmas to you and yours.
you rocked the sugar rush! i’m going to be trying quite a few of them when i go home!!
enough already! geez! seriously, melanie, you’ve amassed quite a spectacular collection of treats these last few days. frankly, i love them all.
What if I don’t want it to be over??
Seriously, thanks a bunch! That was an awful lot of work put in on your part. Thanks for making my Christmas goody hunt alot easier!
Teresa – oh, I’m so glad so many of the treats have worked out for you. Yeah!
Wow–these all look amazing! Good job Melanie!!! I am excited to give a few of these a try!
Thank you for all the great recipes. I’ve made the ganache filled brown sugar bars, devil drops, and caramel shortbread cookies. All delicious! And I plan on trying at least 2 more of these great recipes. I’m going to miss the daily sugar rush!
Teresa
Yet another cookie I want to make! I’m really trying not to bake any more cookies until after Christmas, so these might have to wait until next year. I really want to make them though!