Grandma's Molasses Cookies with Maple Glaze

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Grandma's Molasses Cookies with Maple Glaze are chewy and soft, full of spices that taste just like Christmas, and last on the counter for days and days, unless of course, you eat them all up.

These are our favorite holiday cookies by a long shot. They are made with molasses and four different spices, which when combined, bring on all the nostalgia of Christmas and the Holidays.

Cookies arranged on a flat surface surrounded with greenery.

These cookies taste so good, but they also look super festive. Yet they are easy and don't take a whole lot of effort. They are great cookies to take to a holiday party, or to keep around the house in the winter. The dough keeps well in the fridge, but also freezes well too.

We also love to bring Krumkake Norwegian Waffle Cookies to any special event around the holidays, these Gingerbread Whoopie Pies, a Christmas Cookie Tree, or these Cinnamon Pinwheel Cookies.

🛒 Grandma's Molasses Cookie Ingredients

Below are the ingredients needed to make Grandma's Molasses Cookies.

Butter: I use softened salted butter.
Brown Sugar: To add a caramel/molasses like sweetness and color. Choose dark brown sugar over light brown for the color.
Egg: One large egg helps to bind the ingredients, the yolk adds richness, and helps the cookies rise.
Molasses: Essential in these molasses cookies, gives the cookies that deep caramel flavor that you associate with gingerbread cookies, as well as moisture and color. I use Grandma’s molasses that you can find at many grocery stores.
Baking Soda: Helps the cookies rise.
Salt: To balance sweetness and enhance the other flavors.
Cinnamon, Ginger, Allspice, Nutmeg: The combination of these spices is central to the flavor of these cookies. They give the cookies that wintry, gingerbread like flavor. Use high-quality Ceylon cinnamon if possible.
Flour: All-purpose unbleached flour.

Below are the ingredients needed to make the Maple Glaze and sprinkle decoration.

Ingredients needed to make the maple glaze for the grandma's molasses cookies.

Powdered Sugar: The base of the maple glaze. White powdered sugar makes for a white glaze.
Maple Syrup: Adds a subtle maple flavoring and comes together with the powdered sugar to form a glaze.
Sprinkles: For decorating the cookies. I found these bright gold sprinkles at a regular grocery store.

To learn more about these cookie ingredients, see my Guide to Cookie Ingredients.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

🍁 Variations: Maple Syrup vs Granulated Sugar

In this recipe, I add a maple glaze for an extra festive holiday touch. Adding the gold sprinkles makes them shimmer and look extra special for an occasion without too much extra effort. We usually have maple syrup in the house for making Maple Pecan Granola, so making a maple glaze tends not to be an added expense since we don't have to go out and buy it.

However, if you won’t use maple syrup for anything other than this recipe, it can be pretty expensive, and you can always skip the glaze and roll the cookies in granulated sugar before baking.

📝 How to Make Grandma's Molasses Cookies with Maple Glaze

Below are the step-by-step instructions and photos for how to make Grandma's Molasses Cookies with Maple Glaze.

*Note that the recipe card with instructions and ingredient list is included further below these step-by-step photos.

Bowl with butter and brown sugar, next to bowl with the two ingredients combined.

Step 1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the softened butter and brown sugar.

Bowl with batter and Grandma's molasses and eggs next to bowl with all the ingredients combined.

Step 2. Add the egg and molasses and combine.

Bowl with batter, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, baking soda and salt, next to bowl with all the ingredients combined.

Step 3. Add the baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg, and combine.

Bowl with batter and flour on top, next to bowl with all of the ingredients combined.

Step 4. Add the flour and mix to combine.

Cookie dough scooped onto a piece of plastic wrap on a light background, next to the dough wrapped tightly in plastic wrap.

Step 5. Divide the dough in half and wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Chill in the fridge for 1 hour or overnight. This helps to meld the flavors and chill the butter in the dough.

Baking sheet with raw cookie dough rolled into balls, next to baking sheet with baked cookies.

Step 6. Roll about 1 ½ tablespoons worth of dough into balls and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 350°F for 10 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool fully.

White bowl with maple syrup and powdered sugar, next to bowl with the two ingredients combines into a maple glaze for the cookies.

Step 7. Make the Maple Glaze. Combine maple syrup and powdered sugar in a small bowl.

Hand dipping Grandma's Molasses Cookie into a bowl with maple glaze, next to hand holding the maple glaze dipped cookie.

Step 8. Dip the cookies in the maple glaze.

Tip: Use a short juice glass or a small bowl to mix the maple glaze and dip the cookies. That way, the glaze comes up fairly high in the juice glass, making it easy to dunk the cookie halfway. If you use a wider bowl, the glaze will be shallower, and it will be harder to get an evenly dipped half cookie.

Cookie Drying rack filled with Maple Glazed Grandma's Molasses Cookies next to baking sheet filled with glazed cookies and decorative gold sprinkles.

Step 9. Place the glazed cookies on a cookie drying rack over a cookie sheet lined with a paper towel. Immediately sprinkle with sprinkles or decorative sugar. Be sure to do so before the glaze hardens. Leave the cookies on the drying rack until the maple glaze has fully hardened.

🫙 How to Store the Cookies

Once fully cooled, these cookies can be placed in an airtight container and stored on the counter. They can also be sealed in a gallon-sized plastic bag.

The dough can also be made ahead and kept in the fridge for up to a week before baking.

✏️ Grandma's Molasses Cookies with Maple Glaze FAQs

How to tell when molasses cookies are done?

The cookies are done when they are slightly poofy in the middle and have a rounded edge that looks firm and set and the middle is slightly soft.

Can molasses cookie dough be frozen?

Yes, molasses cookie dough can be frozen. It will last for months in the freezer. I have done this many, many times over the holiday season for many years.

Why add molasses to cookies?

Molasses is primarily added in order to add flavor to the cookies. Molasses has a very specific deep almost caramel-like flavor that is impossible to replicate. It also adds moisture and sweetness to the cookies.

How long do the cookies last?

These cookies stay soft and fresh for at least a week, if not quite a bit longer. They are the perfect cookie to mail to friends around the holidays.