These Brown Butter Molasses Cookies have hints of caramel from the browned butter and brown sugar and lots of flavor with four wintry spices. They are thick and chewy and the perfect cold-weather treat.
There are four different spices in this recipe. The amount of each spice can be adjusted, so let your taste buds be your measuring guide. If you really love ginger, for instance, add an extra ½ teaspoon. If you're not a fan of nutmeg, reduce it to ¼ teaspoon, or remove it altogether.
The recipe makes oversized cookies that are ¼ cup of dough each. They're huge and satisfying to sink your teeth into (but I usually divide them in half for the kids). If, however, you're looking for standard drop-sized cookies, give these Grandma's Molasses Cookies with Maple Glaze a try.
During the holiday season, I also love to make these Cinnamon Pinwheel Cookies, Gingerbread Whoopies Pies, or my favorite Double Chocolate Andes Mint Cookies.
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🌟 Why You'll Love This Recipe
Brown Butter: Browning the butter adds an additional note of caramel to these cookies.
Winter Spices: Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Ginger, and Allspice come together for a cookie that's anything but mild.
Oversized: These are thick oversized cookies.
🛒 Ingredients
Below are the ingredients needed to make Brown Butter Molasses Cookies.
- Butter: I use salted butter. The butter is browned adding a caramel note to the cookies.
- Brown Sugar: Use brown sugar rather than granulated sugar for a richer flavor.
- Egg: Use large eggs, pasture-raised if possible.
- Molasses: I use the Grandma's Molasses brand.
- Flour: Use all-purpose, unbleached flour.
- Salt: To bring out flavor.
- Baking Powder: For leavening. Check to make sure it has not expired.
- Cinnamon: If possible, use high-quality cinnamon. I use Ceylon Cinnamon from a company called Simply Organics which can be found at Whole Foods and some other specialty grocery stores.
- Ginger, Allspice, Nutmeg: Wintry spices add lots of flavor, any brand is fine.
- Turbinado Sugar: For sprinkling on the cookies. Turbinado sugar is a brown sugar with larger sugar granules and can be found at many grocery stores in the baking aisle. Adding it is optional but adds a festive touch and a slight sweet crunch.
To learn more about these cookie ingredients, see my Guide to Cookie Ingredients.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
📝 How to Make Brown Butter Molasses Cookies
Below are the step-by-step instructions and photos for how to make Brown Butter Molasses Cookies.
Step 1. Brown the Butter: Add the butter to a medium saucepan on medium heat. Stir occasionally until it starts to brown. Before it browns it will become very foamy, be sure to stir continuously at this point and look for the bubbles to start to turn a golden brown color. Watch it closely and remove the pan from the heat once the butter has fully browned.
Tip: If you're concerned about burning the butter (which can happen quickly after it browns, keep the heat slightly lower (a #3 or #4 out of 10 on an electric stove). It will take longer to brown the butter, but you'll be less likely to burn.
Step 2. Cool the Browned Butter: Add the butter to a small dish and place in the freezer for 15-20 minutes. This cools down the melted brown butter faster. This way you can skip the step of refrigerating the entire dough (which would take longer than cooling down the butter in the freezer for a short while).
Prep: Preheat the Oven to 350°F.
Step 3. Combine Butter and Sugar: Add the cooled brown butter and the brown sugar to a large mixing bowl and combine. I do this with a hand mixer, but you can also stir it by hand.
Step 4. Add the Egg and Molasses: Add the egg and molasses and combine.
Step 5. Add the Dry Ingredients: Add the flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and nutmeg and combine.
Step 6. Bake the Cookies: Use a ¼ measuring cup to measure out ¼ cup worth of dough for each cookie. Shape it into a hockey puck shape and place 6-8 cookies on a sheet pan.
Bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes. Sprinkle the cookies with turbinado sugar as soon as they come out of the oven while the cookies are still warm.
Tip: Sprinkling the cookies with sugar after baking them allows you to cover more surface area as the cookies spread out when they are baked. If you add the sugar while they are still warm out of the oven, the sugar will stick to the cookies.
✏️ Brown Butter Molasses Cookie FAQs
Yes, absolutely you can make the dough ahead of time. Shape the dough into ¼ cup rounds and place on a plate covered with plastic wrap overnight, or freeze the dough, and bake when ready. If baking from frozen add 1-2 minutes to the baking time, or allow them to thaw to a cool room temperature before baking.
Store the leftover cookies in an airtight container for up to a week.
Yes, to make them into drop cookies, drop roughly 2 tablespoons worth of dough per cookie on the cookie sheet, or roll the dough into a circle in the palm of your hand for perfectly round cookies. Bake for 9-10 minutes at 350°F.
If You're Looking For More Cookie Recipes, You May Love These:
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Brown Butter Molasses Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup butter, softened
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup molasses
- 2 ½ cups flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ cup Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling optional
Instructions
- Brown the butter in a medium saucepan at medium heat. Once the butter starts to foam and you can see them start to turn a light brown, stir continuously until the butter is fully browned about 5-7 minutes.
- Add the melted browned butter to a bowl and freeze it for 15-20 minutes until it has thoroughly cooled.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F degrees.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the cooled browned butter and brown sugar.
- Add the egg and molasses and combine.
- Add the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and nutmeg to combine.
- Use a ¼ cup measuring cup to measure out ¼ cup worth of dough for each cookie. Place 6-8 cookies on a baking sheet.
- Bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes.
- Sprinkle the cookies with turbinado sugar immediately after taking them out of the oven. Allow the cookies to cool.
Notes
- Cinnamon: In general, I prefer using a high-quality Ceylon Cinnamon. In recipes that feature cinnamon. It makes a big difference to use a high-quality version. I like using the brand Simply Organic.
- Browning Butter: If you're concerned about burning the butter (which can happen quickly after it browns, keep the heat slightly lower (a #3 or #4 out of 10 on an electric stove). It will take longer to brown the butter, but you'll be less likely to burn.
- Turbinado Sugar: Sprinkling the cookies with sugar after baking them allows you to cover more surface area as the cookies spread out when they are baked. If you add the sugar while they are still warm out of the oven, the sugar will stick to the cookies.
- Turbinado sugar is a brown sugar with larger sugar granules and can be found at many grocery stores in the baking aisle. Adding it is optional but adds a festive touch and a slight sweet crunch.
Nutrition
**This recipe has been adapted from Soft Molasses Cookies at Food.com.
