I’ve never been much of a cookie-maker, but one year the kids requested gingerbread cookies. They’d been visiting friends and making gingerbread houses. The result was these chewy molasses cookies that have all the flavors of gingerbread!
When I first tried my hand at making these cookies, I liked the idea of including dates as a sweetener. I was pregnant at the time and since dates help shorten labor, date-sweetened molasses cookies sounded pretty good. I also love that they’re grain-free and high in protein.
Nutrient-Dense Ingredients for Healthy Molasses Cookies
Most traditional ginger molasses cookies have ingredients like granulated sugar, all-purpose flour, and brown sugar. White sugar-filled holiday cookies aren’t on my list of favorite cookie recipes!
After several failed attempts, I’m happy with these fragrant, yummy cookies. They’re free of refined sweeteners and packed with nutrient-dense ingredients. Not only do they taste delicious, but I don’t mind letting the kids have them (or eating them myself).
The best molasses cookies start with great ingredients:
- Molasses: A great natural source of iron, B vitamins, magnesium, and copper. It’s great for improving digestion, reversing gray hair, and helping anemia (among other things). While blackstrap molasses is the healthiest, I like using unsulphured molasses in recipes since it doesn’t have a bitter taste. It gives the cookies a rich, molasses flavor.
- Dates: A fruit that’s often eaten alone or used as a natural sweetener. They’re said to be anti-inflammatory. Dates are also suggested for heart health, healthy blood pressure, and brain health. When I found a study about how consuming dates regularly could shorten labor, I decided to give them a try.
- Almond Flour: High in protein, filling, and nourishing.
- Cinnamon: A little spice with a lot of benefits! Cinnamon has immune-boosting and infection-fighting properties. It’s also often used to help regulate blood sugar. And it tastes delicious!
- Ginger: So many great health effects, including easing nausea and calming coughing. Read more about it here. And check out this post for some great info on storing fresh ginger. I prefer fresh, but you can use 1 teaspoon of ground ginger if that’s what you have.
Of course, no cookie is great for daily consumption. Although between the healthy ingredients and minimal sweeteners, I’d say these are as close as they come.
Tips For Making Soft Molasses Cookies
Gingerbread or molasses cookies are classic Christmas cookies. The scent evokes memories of childhood gingerbread house making at grandma’s and tree decorating.
In general, making cookies is pretty straightforward. You mix together the dry ingredients, mix together the wet ingredients, then mix the two together. I follow the same pattern with these cookies, except I use a blender for the wet ingredients. It’s the easiest way to get a smooth consistency with the dates.
I usually chill to dough for at least 15 minutes to let it firm up a bit before rolling it into balls. If you don’t you’ll have a sticky mess on your hands… literally.
The final two steps are optional. The first is the sugar. I like to roll my cookie dough balls in organic coconut sugar. It looks beautiful and gives the cookies a nice crunchy crust on the outside.
The second is the pressing. These cookies don’t flatten out on their own while they’re cooking or have a crinkle on top. You can either smash them gently with the bottom of a glass before baking or make a criss-cross pattern with a fork halfway through baking. Or make life simpler and just leave them in balls!
These cookies are stickier than regular gingerbread cookies. They’re not ideal for use with cookie cutters or to make gingerbread houses. Unlike baked goods made with regular flour, these don’t have gluten to help hold them together. They’re still just as delicious though!
Or Use It as a Crust!
It didn’t take me long to discover this recipe also makes an incredible grain-free crust for a pumpkin pie or gingerbread cheesecake! It’s a healthier option than the typical crushed gingersnaps crust.
We had a great time making these for Christmas and I hope you will too. They aren’t overly sweet. But if you aren’t used to a lot of processed desserts, they have the perfect balance of sweetness and spice.
Molasses Cookies Recipe
Servings
Equipment
Nutrition
Notes
- Different brands of almond and coconut flour work differently in recipes. There are even differences between the kinds of dates and molasses in baking. You may have to adjust ingredients up or down slightly to get the correct consistency.
- When the cookies are done baking they should still be semi-soft to the touch, but start to get crispy around the edges.
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Were gingerbread or molasses cookies a part of your childhood? Share below!
I’ve been seeing more and more in the health space people saying we should very much avoid nuts and baking with almond flour due to PUFA content, also concerns for antinutrients in raw nuts not prepared properly. Thoughts on this?
Can we use dark jaggery in powdered form like Organic Palm Jaggery in place of molasses for this recipe? Will it be a 1 to 1 substitute?
I’m so excited to try these. But curious why doesn’t it have ginger in it?!?
Looks yummy! How much coconut sugar would you substitute for the dates?
Hi there is no ginger listed in these, perhaps a mistake? We had to find from another ginger cookie recipie online and guestamate. Also, the molasses is not listed in the mixing instructions anywhere, but only in the list of ingredients.
You can use a Tablespoon of grated fresh ginger, or a teaspoon of dried. And you can add the molasses with the wet ingredients.
Hi! Looks delish but I can’t do dairy. Would coconut oil sub for butter? Have you seen this work in other recipes? Thanks mama <3
I haven’t done it for this specific recipe but it’s worth a try. Let me know if you try it and how it turns out!
Not seeing where to add the molasses. I assume in the blender part?