I absolutely love Soft Molasses Cookies. This is by far my favorite cookie recipe to make. What really makes these molasses cookies awesome is that I use cake flour instead of All-Purpose Flour. If you are looking for the real deal, you’ve found it!
What is Cake Flour
Cake flour is different than all-purpose flour as it has a much lower protein level. Cakes made with cake flour will have a finer, more tender crumb than those made with all-purpose flour.
That being said, in most cases it is possible to substitute cake flour with all-purpose flour unless the cake is extremely tender (ex. angel food cake).
Cake Flour Substitute
To use all-purpose flour for 1 cup of cake flour measure out 1 cup all-purpose flour, remove 2 tablespoons of the all-purpose flour and replace it with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Whisk together before using.
Ingredient Substitution
If you don’t have any shortening on hand you can substitute for an equal amount of butter. Just make sure the butter is soft before you mix it with the sugar. You can also substitute the sour cream for an equal amount of plain Greek Yogurt.
I often get asked what a good substitute for molasses would be. Not sure if it’s because they don’t have any on hand or simply don’t like the flavor.
You have a few options as far as substitutes go: dark corn syrup, maple syrup, honey or even some dark brown sugar with a little water added to it.
Remember that substituting for one of these ingredients will alter the overall flavor of this recipe.
Curious about where Molasses comes from? I was and this article on the origins of Molasses is what I discovered. Probably not the healthiest for you but they are probably one of the tastiest cookies you will ever have!
If you love these Soft Molasses Cookies, make sure you check out my other Molasses Cookies Recipes: Fat Archie’s Molasses Cookies and Helen’s Molasses Cookies. Or for a similar tasting cookie, try my Delicious Soft Ginger Cookie recipe.
Additionally, I would seriously recommend you check out this Crown Royal Whiskey Cookie recipe. This recipe is by far one of the most popular cookie recipes on my blog.
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Gather your Ingredients
You will need the following ingredients to make this soft molasses cookies recipe (see recipe card for quantities): Vegetable Shortening, White Sugar, Eggs, Molasses, Apple Cider Vinegar, Salt, Cake Flour, Ground Cinnamon, Sour Cream, Ground Ginger and Baking Soda.
How to Make Soft Molasses Cookies
- Preheat Oven to 350°F.
- In a small bowl, combine all the dry ingredients: salt, cake flour, ground cinnamon, ground ginger and baking soda. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the shortening and sugar. Add the egg and molasses and beat well. Add the vinegar, sour cream. Mix till well combined. Stir in the dry ingredients and mix until all the ingredients and well combined.
- Drop a Tablespoon of batter per cookie on a parchment lined or greased baking sheet. The cookies will collapse as they bake.
- Bake for 13 minutes. The cookies will still be soft to the touch but will stiffen up as the cool.
- Let cookies cool on wire rack before serving.
Printable Recipe Card
Rod’s Soft Molasses Cookies
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Ingredients
- 1 Cup Vegetable Shortening
- 1 Cup White Sugar
- 1 Egg
- ½ Cup Molasses
- 1 Tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 Cup Sour Cream
- 1 Tsp Salt
- 3 Cups Cake Flour
- 3 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1 Tsp Ground Ginger
- 2 Tsp Baking Soda
Instructions
- Preheat Oven to 350°F.
- In a small bowl, combine all the dry ingredients: salt, cake flour, ground cinnamon, ground ginger and baking soda. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the shortening and sugar. Add the egg and molasses and beat well. Add the vinegar, sour cream. Mix till well combined. Stir in the dry ingredients and mix until all the ingredients and well combined.
- Drop a Tablespoon of batter per cookie on a parchment lined or greased baking sheet. The cookies will collapse as they bake.
- Bake for 13 minutes. The cookies will still be soft to the touch but will stiffen up as the cool.
- Let cookies cool on wire rack before serving.
I made these cookies several times and they are a favorite of my kids. Can whip up a batch in no time. Very soft and chewy.
If you like soft cookies, these are perfect. They are my favourite. And since I saw this recipe I have made them many times. Very tasty and delicious.
This cookies look very good. At the top of the page you mention that you use “Bread Flour”in the cookies, but in the ingredients you say to use “Cake Flour”, can you clarify which type of flour you use? I really want to make them and have them turn out right.
Oh My! What a terrible typo on my part. The recipe card is correct. I use cake flour for these cookies. All Purpose Flour works equally as well, just not as fluffy. Thanks for letting us know!