As a kid, every year my brother and I would offer up cookies as a ceremonial sacrifice to Santa, so that he would gift us handsomely that Christmas. Now that I’m looking back on it, I’m kinda mad my Dad made us a lay out a whole box of cookies, only for him to keep them all to himself. Regardless, one of the cookies we’d offer up every year was molasses cookies – a soft, chewy, and deep Southern delicacy. The warming feeling of those cookies mixed with Christmas nostalgia makes them a perfect way to kick off December.
We’ve shared quite a few cookie recipes here on the blog, most of which from our sugar and lectin free days, but I have to say… none of them come close to the texture of these babies. Yes, they’re soft and chewy, but what makes baked goods really shine is what they’re not, and these cookies are not crumbly, cakey, hard, or dense. Flavor-wise, well… they taste JUST LIKE a molasses cookie, but if you’ve never had one, they’re dark spiced cookies, sweetened with brown sugar & molasses, and laced with cinnamon, ginger, and a touch of cardamom. Imagine them like a soft version of ginger snaps with a less spicy bite.
Making them is simple cookie procedure: beat butter with brown sugar, mix in the “egg” mixture, work the dry ingredients in until a dough is formed, roll in sugar, and bake for less than 10 minutes. From start-to-finish, these cookies only take 30 minutes!
Let’s take a quick second to talk about ingredients, because the type of butter and egg replacement you use will have a big impact on the end result. As a friendly reminder, we are not paid nor sponsored by either of these brand recommendations – we just stand by them because they’re the best things we’ve found so far. When it comes to vegan butter, Melt is creamy, smooth, and rich like real butter, as opposed to light and crumbly like vegan margarines, such as Earth Balance. The difference you’ll notice in cookies made with Melt as opposed to Earth Balance is they’ll be richer and more moist as opposed to airy and flat tasting. Miyoko’s is another brand that has spectacular vegan butter, however, because of its high price point, we don’t keep it in stock nearly as much as Melt.
When it comes to egg replacers, we’ve noticed that Follow Your Heart’s “Vegan Egg” is the most reliable and similar to real eggs in terms of baking. Does it make good scrambled eggs? Heck no, but its effect in baked goods is unmatched, as Follow Your Heart’s Vegan Egg contains a myriad of ingredients like soy milk powder, modified cellulose, gellan gum, and other stabilizers that mimic the binding and moistening abilities of chicken eggs. That’s not to say it doesn’t have flaws though, as the measurements for “one egg” on the box is way too much for one egg, and I find that you need less of this product than you would real eggs. Those things aside, one pack of vegan egg mixture lasts a few months in our house, which makes it well worth the price.
We hope you guys take a couple minutes to enjoy one of the South’s best culinary creations. These cookies are:
- Irresistible and downright delicious with milk
- Easy to make and take 30 minutes from start-to-finish
- Soft, chewy, and moist
- Deep in flavor and lightly spiced
- Vegan
If you like what your tastebuds are tellin’ ya, leave behind a nice rating, share your thoughts with us in the comments, or show us your creations by tagging @noeggsorham on Instagram.
Go Forth & Eat Cookies like the Cookie Monster,
Ryan
Soft & Chewy Vegan Molasses Cookies
Irresistible & buttery dark-spiced cookies.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 c (180 g) flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ginger powder
- pinch of cardamom
- 1/2 c (112 g) vegan butter
- 1/2 c (96 g) brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp Vegan Egg powder + 1 tbsp cold water
- 3 tbsp (60 g) blackstrap molasses
- 2 tbsps cane or coconut sugar, for rolling
Directions
- Pre-heat oven to 375° F and line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. If needed, line two cookie sheets with parchment.
- Whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cardamom in a medium mixing bowl. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together vegan egg powder with water until smooth, then whisk in molasses. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand-up mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large mixing bowl with an electric hand whisk, beat the butter, brown sugar, and salt together on medium until light and fluffy; about 3 minutes.
- Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula and mix in the egg mixture until smooth. Add in the dry ingredients all at once and beat on low until incorporated, then boost the speed to medium until smooth, scraping down the sides once halfway through.
- Place cane or coconut sugar on a small plate. Scoop out a 2 tablespoon portion of dough, form it into a ball, roll it in sugar until evenly coated, place it on prepped cookie sheet, and lightly flatten into a small disk. Repeat for rest of dough.
- Ensure the cookies have about 2 inches of space between them as they’ll spread out during baking; if necessary, split between two cookie sheets.
- Bake for 8 ½ minutes for soft-baked cookies (our preference) or 10 minutes for slightly firmer cookies. If using two cookies sheets, bake them for 4 ½ minutes, switch the pans around in the oven, and bake for another 4 ½ minutes.
- Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack for 10-15 minutes. Enjoy while warm or store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to three days.
- Note: when they come out of the oven, the middle will be gooey; that’s okay because it will firm up as they cool. If the center is cooked through when they come out of the oven, they’ll be overcooked once they cool.
NO EGGS OR HAM 
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