My gluten-free molasses cookies are incredibly chewy and feature deep molasses notes and warm hints of holiday spices. This post is sponsored by Bob’s Red Mill and contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosures.

This is truly the most wonderful time of the year because it’s holiday cookie-baking season.

Each year, I strive to add a new cookie to my recipe repertoire; and this year, I’m baking soft and chewy molasses cookies.

Many people confuse molasses cookies with gingersnap cookies and with good reason. Both cookies contain the same ingredients – flour, butter, sugar, molasses, and holiday spices like cinnamon, cloves and ginger. While you might find the same ingredient list, the cookies taste quite different.

Molasses cookies are soft-baked and chewy whereas gingersnap cookies bake longer and turn out crispy and crunchy.

In this article, I will share how molasses works in baked goods, what flour to use, and how to make the most wonderful chewy gluten-free molasses cookies of your life!

Baking with Molasses

Baking with molasses will net you amazing results. You’ll end up with a chewy, soft, and sweet cookie.

Molasses is gluten free as long as it’s the only ingredient in the jar. Always check labels to ensure no other ingredients have been added. I encourage you to read more about the different brands of molasses in this article.

While molasses adds sweetness to your baked goods, it’s not as sweet as sugar. Molasses contains antioxidants and small amounts of essential minerals such as phosphorus, calcium, iron and magnesium.

Be sure to use either light or dark molasses when making sweet desserts. The darker the molasses, the fuller the flavor. That said, avoid baking with blackstrap molasses. It’s more bitter than light and dark molasses, and it works best in savory dishes like baked beans and BBQ sauces.

Best Flour to Use for Gluten-Free Cookie Baking

If you’re baking gluten-free cookies, I highly recommend using Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Flour Blend. It measures cup for cup with wheat flour.

For example, if your recipe calls for two cups of all-purpose flour, you can simply use two cups of Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Flour Blend, which is made from a blend of flours, starches and xanthan gum (binder).

When I bake with Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Flour Blend, I find my baked goods hold together well and have great texture too.

Gluten-Free Molasses Cookies on a tray with Bob's Red Mill flour in background

Remember, gluten acts as the glue that holds your cookies together and prevents them from crumbling. Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Flour Blend mimics the function of gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye, barley and sometimes oats, so that your cookies hold together and have a wonderful texture despite being gluten free.

How to Make Gluten-Free Molasses Cookies

My gluten-free molasses cookies are fairly easy and straightforward to make.

Step #1: Gather Your Ingredients

You’ll need the following ingredients to make my gluten-free molasses cookies:

2 1/2 cups Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten Free Baking Flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 tablespoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar, plus additional sugar for rolling out the dough
1/3 cup molasses
1 egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Ingredients for Gluten-Free Molasses Cookies

Step #2: Make Cookie Dough

To make the cookie dough, first whisk together your flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Next, add the softened butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar to a large bowl and cream the ingredients together for about 1-2 minutes or until light and fluffy.

Now add the molasses, egg and vanilla extract to the butter-sugar mixture and blend until smooth.

Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until no more streaks of flour remain and you have a beautiful cookie dough. Please note the dough will be sticky to the touch.

Chill the dough in the refrigerator for an hour, until it firms up and is no longer sticky. Chilling will allow the flour to hydrate and reduce the grittiness of the cookies.

Step #3: Bake Cookies

While the dough is chilling, preheat your oven to 350ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Scoop out 1 inch balls of dough and roll each one in granulated sugar before placing on your baking sheet, leaving about 3 inches in between each dough ball.

I can typically get 6-8 cookies on my baking sheet, and you’ll be able to make about 18 cookies. Be sure to bake the cookies in batches, storing the raw dough in the fridge until it’s ready to go into your oven.

Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are set. Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool for five minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a cooling rack to finish cooling. Repeat the baking process with the remaining cookie dough until all molasses cookies are baked.

Step #4: Enjoy!

You’re now ready to enjoy these wonderful chewy molasses cookies that are loaded with holiday spices and hints of bittersweet molasses.

These truly are a festive cookie ready for your holiday cookie exchanges and Christmas parties. Cookie lovers rejoice!

For the Holidays

To make the cookies look a little more festive, dip one half of each cookie in melted white chocolate and top with colorful holiday sprinkles before the chocolate sets.

It’s such a simple way to elevate these cookies and give them a little extra special something.

FAQs and Troubleshooting

Here are some tips to making the best gluten-free molasses cookies ever.

Chill that Dough! It’s essential that you chill the cookie dough before baking. It will prevent the dough from being too sticky as well as deter it from spreading too much in the oven. Chilling also will improve the overall texture and flavor of the cookies. The flour will have time to hydrate, which reduces grittiness.

Space Dough Balls Wisely: You’ll bake these cookies in dough balls (do not flatten), so they will spread in perfect circles. Be sure to place the dough balls about 3 inches apart and bake the cookies in batches. Keep the dough balls refrigerated until you’re ready to bake them.

Make Ahead Instructions: I always think these cookies taste best on day one. But if you want to prepare the cookies ahead of time, simply prepare the dough as instructed and then shape the the dough into balls. Freeze the dough balls in a zip top bag. When you’re ready to bake the cookies, defrost the dough balls, roll in sugar and bake. Alternatively, you could bake the cookies, place them in a freezer-safe zip-top bag, and then place the baked cookies in your freezer. They will keep in your freezer for up to three months.

Flour Alternatives: This recipe has only been tested using Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour. You can use another gluten-free flour blend at your own discretion. Do not use almond flour. Please note that Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour contains xanthan gum already. If your flour blend does not contain xanthan gum, add 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum for every cup of flour. For this recipe, you’ll need 2 1/2 teaspoons of xanthan gum.

Dairy-Free Option: Yes, you can make these cookies dairy free by using a dairy-free butter option.

Egg-Free Option: I have not tested this recipe without the egg, but if you would like to try it, I highly recommend this egg replacer from Bob’s Red Mill.

Sugar Roll: Be sure to roll the cookie dough balls in sugar before baking them in order to give them a little sparkle. If you have sparkling sugar on hand, you can use that instead of granulated sugar.

Chewy Gluten-Free Molasses Cookies

Baking with Molasses

Best Flour to Use for Gluten-Free Cookie Baking