Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies with a crunchy sugar coating and an optional white chocolate topping. These cookies are perfectly spiced and they stay chewy for days. They freeze beautifully, too!
2-3teaspoonsground gingerdepending on how strong of a flavor you want
1teaspooncinnamon
¼teaspooncloves
¼teaspoonsalt
¾cupunsalted buttersoftened, but still cool to the touch
½cupgranulated sugar
½cupdark brown sugarpacked
1largeegg
1largeegg yolk
¼cupunsulphured molasses
2cupswhite chocolate chips melted, optional
sprinklesoptional
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners. Pour the sparkling sugar onto a plate.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, spices, and salt.
In a separate bowl, beat butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar for 2 minutes, until smooth and creamy. Add egg, egg yolk, and molasses and beat until thoroughly combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the flour mixture and beat until combined.
Scoop the dough into balls (see note) and roll the balls of dough in the sparkling sugar (be generous!). Place the dough balls on prepared baking sheets at least 2 inches apart, they will spread quite a bit. Bake for 8-12 minutes (see note). Be careful not to overbake. The center of the cookie should still look slightly underdone when you pull them from the oven. Place the baking sheets on wire racks to cool completely.
After cooling, the cookies can be dunked or drizzled in melted white chocolate. If you'd like you can also add sprinkles to the cookies while the chocolate is still wet. After adding the white chocolate I transfer the cookies to the refrigerator just until the white chocolate firms up. Store at room temperature.
Notes
If the dough is too soft to roll into balls, refrigerate it for 30 minutes or so to chill it slightly. Note: The longer you leave the dough in the fridge the less the cookies will spread.
For large cookies scoop the dough into golf ball sized balls (approximately 2 generous tablespoons of dough). Bake for 10-12 minutes.
For slightly smaller cookies scoop the dough into 1 ½ tablespoon portions (I use a cookie scoop). Bake for 8-10 minutes.