These frosted molasses cookies were inspired by an old recipe I posted way back called Molasses Cookies with Baked on Frosting.
The original cookies themselves were fine, but it was the baked on frosting idea I was fascinated with. You mix a paste of flour, butter and sugar and pipe it on the dough. The baked cookies look something like this.
They're cute, but I knew I could make better tasting molasses cookies with a frosting that you don't have to bake, but that sets up firm and opaque.
So here's a new and improved recipe. The molasses cookie dough is unusual in that it has baking powder. Most molasses cookie recipes call for soda only, but this one calls for a little of both.
Shortening is the key fat in this recipe, but butter should work too. I've just been on a shortening kick because a) butter is so expensive right now and b) some things just have a better texture when made with shortening. But I do think butter would will work if you chill the dough.
This recipe makes an easy to handle dough which you can cut with cutters (though the cookies will puff) or shape into balls. For the ones in the photo I used a 1 ½ inch cutter and about a ¼ inch of dough. The cookies bake up firm and chewy.
Recipe
Frosted Molasses Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup shortening or unsalted butter (144 grams shortening or 170 grams butter)
- 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed (200-220 grams)
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup molasses (80 grams)
- 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour (285 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon cloves
Opaque Frosting
- 2 teaspoons softened butter (8 to 10 grams)
- 1 cup powdered sugar (120 grams)
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-2 tablespoons water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Beat the sugar and shortening just until creamy.
- Add the egg and molasses and beat until blended, scraping the side of the bowl.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices until evenly blended, then add to mixing bowl and stir or beat on low until you have a soft dough. At this point you can scoop it or you can press it into a ¼ inch slab and use 1 ½ round cutters.
- If scooping, using a small to medium size cookie scoop, scoop out balls of dough. Mash the tops slightly to help flatten and bake evenly. Sprinkle with coarse sugar. If using the icing you can skip the sugar.
- Bake the cookies on a parchment lined (or greased) baking sheet for about 10 minutes. Let cool on sheet for 3 minutes, then transfer to a rack to finish cooling.
Frosting
- Mix together the softened butter, sugar and vanilla. It will be crumbly. Gradually add liquid, stirring until mixture is smooth and either thick enough to pipe from a baggie with the corner cut off or thin enough to drizzle.
- If using the piping method, scrape the frosting into a zipper bag, snip off the end and squeeze lines of it across the cookies. Alternatively, just drizzle over the top (skip the bag). Allow icing to set.
Anna says
Well, I'm glad you tried them. These were interesting. When I saw the recipe I just had to see what baked on frosting was like. Can't say they're the best molasses cookies ever, but they were good.
Susan says
Oh - and you were definitely right about the stickiness - I had some issues rolling the dough out.
Susan says
Thought I'd drop back in to say I finally made these. Very nice flavor. I didn't get to be as elaborate with the frosting as I wanted to - I made the hole in the bag too big for delicate work.
I really could see even ignoring the frosting part and just making the cookie. They are soft and spicy, even the next day. Very good.
One small thing - I ran out of flour, so the cookie dough was 2 cups AP, 3/4 cup WW.
janet says
Duh, just read the below blog about the Spectrum shortening.....disregard my previous comment;-)
Charlie Hills says
I'm with Sugar Duchess: never heard of baked-in frosting. And man I'm a sucker for cookies with molasses... It's lucky I don't have a lot of time to bake. Things could be much worse than they are already.
bakingblonde says
I love that idea, what a great way to make your cookies stand out from the norm?? Brilliant!
KAnn says
Anna, I have been using Spectrum for years now-it replaces Crisco in a few of my grandmother's recipes. I haven't tried it for anything other than cookies, though. I have always been pleased and agree with another comment in yesterday's post about it becoming very soft in the summer months etc. I wish it came in a smaller container as I don't use it all that often.
I am not a huge fan of Sunflower and wasn't long before I went to work for WF. The first one in the Denver area opend about 5 years ago just blocks from my home. I would only buy name brand canned/boxed products. The produce is very unreliable and I am not confident about how they label and display their organic produce. The meat/dairy is no different from what you would buy at a conventional store and they sell bulk and other products that contain trans fats and artificial preservatives and flavors.
janet says
I am very excited about trying these cookies..they look delicious...thanks! Ok, what's Spectrum?
Susan says
This looks awesome! I bake cookies for my coworkers every Monday, and this might be on board for the next round.
Sugar Duchess says
Wow! I've never heard of baked-on frosting. That's kind of cool. I love molasses cookies--I just made some last week! Yours look so soft and delicious.
Pearl says
so many cookies 🙂
Katrina says
Cute, yum, and that's really interesting about the "frosting".
Louise says
They look cute. My Hermit recipe uses shortening. I tried it once with butter and the texture isn't as good. I think butter is roughly 80% fat versus 100% fat for shortening so you have to adjust accordingly. Try your small batch hermit recipe, or I can send you my recipe if you like. It's an old recipe from the Boston Globe.