Gingerbread Cookies without Molasses are soft and fluffy cookies filled with warm and spicy flavors. Delicious rolled in sugar, irresistible frosted with easy browned butter frosting. Perfect sweet cookies for the Christmas season or after school snacking.
If you like soft ginger cookies, you’re going to love these delicious Gingerbread Cookies.
They’re pillowy soft in the center with a crunchy sugar coating -- and filled with all the warm spices.
These chewy gingerbread cookies are made with no molasses, so I added tons of ginger, lots of cinnamon, just enough cloves and nutmeg, black pepper, and a dash of cayenne pepper to give these ginger cookies plenty of zippy flavor.
These delicious cookies taste great rolled in sparkly sugar or frosted with the most amazing browned butter frosting.
When you're ready to bake cookies for the holiday season, be sure to add this gingerbread cookies recipe without molasses to your Christmas cookie recipes list.
Try these soft and chewy cookie recipes next
- Chai Spice White Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Big, Thick Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies
- Cranberry Almond Macaroons
Why You’re Going to Love This Recipe
No molasses? No problem. This gingerbread cookie recipe is plenty flavorful without it.
Fun twist on a traditional gingerbread cookie for Christmas time baking
Super soft and chewy in the middle
Easy gingerbread recipe made with common ingredients
Simple browned butter frosting makes these cookies irresistible
Ingredients
See the recipe card for the full list of ingredients.
Gingerbread Cookies without Molasses
Brown sugar. Brown sugar has a little molasses in it. I always use dark brown sugar because it has the most flavor. Light brown sugar also works.
Softened unsalted butter. Soften the butter to room temperature so it will whip up to a light and fluffy consistency.
Honey. This cookie recipe uses honey instead of molasses. A darker, bolder honey will add more rich flavor, but use whatever kind of honey you have.
Room temperature egg. If you forget to take your egg out of the fridge ahead of time, place it in a cup of warm water for about 10 minutes.
Ginger. One full tablespoon of ground ginger brings the ginger flavor home and adds a zippy bite.
Black pepper. A little bit of black pepper adds mild spiciness to the cookies.
Cayenne pepper. I think all the best gingerbread cookie recipes have cayenne pepper in them. Just ⅛ teaspoon adds a little bit of heat without being over the top about it. If this makes you nervous, you can leave it out.
Turbinado sugar. I like to roll these cookies in turbinado sugar, which is a coarse grain sugar. Just because it’s crunchy and sparkly. You can absolutely use white granulated sugar.
Browned Butter Frosting
Powdered sugar. The browned butter frosting whisks together easily with sweet and fluffy powdered sugar.
Milk. A little milk thins out the browned butter cookie frosting to just the right consistency for spreading.
How to Make Gingerbread Cookies without Molasses: Step by step
Step 1
In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter with an electric mixer on medium to medium-high speed.
Add the brown sugar and beat until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as you go. Beat in the honey, egg, and vanilla.
Step 2
In a separate bowl, sift or whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and salt together.
Step 3
Slowly add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined. Be careful not to overmix.
Step 4
Cover the dough with plastic wrap. I like to press the plastic wrap directly on top of the dough to keep it from drying out.
Chill dough in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, up to 4 days. I chill mine overnight.
Step 5
Preheat the oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
Step 6
Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and roll in granulated sugar or turbinado sugar. Place the balls 2 inches apart.
Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges just start to turn light golden brown and the centers are puffy and soft.
Cool for 2 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer the baked cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
How to Make Brown Butter Frosting
These gingerbread cookies are super delicious on their own and out of this world with a smear of this super easy brown butter frosting recipe.
Melt the butter in a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir for about 5-7 minutes while it gets foamy, bubbles, and turns golden brown. There will be brown speckles in the bottom of the pan -- which is a good thing!
Remove the butter from the stove and pour it into a heat-proof bowl to stop the cooking process and keep it from burning. Let the butter cool for a few minutes.
Whisk the powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, and milk together until it reaches your desired consistency.
Frost the cookies with 1 to 1 ½ teaspoons of frosting and set them aside to let the frosting set.
Storage & Freezing
Store unfrosted cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.
Store frosted cookies in a single layer in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Freeze unfrosted cookies for up to three months.
Freeze cookie dough or rolled out cookie dough balls for up to two months.
Freeze any leftover browned butter frosting in an airtight container or ziptop freezer bag for up to 3 months.
Expert Tips
Use room temperature butter and eggs. This allows all of the cookie batter ingredients to mix together cohesively.
Chill the cookie dough at least 2 hours or overnight and up to 4 days.
Be careful not to overmix the dough, which can result in tough cookies.
Recipe FAQs
Honey is an excellent substitute for molasses in gingerbread cookies and can be used as a 1:1 replacement in many baking recipes. However, honey does not have the same bold flavor as molasses. To make up for the molasses flavor in your recipe, increase the spices and use brown sugar, which contains molasses, in addition to or instead of white sugar.
It can be tricky to tell when darker colored cookies are done. Look for edges that feel dry and middles that are soft and puffy.
Refrigerate the dough for these gingerbread cookies without molasses for at least 2 hours and up to 4 days.
More Easy Recipes
Recipe Essentials
Handy-dandy parchment paper sheets keep cookies from sticking and make clean-up a snap.
This little hand mixer has seven speeds to handle everything I throw at it, from mixing together this stiff cookie dough, to whipping up egg whites for macaroons.
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Gingerbread Cookie without Molasses
Ingredients
Gingerbread Cookies No Molasses
- ¾ cup butter, room temperature
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup honey
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ⅓ cup turbinado or white granulated sugar for rolling
Browned Butter Glaze
- 1 stick butter
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3-4 tablespoons milk
Instructions
Gingerbread Cookies
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter with an electric mixer on medium to medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add the brown sugar and continue mixing until the two are combined. Mix in the honey, egg, and vanilla until combined.
- Sift or whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, pepper, salt, and cayenne pepper together in a medium bowl.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined. Be careful not to overmix.
- Cover the dough with foil or plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. I chill mine overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and roll in granulated sugar or turbinado sugar. Place the balls 2 inches apart on the baking sheet.Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are light golden brown and the center is soft and puffy. Cool for 2 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer the baked cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Browned Butter Frosting
- Melt the butter in a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir for about 5-7 minutes while it gets foamy, bubbles, and turns golden brown. There will be brown speckles in the bottom of the pan. Remove the butter from the stovetop and pour it into a heat-proof bowl to stop the cooking process and keep it from burning. Let the butter cool for a few minutes.
- Place the powdered sugar into a medium mixing bowl. Add the butter, vanilla extract, and 3-4 tablespoons of milk. Start with a little milk and add more until it reaches your desired consistency.
- Whisk everything together until it is smooth and creamy and there are no lumps of powdered sugar.
- Frost each cookie with 1 to 1 ½ teaspoons of frosting and set the cookies aside to let the frosting set.
Storage & Freezing
- Store unfrosted cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week. Store frosted cookies in a single layer in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to a week.Freeze unfrosted cookies for up to three months. Freeze cookie dough or rolled out cookie dough balls for up to two months. Freeze any leftover browned butter frosting in an airtight container or ziptop freezer bag for up to 3 months.
Notes
- Use room temperature butter and eggs. This allows all of the cookie batter ingredients to mix together cohesively.
- Chill the cookie dough at least 2 hours or overnight and up to 4 days.
- Be careful not to overmix the dough, which can result in tough cookies.
- You can make the browned butter frosting thicker or thinner by using more or less milk. If it gets too thin, add a little more powdered sugar.
- If you have browned butter frosting left over, place it in a ziptop freezer bag and freeze it.
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