Soft molasses sandwich cookies filled with a thick vanilla buttercream are delightfully satisfying! These plush cookies are a treat for the holidays, and beyond.
molasses sandwich cookies are doubly delicious!
These cute cookies start with one of my most prized holiday cookie recipes, my chewy ginger cookies. My family has been making them for years, and they never disappoint! I made a couple of small changes to the recipe to make smaller sandwich cookies that stay soft and chewy. The filling (which really takes them over the top) is a rich, buttery, vanilla cream that is the perfect consistency for spreading neatly between the cookies.
what you’ll need for soft molasses sandwich cookies
- butter
- sugar
- egg
- unsulphured molasses ~ molasses has the wonderful ability to make cookies soft, moist, and chewy. Avoid using blackstrap molasses, which is very strong and has a bitter taste.
- all purpose flour
- baking soda
- ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice
- salt
tips for perfecting the soft and chewy sandwich cookie
- I like to use a mini scoop to portion out the dough in equal amounts so the cookies are the same size. If you don’t have a 1/2 tablespoon scoop, be sure to portion out equal amounts of dough to roll for even cookies.
- These small cookies bake for only 6 minutes, yes, 6 minutes! Don’t be tempted to bake them longer ~ when they come out of the oven they’ll look puffy and sort of light in color. Let them cool a bit on the baking sheet and they will settle down.
- 2 tablespoons of vanilla extract might seem like a lot for the filling, but it adds a really nice flavor boost, so go for it!
- Use a generous amount of filling – about 1 tablespoon per cookie for a nice thick sandwich.
- Let the assembled cookies set up a bit before packaging or serving, this will give them more structural integrity.
- The cookies can be frozen, either filled, or you can freeze the molasses cookies separately and fill them after thawing.
filling variations
So many ways to fill these cookies! You could add a touch of spice such as cinnamon or nutmeg to this vanilla filling. Chocolate goes nicely with ginger, so a chocolate frosting, ganache, or even Nutella could be used. Lemon and ginger is a classic British combination, so try a tart lemon buttercream filling.
You can make mini holiday ice cream sandwiches, too! Just soften vanilla ice cream to spread between the cookies. Try my nutmeg ice cream or lemon ice cream for a special frozen treat.
we love cooking with molasses!
- Soft Glazed Gingerbread Cookies
- Embossed Gingerbread Cookies
- Favorite Chewy Ginger Cookies
- New England Baked Beans
- Glazed Gingerbread Bundt Cake
- Apple Butter Cake with Brown Sugar Buttercream
- Easy Gingerbread Cookies with Royal Icing
- Pfeffernusse (German Spice Cookies)
- How to Make the Best Bourbon Meatballs Ever!
Molasses Sandwich Cookies
Soft molasses sandwich cookies filled with a thick vanilla buttercream are delightfully satisfying! These plush cookies are a treat for the holidays, and beyond.
Servings: 33 cookies
Ingredients
for the molasses cookies
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar (plus more for rolling the cookies)
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground allspice
- 1/4 tsp salt
for the vanilla filling
- 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 3 tsp milk or cream
- pinch salt
Instructions
To make the molasses cookies
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- In a stand mixer or with electric beaters, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (1-2 minutes)
- Add the egg and molasses and combine until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, spices, and salt.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in 2 batches, mixing between each addition. Mix just until fully combined.
- Using about 1/2 Tbsp of dough, roll each cookie into a ball and then roll it in more granulated sugar. Place the balls on cookie sheets spaced about 2 inches apart to allow for spreading. You should get about 66 cookies, which will make a total of about 33 sandwich cookies.
- Bake for 6 minutes. Don't be tempted to bake any longer than this, or they will be crunchy and not chewy! They will looked puffy and a little pale when they come out of the oven but they will shrink down as they cool. Note: do a test cookie or two first to make sure you're getting the right texture. It's important that your oven be at the correct temperature for the cookies to come out soft and chewy. Adjust your oven temperature or your cooking time accordingly.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet until firm enough to move to a baking rack. Allow to fully cool before filling and assembling.
to make the vanilla filling and assemble the cookies
- Add all of the filling ingredients to a bowl and using the back of a fork, combine everything until a smooth, stiff frosting forms. You can also use a stand mixer for this, if you prefer.
- Take a generous amount of the frosting (about 1 Tbsp per sandwich) and dollop it onto one of the cooled cookies. For neater cookies, try to get the filling placed in the center of the cookie. Take a second cookie, and gently press together until the filling is squeezed to the edge of the cookies.
- Cookies will keep for several days at room temperature.
Nutrition
Calories: 164 kcal · Carbohydrates: 26 g · Protein: 1 g · Fat: 6 g · Saturated Fat: 4 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 2 g · Trans Fat: 1 g · Cholesterol: 22 mg · Sodium: 106 mg · Potassium: 53 mg · Fiber: 1 g · Sugar: 19 g · Vitamin A: 201 IU · Vitamin C: 1 mg · Calcium: 10 mg · Iron: 1 mg
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although The View from Great Island attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
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These were delicious but mine were very, very flat.
The cookies are flat, by design, but if you want them a little puffier you can add a bit more flour to your dough.