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    Home » Cookies

    Vegan Molasses Cookies

    Published: Dec 7, 2020 Updated: Jun 28, 2021 by Alison Andrews This post may contain affiliate links

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    Vegan Molasses Cookies

    These vegan molasses cookies are soft and chewy and spiced with cinnamon, ginger and molasses. The ideal holiday cookie!

    Overhead shot of two vegan molasses cookies.

    These vegan molasses cookies are wonderfully soft and chewy and packed with delicious spices. It will remind you of a ginger cookie, while at the same time being completely different.

    The molasses flavor is subtle, but distinctive, and combined with brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg creates a magical holiday cookie.

    They’re super simple to make, don’t require any chilling of dough or any extra steps, so you can have a batch of warm fresh baked cookies in front of you in an easy breezy 30 minutes. 

    I hope that sounds tempting! Because I’ve just about tempted myself to stop writing this and go whip up another batch right now. 

    Let’s just say, these cookies are always a big hit in our house. I’ll definitely be making these many more times and certainly for Christmas. 

    And if you love a good Christmas cookie then you’ll also love our vegan snowball cookies, vegan butter cookies and vegan gingerbread cookies.

    A stack of three molasses cookies.

    How To Make Vegan Molasses Cookies

    You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.

    • Add vegan butter and light brown sugar to the bowl of your stand mixer and cream them together until smooth.
    • Add molasses and vanilla and mix in. Add all purpose flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and salt and mix in with a spoon (don’t use your electric mixer for this part) until crumbly.
    • Add non-dairy milk, only as much as needed to get it to a consistency that can be easily rolled into balls.
    Photo of the batter for vegan molasses cookies.
    • Break off pieces of the dough and roll into balls. Roll the balls in sugar. Place them on a parchment lined baking tray. Flatten with a fork.
    Molasses cookie dough balls flattened with a fork on a parchment lined baking tray.
    • Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool and firm up directly on the baking tray.
    Vegan molasses cookies freshly baked on a parchment lined baking tray.

    The Best Molasses

    A dark molasses is going to be best for these cookies. It should say unsulphured on the label.

    Grandma’s unsulphured molasses is a good brand that I’ve used before. 

    If you don’t have that brand in your country, just use any brand that is dark in color and says ‘unsulphured’ somewhere on the label. It should work fine. 

    A stack of molasses cookies.

    Storing and Freezing

    Keep your cookies stored in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 4 days. They can be stored in the fridge in a sealed container as well for up to a week. Let them come to room temperature before serving.

    They are also freezer friendly for up to 3 months.

    Vegan molasses cookie lying on its side.
    Vegan molasses cookies in a stack.

    More Vegan Cookies

    1. Vegan Sugar Cookies
    2. Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
    3. Vegan Chocolate Cookies
    4. Vegan Oatmeal Cookies
    5. Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
    6. Vegan Thumbprint Cookies
    Vegan molasses cookies in a stack with the top cookie broken in half.

    Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!

    Vegan molasses cookies

    Vegan Molasses Cookies

    These vegan molasses cookies are soft and chewy and spiced with cinnamon, ginger and molasses. The ideal holiday cookie!
    5 from 13 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Baking, Cookies, Dessert
    Cuisine: Vegan
    Diet: Vegan
    Prep Time: 15 minutes
    Cook Time: 10 minutes
    Total Time: 25 minutes
    Servings: 20
    Calories: 151kcal
    Author: Alison Andrews

    Ingredients

    • ¾ cup Vegan Butter (170g)
    • ¾ cup Light Brown Sugar (150g)
    • ¼ cup Unsulphured Molasses (60ml)
    • 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
    • 2 ¼ cups All Purpose Flour (280g)
    • 1 ½ tsp Baking Soda
    • 2 tsp Ground Ginger
    • 1 ¼ tsp Cinnamon
    • ¼ tsp Ground Cloves
    • ¼ tsp Nutmeg
    • ¼ tsp Salt
    • 2 Tbsp Soy Milk or other non-dairy milk
    • ¼ cup White Granulated Sugar (50g) For rolling
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    Instructions

    • Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and line a baking tray with parchment paper. Set aside. 
    • Add vegan butter and light brown sugar to the bowl of your stand mixer and cream them together until smooth. 
    • Add molasses and vanilla and mix in. Add all purpose flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and salt and mix in with a spoon (don’t use your electric mixer for this part) until crumbly. 
    • Add soy milk (or another non-dairy milk), only as much as needed to get it to a consistency that can be easily rolled into balls. If your vegan butter is a very soft variety then you may not need to add any non-dairy milk at all.
    • Break off pieces of the dough and roll into balls. Roll the balls in sugar. Place them on your parchment lined baking tray. Aim to get 20 cookies from the batch. Flatten with a fork before baking. 
    • Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool and firm up directly on the baking tray. 

    Video

    Notes

    1. Molasses: Use unsulphured molasses. Grandma’s molasses works great. 
    2. Storing: Keep your cookies stored in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 4 days. They can be stored in the fridge in a sealed container as well for up to a week. Let them come to room temperature before serving. 
    3. Freezing: They are also freezer friendly for up to 3 months.
    4. This recipe was first published in November 2018. It has been slightly updated with extra tips but the recipe itself is unchanged.  

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1Cookie | Calories: 151kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 1.4g | Fat: 5.2g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 156mg | Fiber: 0.5g | Sugar: 12.2g
    DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE? Rate it & leave your feedback in the comments section below, or tag @lovingitvegan on Instagram and hashtag #lovingitvegan
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    About the Author

    Hi I'm Alison Andrews, I'm the voice and cook behind Loving It Vegan. I love making delicious vegan food and creating vegan versions of all your old favorites, so that you’ll never feel like you’re missing out. Find out more about me here.

    Loving It Vegan is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. This site may contain some of these links to Amazon.com. If you make a purchase through one of those links, Loving It Vegan will receive a small commission from the purchase at no additional cost to you.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Megan Burseth says

      December 23, 2021 at 4:10 am

      Hello,
      I was wondering should I roll them in sugar if I”m going to be making a royal icing for the top?
      I feel like that might be too much sugar.

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        December 23, 2021 at 12:13 pm

        Hi Megan, I think you could leave out that step if you’re frosting them. All the best! 🙂

        Reply
    2. Rebecca Murauskas says

      December 13, 2021 at 2:03 am

      Love these molasses cookies! I subbed coconut oil, coconut sugar, and used gluten-free flours of brown rice and millet (1/2 of each). Baked them 3-4 minutes longer (14-15 mins) and they turned out amazing! A slight crunch on the outside and a nice softness on the inside. YUMM! The flavors pop! Next time I may follow the guidance of another baker’s comments and double the spices to add even more pizazz. This will be a great vegan, GF treat to give away to my neighbors and service providers for Christmas. Thank you for the recipe! Next up is the Ginger Snaps. 🙂5 stars

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        December 13, 2021 at 11:12 am

        So happy to hear they were a success! Thanks so much for sharing your adjustments! 🙂

        Reply
    3. bradley stoll says

      December 09, 2021 at 3:50 pm

      Made these last night because I had a craving. Ate one cookie and gave the rest away<3. These are my fave! Thank you, Alison!5 stars

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        December 09, 2021 at 4:04 pm

        Thanks for the great review Bradley!

        Reply
    4. Sarah says

      December 07, 2021 at 9:45 pm

      Hi there! Could I use coconut oil instead of vegan butter? Soy allergy!

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        December 08, 2021 at 12:02 pm

        Hi Sarah, yes you can!

        Reply
    5. Jane W says

      April 14, 2021 at 9:21 pm

      These cookies are Delicious!!! We skip the step of rolling in sugar at the end and add 1.5 cups of raisins instead. Also have doubled all the spices except the ginger so loads of flavor but not too sweet – mmmm! Always get rave reviews (when there are any to share) – thanks for another Great Recipe!5 stars

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        April 15, 2021 at 9:57 am

        That sounds wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing Jane!

        Reply
    6. Gina Caracci says

      March 10, 2021 at 6:37 pm

      I have always loved molasses cookies and was excited when I saw this.
      So I used vegetable spread instead of vegan butter and they didnt get crumbly and so I couldnt roll them into balls, since they stuck to my hands and even gloves. I kept adding flour but was afraid they wouldn’t turn out right so used a cookie scooper and rolled them in sugar best I could, since it was sticking to the scooper too. Obviously no milk needed. Maybe less butter or more flour next time if I use the vege spread again.
      It was quite the nightmare, but I have to say it was TOTALLY worth it!! They were huge, chewy and heavenly! I ended up with about 25 cookies which was a bonus. I brought some to my Mom and she couldn’t stop eating them!! SOO much better than store bought!!
      Thank you for another winner!5 stars

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        March 11, 2021 at 10:50 am

        yay! So glad they turned out good! Thanks for the awesome review!

        Reply
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    Hi I’m Alison Andrews! I love making delicious vegan food and creating delicious vegan versions of all your old favorite dishes, so you can have your vegan cake and eat it too!

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